Iggy Pop Talks Stooges, Jazzy New Solo Album, “War Child” Disc
Iggy Pop has puked on his audience, rolled around in broken glass and exposed himself to crowds. But on his new album, the 61-year-old rocker does something that may shock people — he sings in French. The Stooges frontman shows off his multilingualism On “Autumn Leaves,” a track off Préliminaires, due out May 19th. The record was inspired by French author Michel Houellebecq’s 2005 novel, The Possibility of An Island. “As I read scenes in the book, I felt music in my head,” says Pop, who also composed a score for the book’s forthcoming film adaptation. “I wrote less and less for the movie and started writing an alternative score to the novel.”
The disc — which features trombones and clarinets — lifts its sound from 1920s New Orleans. “We get dangerously near jazz,” says Pop, who cut tracks in Woodstock and Miami. “At first, I thought, ‘If I want to pee and I don’t do it with a sign that says Progenitor of Punk, people don’t want to know about it.’ Luckily, at this point in my life, I don’t care very much.”
In other Iggy news, the rocker recently nominated saucy electro provocateur Peaches to cover his “Search and Destroy” for War Child’s Heroes compilation, a charity disc for kids living in war-torn regions. “I get a big shot of pleasure every time I hear her music,” Iggy says of the Canadian singer, with whom he’s collaborated on several tracks in the past. “All the better since it was one of my songs.”
Pop — whose longtime Stooges bandmate, guitarist Ron Asheton, died in January — also hinted at the group’s future plans. “We have a large vault, and I’ve been fooling around with different ways to approach vocals,” he says. The band is also “developing something with a dramatic filmmaker,” but Iggy declined to elaborate. What about rumors that Sex Pistols’ guitarist Steve Jones might join the Stooges? “I talked to Steve, and if I wanted an extra guitar, he’d be the guy to call,” says Iggy. “The group still exists. I’m not gonna tell you more than that.”
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• The Rolling Stone Interview: Iggy Pop
• Iggy Pop Remembers Stooges’ Ron Asheton In First Interview Since the Guitarist’s Death