Translation of Brian Interview

 

“I dream of talking to Putin”

Brian May

Interview by Stephan Rehm Rozanes – May 2022 edition of ‘Musikexpress’, Germany.

Translated by Alison Sesi.

(Translator’s note: This text is back-translated so the quotes are not necessarily verbatim).

Like Harrison Ford, who has again been firing shots around him as Hans Solo, going back to the future as Rick Deckard and even soon to dig out the whip as Indiana Jones, Brian May has been increasingly using the 21^st century to return to his iconic roles. That’s how it’s been since 2005 – back on stage as Queen with different singers and due success, and finishing – after 37 years – his doctoral thesis in 2007, he is now reworking his solo career album by album.

He started off in 2021 with a lavishly endowed re-release of his solo debut BACK TO THE LIGHT, with which, in 1992, he lifted himself out of the depression that had been triggered by the deaths of his father and Freddie Mercury. In 1995, after concluding, for the time being, the Queen chapter together with drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon and his band’s commercially most successful [sic]* studio album, MADE IN HEAVEN, he assembled songs from the widest variety of projects for his second solo work, ANOTHER WORLD, a title that fits into today’s times much better than into 1998, when the album rather sank. We’re connected to May in London, where he receives us in the way he’s known from his almost daily Instagram and YouTube videos: with distinctive silver mane and the slightly cranky little glasses chain which prevents his sight aid from going astray. It’s the classic look of the absent-minded professor, which May, with far-sighted responses, certainly belies in every way.

 

Can you hear me okay?

I can see and hear you well.

At least the hearing should surely not be possible at all – you played your first concert 57 years ago; the so-called the ‘Wall of Death’ -with up to 15 amplifiers coming out of the backline - is legendary.   

Well, your own voice doesn’t hurt you like everyone else’s does. In fact I do have a bit of hearing loss and I also know where it comes from. It’s in my left ear and was caused by the snare drum, which is simply very loud. I have problems in the range of 2000 to 3000 hertz, which is a little unfortunate, because that’s the range you need to be able to distinguish voices from each other in a crowded room. So you don’t catch everything that people are saying to you any more. But I don’t want to complain. It isn’t serious.

What’s more than serious, on the other hand, is the current situation in Ukraine. You in particular, having played two of your biggest concerts there, in 2008 with Paul Rodgers in front of 350 000 people in Kharkiv’s Freedom Square, and in 2012 with Adam Lambert in Kyiv’s Independence Square – just the irony of those names - must be deeply upset by the news these days.

It breaks my heart. There’s also a terrible feeling of helplessness which keeps me awake at night. It’s simply awful to realise that you can’t do anything about the unbelievable tragedy that’s unfolding there. It stuns me that the world has made such a huge mistake in allowing it; that the whole world can’t do anything against a man who’s losing it. It does my head in that we’re in this situation at all. Every day I see Ukrainians, who are very close to us, losing their homes, their livelihoods and their security; families are being torn apart. And I am involved in some aid projects – you just do what you can. But I have a feeling that it’s just a drop in the ocean. I dream of meeting Putin and telling him to his face: “Come on, hell, do you really want to do this, seriously?” It’s beyond the power of my imagination that a person wants to cause all this suffering. I can’t get my head around it. And as an animal protectionist I’m dealing all the time with people who have absolutely no compassion. There are people who can look on as animals are tortured to death and don’t feel anything. But here you have a person who can look on as people are tortured to death without feeling anything. Unbelievable that something like this can happen in the 21^st century.

In the bonus material of the ANOTHER WORLD re-release there’s a radically reworked version of ‘Hammer to Fall’, being the only song from the Queen days, with lines like, ‘For we who grew up tall and proud / In the shadow of the mushroom cloud’, which, in the face of the threats of this war, sadly seem very contemporary once more. And don’t we want to accost Putin shouting: ‘What the hell we fighting for? Just surrender and it won’t hurt at all?’

I’ve been thinking about that often over the past few days. My generation really did grow up under the permanent fear of nuclear destruction; we also saw the beginnings of the policy of détente; the balance of power, always assuming that it could fall apart at any moment. Crazily enough, that didn’t happen -that’s how it worked at the time. I think that there was still some restraint back then on all sides – I don’t like to say decency, but perhaps commitment…logic. But as soon as you have one lunatic, to whom nothing means anything, it breaks down. Many are saying that we’re experiencing the return of the Cold War, but that isn’t true: we’re dealing with a very Hot, real and destructive war. It does me in to see that another generation has to grow up with the fears that troubled us. Now the situation is even worse than it was for us.

