Santa Fe Reporter | Web Extra!

I caught up with Morrissey a few hours before one of his two shows in Salt Lake City. Actually, I would 't call it "catching up" with him: You don't really "catch up" with Morrissey, so much as he sort of glides into your life over the telephone and spend a few surprisingly comfortable moments there. On paper, his wit, charm and, well, sweetness can fall fl t, but even during our brief, static-y long-distance call he seemed engaged and genuine; if he was faking, he was very convinci g. We spoke for about 15 minutes, and as the phone hung up, he sort of glided back out of the room, like a specter. A specter t at happened to influence, in some way, almost every band that you listen to.

JW : Hello.

M : Hullo.

How are you doing?

M : I'm scraping through.

I s the Morman reception a little different than most places?

M : It's open-armed, actually.

Really?

M : Yes, so I'm thinking of joining.

When is the last time you came to the states?

M : At the beginning of 2000.

Has the reception you get changed very much over the years?

M : No, it never has changed. It's always been very emotional and very, very loud, and very enthusiastic. And long may it remain.

How do you feel being one of the few people who can still incite that sort of reaction and have that ort of icon status?

M : Old.

Do you feel old?

M : No. But I don't feel young.

Ah, coy as usual. On a sort of similar theme, Eminem was here [in New Mexico] a few days ago. The two of you seem to have more in common than one would first think, being a sort of spokesmen for teenage alienation, what do you fe l about his work?

M : Well, I admire the fact that he opens his mouth when he wants to. And he says exactly what he wants t . I think that's very admirable because most of the people in the music industry don't. They really are prompted. So I apprecia e anybody who will walk the plank.

Do you listen to hip hop at all?

M : Um, never.

What do you listen to currently?

M : Everything but that.

Do you have a specific favorite band right now?

M : I have a few. Nobody major I'm afraid, just lots of very obscure small groups. Nobody major. I'm comp etely baffled with all the stuff that's popular, especially in this country. I think it's very difficult to listen to.

I think that's a common perception.

M : That's a common complaint, isn't it? I have always despised the popular charts. I feel that the Ameri an charts are from a completely different planet, really. And I think you can exist in certain circles of music, and you can ex st very well and very happily without having anything to do with those people and those executives and participate in all that readful payola. All that type of thing is so absent from my world, really. Many people in America can't play live because they' e completely financially backed, and the reality is that people don't actually like them. But they seem to be enormously popula . It must be a terrible shock to people who are #3 on the charts that they can't attract anybody at all to a live appearance.

Did you ever feel any kind of inner conflict about that, of being both popular and having some integr ty?

M : Well, all I ever had and all I ever continue to have is integrity-I have absolutely nothing else. And most people who are successful have everything else except integrity. But I love having it this way. I feel the way it happened for me was the right way, and it was a meaningful way and it's a way that continues to make sense. And there's never been any d ception at all. Believe me, that's very difficult to maintain. Because the pressure within the music industry is to ignore inte rity, ignore your heart.

In the context of that answer or perhaps not in that context-Is there anything that you would do diff rently?

M : Not at all.

And there's no particular American band right now that you relate to at all, or that you just like?

M : God, no. You are joking, aren't you?

How do you relate to the Smiths' body of work? Do you still listen to it? Do you still have feelings bout it, or are you just tired of it?

M : I never tire of it because the songs are very strong, and I think the songs have maintained. And I fe l like those songs are mine; they're nobody else's. I don't think the other three group members ever felt that those songs belo ged to them because I don't think they ever understood the songs. So it's just a continuation. I don't cut them out because, on a personal level, it's a painful past, but the songs survive.

It's interesting, in a world where the Anger Management Tour is making heaps of money and those horri le bands like Papa Roach succeed, that the Smiths and your work have such resonance. Is there a particular reason for that?

M : It's because there were never any record company executives involved. Nobody ever touched it. Nobody ver touched me, and nobody ever manipulated it. So there's a purity to it. And I feel that I continue to be in the same positio . It's a completely pure position. It's 20 years old and to thrive for 20 years with out being manipulated and maneuvered is in eresting; it's also extraordinary. Because it seems everybody who becomes successful has somebody to guide them along the way.

How do you feel about interviews? I mean, 20 years of them.

M : Well a lot of them are quite peculiar, but occasionally I think it's worth it for the moments when yo feel that the person you're talking to really does understand you.

What does understanding you entail?

M : Well, at least they know you. Whether they like you or not.

But isn't there a separation between your public persona and who you are? Does that come into play?

M : Well, there's no separation. But you can always tell when someone is asking a completely general ques ion that can be fired at practically anybody on the planet.

How many times have you been asked that question?

M : Once.

Which is the question you hate the most?

M : "So what have you been up to?"

Which is the one you would really like to be asked?

M : "When are you coming back?"

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