Chrissie Hynde interview - for those that don't know her

[Tango]

or don't know her well:

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She mentions Fleetwood Mac, almost incidentally. Her philosophy about bands is quite different than FM's!

[Tango]

If you are totally a blank, go and listen to her music. You probably know most of these, anyhow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJVbogICFY0

[louielouie2000]

Thank you so much for posting that. I've always liked the Pretenders and Chrissie's approach to life and music, but have never listened to an interview of this length with her. It's pretty interesting how much of an antithesis she is to Stevie and Fleetwood Mac. Here she talks about her disdain of material culture/focus on success, bands who become so successful they ride in separate limos to different hotels, how solo acts suck, her dislike of bands that don't keep creating, overly polished music like Fleetwood Mac, her dislike of arena tours, etc. All of it seems squarely aimed at the likes of Stevie and Fleetwood Mac :laugh:. It really begs the question as to how Chrissie got roped into an arena tour with Stevie.

[olive]

:. It really begs the question as to how Chrissie got roped into an arena tour with Stevie.

....................$...................!

we're all whores
everyone has a price
and a bank account that needs refilling

[Tango]

I agree Louie! It's pretty funny! Fleetwood Mac, the big machine, represents everything that Chrissie Hynde detests. Not to mention she is a serious vegetarian that, well, has no use for "meat eaters." She's been through quite a bit, as her book points out. She downplays her talent. I got a call yesterday from a pal that is a major Chrissie fan that is totally excited by the pairing.


I won't "pretend" to understand the business end of music, but I don't think they need to fill the arena to make a profit. At this point the arena takes on the risk, from what I understand and the performer will come out fine.


In case you want to hear more of her speaking, this one is also good:

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This one includes her discussion about "meat eaters":

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Unte5lZHoGo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


It's definitely an interesting match up!

[jenniferuk]

And a friend told me a new Pretenders album is out next month, four days before the first show. I think CH released a book last year. Topping up the retirement fund!

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/pretenders-alone/

I wonder who initiated the tour partnership.

Thanks for sharing the interview, about to watch it as I've always found CH likeable. I saw a CBS Sunday morning profile (a year + ago) that was interesting, but I'll admit I don't know anything about her bandmates (will read up).

[bombaysaffires]

Thank you so much for posting that. I've always liked the Pretenders and Chrissie's approach to life and music, but have never listened to an interview of this length with her. It's pretty interesting how much of an antithesis she is to Stevie and Fleetwood Mac. Here she talks about her disdain of material culture/focus on success, bands who become so successful they ride in separate limos to different hotels, how solo acts suck, her dislike of bands that don't keep creating, overly polished music like Fleetwood Mac, her dislike of arena tours, etc. All of it seems squarely aimed at the likes of Stevie and Fleetwood Mac :laugh:. It really begs the question as to how Chrissie got roped into an arena tour with Stevie.

and Chrissie managed to fit in kids and a relationship and not lose her career where Stevie always says you can't do both. Clearly you can. And so many women since have managed it-- look at Adele for a really recent one. Or Beyonce. Faith Hill. Madonna for pete's sake. Very very different chicks indeed.

Funny Chrissie says in that first interview she likes playing clubs/theaters and never wanted to play bigger places and still doesn't. oh well.

[LB Freakazoid]

And just last week, after I finally got a pre-amp for my turntable -- I was listening to The Pretenders Extended Play album... And then put on my BellaDonna album.... Then the Pretenders album with "Bad Boys Get Spanked".... A premonition? And I can see why these two women of rock survivors would fit a co-billing....
And fyi- hearing the crackles of the old lp's --- it just brought me back!

[Bandon]

Talking about oil and water...this concert billing should be very interesting..:confused:

[AmbrFireflie]

Honestly, this shows the charisma of our Fleetwood Mac member Stevie Nicks. Chrissie wasn't a huge fan , but she respects the band and is going on tour with Stevie. Although I wish Stevie would do one last FM album , I have to respect her choice in doing her own tour. If I get to hear Wildheart, and older songs I'm happy! She's 68, paid her dues, the band made her who she is ,but good lord let's not forgot what she sacrificed for it! I love hearing that she wants to sing her forgotten songs from past albums! Switch it up! I'm planning on seeing her in Toronto, and if i she's happy I will be too :)

[Macfanforever]

Heres some videos of the Pretenders .I always enjoyed their music.

1980's rock.Great music era .


<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CK3uf5V0pDA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-7Hy7uAb_eU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bLpmj059JFA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GFCxKxzsUek" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FrOqkbXML5c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VJVbogICFY0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1xGRZ--LIiY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[michelej1]

[From a review of the Pretenders in London]

The Independent 10/25/2016 Vishal Rana

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-pretenders-omeara-london-review-a7378966.html

What a great venue, I have to do an arena tour with Stevie Nicks, but I’d much rather do this.” These were the words uttered by Chrissie Hynde as The Pretenders brought their melodic rock sound to Omeara London, a new venue in London Bridge reminiscent of the old dive bars in north London.

[Missy]

There are many people who really adore Chrissie. She's okay but doesn't do that much for me. I think she may be a bit overrated.

Now and then she will make some kind of statement that is wack. Not surprised she landed in trouble with this matter last year.

http://jezebel.com/chrissie-hynde-on-rape-if-you-play-with-fire-you-get-b-1727559486

She's had a checkered romantic history with rock n roll dudes. Something in common with Stevie.

[Missy]

and Chrissie managed to fit in kids and a relationship and not lose her career where Stevie always says you can't do both. Clearly you can. And so many women since have managed it-- look at Adele for a really recent one. Or Beyonce. Faith Hill. Madonna for pete's sake. Very very different chicks indeed.

