Chuck Prophet. Aprenda inglés (del bueno) con Harlem

Chuck Prophet comienza hoy una gira española con escalas en Cádiz (14 de abril), Granada (15), Benidorm (16), Huesca (17), Santoña (18), Bilbao (19), Madrid (20) y Vitoria (21). Aprovechando la circunstancia, OSCAR CUBILLO, nuestro reportero más dicharachero, le plantea una serie de cuestiones al rockero. Éste contesta desde Nottingham, con la mente puesta en las paellas que se piensa comer estos días.

"If I didn’t love all music, I’d have to get a real job"

Influencias.
Influences? Everything and everyone I’ve ever heard. From The Cramps to Mendelssohn’s version of folk music. The Stones, Kelly Willis, The Velvet Undergound. If I didn’t love all music, I’d have to get a real job. I know I wasn’t ever much of one to turn the radio off and I couldn’t deliver enough newspapers to buy all the records I wanted. So, Leadbelly, sure. Alex Chilton, absolutely. Toss in Keith Richards and Little Richard, Edith Piaf and Marianne Faithfull and Johnny Cash. Stir well and garnish with The Clash.

Songwriter o roots rocker.
A songwriter. And all songwriters come from their roots. The term ‘roots-rock’ really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because I can’t quite figure out what other kind of rock and roller there might be.

Mejor recuerdo de Green On Red.
The constant adventure. That’s why I do what I do: the pleasure of the adventure. We saw the world as kids, really, and we never saw our own country quite the same again. Adventure. That’s what Green On Red was about.

Let Freedom Ring.
Let Freedom Ring! will cut your taxes, help you lose weight and show you how to be the life of the party. It’ll make you win the lottery. To be more serious, it’s a record that’ll probably help Europeans understand how many Americans see themselves. And the mistakes we’ve made. And you can dance to it.

Tour.
We deliver the goods. Some tight, noisy stuff, some quiet acoustics. A few unexpected covers, lots of ingredients. Now I’m thinking about paella again. Playing solo is sort of like being naked. There’s a video of the title song of Let Freedom ring a fan shot in Serbia and I think the power came from car batteries, just me and an old acoustic – but that song is there. Naked. With the band, I’ve got nice clothes on. It’s fun to have it both ways. There are some loud numbers, some soft ones. It’s almost certain I’ll say whatever crosses my mind onstage and act the fool. It’s guaranteed fun

España.
Great museums, superb food, friendly people, a glorious climate, pretty women. Euros. History. Zurracapote on Thursdays! What’s not to like in Spain?

Mink DeVille.
Willy was one of the greats, and a genuinely nice man. I’ve always found it sad and somewhat embarrassing that he never found a broad audience in his native country but thrived in Europe. It was a dark day last summer to hear that he’d died. Those Spanish ballads with Doc Pomus are indispensable records. And he was really embraced in Germany. Good folks like Willy DeVille make it impossible for people to hang it up. So get ready, Spain: the Mission Express is heading your way at full throttle. When do we eat?

* El que quiera más detalles sobre el personaje y su gira española, puede echar un vistazo a la entrada anterior *