The Moment Of Truth With FRANK TURNER

Interview by Kris Peters
English punk/folk singer/songwriter Frank Turner is a man at peace
with himself and his music.
Not that he has had a sudden epiphany that washed over the daily
trials and tribulations of everyday life, but more a peace borne
out of contentment.
Following his first UK#1 album FTHC in 2022, Turner made the bold
decision to step away from the major label world of music and the
relative safety blanket it provides to embrace the freedom and
liberation of working as an independent artist.
It was a move that invariably has its pros and cons, but when you
are as recognizable musically as Turner is, the advantages of being
independent far outweigh the drawbacks.
His first album since unbinding himself from the industry is aptly
named Undefeated and sees Turner producing his own album for the
first time and able to have total creative freedom. The result is
an eclectic assortment of styles and genres, all tackled with an
unflappable and flexible attitude that only inner happiness can
provide.
Sonically switching from Black Flag to Counting Crows and from
Descendents to The Pogues via Elvis Costello and Billy Bragg,
Undefeated is more than a body of music.
It is a statement and expression of artistic freedom from an artist
who has felt somewhat stiffled by an industry that rewards figures
rather than merit.
With Undefeated slated for a May 3 release, HEAVY caught up with
Turner at the start of his promotional campaign to find out more,
starting with if he still gets nervous before each album is
released.
"Yeah, of course," he smiled. "I think there's a funny inbuilt
thing in the way that what I do works. I'll spend two years
writing, rehearsing, arranging, recording, mixing an album that
comes in at 44 minutes and people listen to it in 44 minutes.
Sometimes people go 'that's alright', but that's two years of my
life (laughs). It's the tenth time around, so I'm used to that on
some levels, but yeah, I’m still nervous. I'm also pretty confident
about this record. I think it's a banger, shall we say. I feel like
on my last album FTHC I kind of got my mojo back a bit and hit my
stride again. I feel with this record on the other side of the
pandemic and I've got my new drummer in the band, first time
recording with him… And it's the first time producing myself. First
time on the other side of the universal label world kind of thing.
Just the whole thing feels like a bit of a reset and it's nice. I'm
excited about it."
In the full interview, Frank talks more about Undefeated musically,
how he handles the period between finishing an album and having it
released, the singles released so far and how they represent the
album, how stepping away from major labels helped shape Undefeated,
the mixing of styles and how he makes it work, the temptation to
rehash a winning album formula with the next release, touring plans
and more.