The name ANOTHER WORLD expresses a painfully topical wish. Thus the title track also deals with parallel universes. Have you, as a doctor of astrophysics, and as a guitarist who on stage delivers spectacular solo-duels with yourself using echo devices, ever considered what it would be like to play along with another version of yourself in another universe?

I’ve actually already done that! In a video for the new edition of my first solo album BACK TO THE LIGHT I meet my 1992 self. Then we play guitar together. That was a really fascinating experience. It’ll also be continued in the forthcoming videos, this duality. I like to play the old Bri off against the young one. Something’s coming your way there soon!

In the song ‘Business’ it says ‘It’s a hard business to make it on your own’; at the end of the album there’s the instrumental hidden track, ‘Being On My Own’ – were these about taking stock after the 20-year Queen frenzy?

Somehow yes -also you see here again that songs inevitably have various potential meanings. I wrote ‘Business’ for a British comedy series about an eternal optimist: ‘Frank Stubbs Promotes’ (1993-1994), but as soon as you start the music-making, you invariably come across things inside that are just waiting to get out. So for a moment I merged with this very insecure character who’s always trying to make it but is constantly experiencing setbacks…so it can be claimed that I’m a successful rockstar - yes, okay. But as a human being, as a person, I find life really difficult. I don’t want to be ungrateful; I’m actually very grateful for a lot that’s happened to me. But every day, every hour and every minute I feel life’s hard. I think that it’s the same for everyone, regardless of whether you’re rich and famous or not. You constantly have to make decisions, manoeuvring yourself through your own doubts and fears. That’s what it’s about in the song – for that reason it’s not written from the perspective of a rockstar, but from that of an average member of the public - someone who’s constantly analysing themselves. That’s me - and I can’t do anything about it.

In the past you’ve repeatedly spoken openly about your spells of depression. Having already collated your many interests like the guitar, stereoscopy and astronomy in book form, I’m asking myself, and hence you too – if a written summary of your experiences with mental health couldn’t be a project in the near future? 

I’m in contact with a lot of artists on Instagram – with other musicians, designers, poets – and recognise myself in a lot of them. An amazingly large number of them consider themselves worthless, as rubbish, and are about to give up. In direct conversations, person to person, I’m even able to help sometimes. I find ways that I can talk them out of striving for perfection and constantly punishing themselves for not achieving set goals. But I can’t provide guidance as to how to get over depression. If I knew the way out, I wouldn’t be depressed. But I do get depressed. Just a moment – I just have to move - the battery’s about to go on my laptop (walks from a living room into a conservatory) - in my view the closest to a guide is a book by Melody Beattie called ‘The Language of Letting Go’ – it’s a miracle. Then there’s the serenity prayer of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, which consists of just a few words – but for me is the most powerful text in the world to help you cope with all your crap. (May is referring to this passage: ‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change / courage to change the things I can / and the wisdom to know the difference’).

Parallel to the re-release of BACK TO THE LIGHT, a coffee table book was published with illustrations of you by the artist Sarah Rugg. A special edition of the new ANOTHER WORLD comes on to the market with a book which is a collection of fan art from all over the world. At the beginning of January you invited your Instagram Community to make contributions. What has been created is a further declaration of the enthusiasm that has been shown towards you for decades. How does someone with strong self-doubts handle this admiration?

(laughs) I don’t know if I can answer that question. It surprises me all the time and sometimes I wonder if I’m being narcissistic by encouraging these activities. But it simply allows people to be creative in a wonderful way, so that’s why I got involved with it anyhow. Besides, in this way, artists receive the attention that they normally don’t have in any other outlet besides Instagram. So they become a bit more visible. The fact that I’m their inspiration makes me proud – it feels good. Of course, it’s strange – now and again I leaf through and think to myself: “My God, you’re looking at pictures of yourself!” But they aren’t just portraits, they’re also pictures of my work, my channels, my journeys – experiences that I’ve shared…that they’re encountered in this way makes me realise that the communication has worked, that it’s sincere. I also have this theory – please interrupt me if I’m getting boring – I often wonder: what is art, actually? And why should I of all people have the answer to that? In any case, many people associate art with purity; art is supposed to occur in a vacuum and for its own sake - and of course, it mustn’t be commercial. I think that’s all wrong, though. For me, art means conversation. You produce it because you feel it within you, but also because you long to communicate with the people out there. You have this urge to give and analogous to that arises the urge to take. And that’s conversation. Instagram has changed and extended my view of my art. It makes me very happy to get reactions and to be able to react in turn to the reactions. That didn’t exist before. As Queen we paved the way to the acceptance of the fact that the audience at a show is just as important as the band. That’s how it must be. But this personal feedback that I now receive via Instagram has broadened my horizons and enriched my life.

In an old press handout from the early 70s you already listed under ‘dislikes’: ‘liver, noise, cold feet, non-contact’. Did Instagram save your neck through the pandemic?

The worst thing about the pandemic was that I couldn’t leave my house. I couldn’t go to my studio; I couldn’t record music in the way that I wanted to; of course I couldn’t tour or give public performances. What do I do as a musician, then? The only platform that was available to me was Instagram. It’s international and works on two levels, so I went in as if it were the most natural thing in the world. That was, for me, the place to be. I was really glad to go on there evening after evening during the lockdown, to jam with others - that got me through this time – this terrible time.

You’re wearing a T-shirt with the logo of your series of re-releases, the ‘Gold Series’. You only have two solo albums – in my estimation a series would have to consist of more than two items.

The immediate next follow-up will be ‘Star Fleet’ (Allstar EP from 1983: May spontaneously recorded songs in L.A. with Eddie van Halen, Alan Gratzer of REO Speedwagon, session musician Phil Chen and the Queen keyboardist Fred Mandel., among which was the title track, being the theme tune of his son James’s favourite Sci Fi series at the time) – at least that’s what I’m planning. This’ll be exciting because I’ve never done remixes before, but this material should be remixed. I also want to fish out a few outtakes.

Across the board there’s still a lot of diverse, partly obscure material which could be put together in a kind of anthology: your release of the theme tune of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, your hit ‘Rockstar’ with Rapper Dappy, a song collaboration with Soundgarden...

Yes, I’ve really got a lot of stuff. When I look to the horizon there really is still a lot that I can pack into this series. That’s plainly a good feeling too. It’s like clearing up at home: you put the whole stuff in order, stow it in boxes, perhaps tying a pretty ribbon around it. What’s more, it’s important to me that everything’s available again- so far it hasn’t been on Spotify, Apple or anywhere else. This recycling, bringing things full circle, gives me a great deal of pleasure.

Not all of your projects with other stars passed off as harmoniously as ‘Star Fleet’ did – in 1982 you opted out of the collaboration with David Bowie for ‘Under Pressure’ before the last mixes.

Yes, that wasn’t easy – that wasn’t a straightforward relationship. But I’m very fond of him and, above all, have a lot of respect for him. I’m very sad that he’s no longer with us.

On the one hand you work in a very academic way – in science as well as on the guitar- on the other, you’re very spiritual. Does that become inevitable when you occupy yourself in-depth with the universe?

I’ve never believed that science and faith contradict each other – unless the belief is a fake one. I don’t adhere to any earthly religion. But for me science reaches a limit at some point, and everything that goes beyond that can only be explained in a spiritual way. In this I’m different from Stephen Hawking – he thought that the acceptance of a God would contradict the laws of physics, but I don’t believe that. Stephen Hawking is naturally much cleverer than me. Even so, I have my own instinct and my gut feeling. Life consists of more than the physical world – I consider that almost undisputed.

*(Translator’s Note: The second best-selling studio album after ‘A Night at the Opera’).

 

HE WILL ROCK YOU

Brian Harold May was born in 1947, and like Freddie Mercury, his subsequent fellow band member, grew up in the London suburb of Feltham, without ever having met him there. Mercury developed into a fan of Smile, the band of guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, and replaced its singer Tim Staffell in 1970. Together with bassist John Deacon they became, as Queen, one of the most successful bands in history. May wrote such rock classics as ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and ‘The Show Must Go On’ for the band. He put his already started doctoral thesis in astrophysics on ice in favour of his career as a musician, not taking it up again for completion until 2007, and has been allowed to call himself Dr. Brian May since then. He has published scientific books about the universe and his other passion, 3D photography. But most important to him is his commitment to animal protection. May supports over 25 aid organisations. His second marriage is to actress Anita Dobson and he has three children. Since 2012 he and Taylor have been touring throughout the world, together with their new singer, as Queen and Adam Lambert. At the end of June they’re to be seen in four concerts in Germany and Switzerland.