Yep. These ladies seem really organized in their lives though, who do manage to balance the music career with motherhood. As for Madonna - it hasn't been all smooth sailing for her kids. Her son Rocco practically fled from her in the middle of the last tour, because he said he just wanted a more normal life with his Dad in England. Always difficult when the parents are in different continents. I hope they can end up working things out.

I'd point out, Fleetwood Mac has always seemed like more than a band and being a member has probably been more demanding to them than being in group usually would be.

[ahafan02]

There are many people who really adore Chrissie. She's okay but doesn't do that much for me. I think she may be a bit overrated.

Now and then she will make some kind of statement that is wack. Not surprised she landed in trouble with this matter last year.

http://jezebel.com/chrissie-hynde-on-rape-if-you-play-with-fire-you-get-b-1727559486

She's had a checkered romantic history with rock n roll dudes. Something in common with Stevie.

I think the opposite is true. Whenever I read "ladies who rock" articles and on TV Chrissie is rarely mentioned. She can certainly hold her own. She's a great writer and musician. Doesn't everyone say something that is "wack" every now and then. Stevie has for sure. Her statement was sad to say the least but she was basically saying that if you hang out with dangerous people anything can happen. She was raped by members of a motorcycle gang, well documented in her book. Some victims blame themselves unfortunately.

[dontlookdown]

I love the first two Pretenders album, but the more I've learned about Chrissie Hynde, the less I like her.
I watched her berate a cashier in a coffee shop in Santa Monica once, and was really taken a back by her bitchy personality. A recent interview on NPR was similar in tone.
She's got a bratty schtick that comes off as the opposite of gracious.
Rebelliousness makes sense when you're a teenager, but it's incredibly awkward and off-putting at her age.

I hope she's nice to Stevie...

[elle]

not sure where to post this, so posting here - the Pretenders tour involves both dates with Stevie and solo dates in between those shows, marked as headline shows on this list -


October 20th HEADLINE SHOW London, UK Omeara London

October 25th Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Arena

October 27th Denver, CO Pepsi Centre

October 29th Houston, TX Toyota Centre

October 30th Dallas, TX American Airlines Centre

October 31th HEADLINE SHOW Austin, TX Austin City Limits

November 2nd Tampa, FL Amalie Arena

November 4th Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Centre

November 6th Atlanta, GA Phillips Arena

November 7th Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena

November 10th Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena

November 12th Columbia, SC Colonial Life Arena

November 13th HEADLINE SHOW Durham, NC Durham Performing Arts Center

November 14th Washington DC Verizon Centre

November 15th Boston, MA TD Garden

November 17th HEADLINE SHOW Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theater

November 19th Bethlehem, PA Sands Bethlehem Event Centre

November 20th Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Centre

November 23rd Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena

November 25th Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena

November 26th HEADLINE SHOW Akron, OH E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall

November 27th Detroit, MI The Palace Of Auburn Hills

November 29th Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre

November 30th HEADLINE SHOW Buffalo, NY Buffalo Town Ballroom

December 1st New York, NY Madison Square Garden

December 3rd Chicago, IL United Centre

December 5th Lincoln, NE Pinnacle Bank Arena

December 9th Vancouver, BC Pepsi Live At Rogers Arena

December 11th Seattle, WA Key Arena

December 12th HEADLINE SHOW Portland, OR Roseland Theater

December 13th Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Centre

December 14th San Jose, CA SAP Centre

December 17th Las Vegas, NV Park Theater

December 18th Los Angeles, CA The Forum

April 10th HEADLINE SHOW London, UK Royal Albert Hall


from http://www.thepretenders.com/

[Danielle]

From Chrissie Hynde’s facebook page:

Hi Friends! The tour is off to a great start. Starting in Stevie’s home town, Phoenix, was a good call. A whole lotta love. Dan Mathews ( PETA’s senior Vice prez) and hubby Jack showed up. ( Remember when i acted as ‘best man’ at their wedding in Las Vegas, with Pamela Anderson as ‘maid of dishonour ?) EVerything’s more fun when they’re around.

Nils Lofgren and his lovely sex kitten of a wife, Amy, were there too. Nils is my good luck charm. He’s been with us from the start. ( I gave him my red Lewis Leathers motorcycle jacket one night on our very first tour of The States).

Martin, James, Nick and Eric are in stellar form. You could say they’re ‘kicking ass’. Last night in Denver I saw some old friends in the front row. “Hi Guys!"….. always good to have someone to wink at.

Australian Designer Mel Greensmith ( she’s actually a limey but lives in Aus with guitar hero boyfriend, Mark McGinty ( did i spell that right?) from the Divinyls ) made me some divine little jackets and sent them all the way from her shop in Sydney, WHEELS and DOLL BABY. Just gorgeous! Combined with my STELLA McCARTNEY jeans and boots - I felt like Kate Moss with a guitar..

But the BEST thing is getting to hear STEVIE NICK’S VOICE every night. It’s MAGIC.
See ya soon in a town near you! xch

#stevie nicks#chrissie hynde#24 karat gold tour#news#misc#phoenix#denver

http://i.imgur.com/g7LWNjp.jpg

[Jondalar]

From Chrissie Hynde’s facebook page:

Hi Friends! The tour is off to a great start. Starting in Stevie’s home town, Phoenix, was a good call. A whole lotta love. Dan Mathews ( PETA’s senior Vice prez) and hubby Jack showed up. ( Remember when i acted as ‘best man’ at their wedding in Las Vegas, with Pamela Anderson as ‘maid of dishonour ?) EVerything’s more fun when they’re around.

Nils Lofgren and his lovely sex kitten of a wife, Amy, were there too. Nils is my good luck charm. He’s been with us from the start. ( I gave him my red Lewis Leathers motorcycle jacket one night on our very first tour of The States).

Martin, James, Nick and Eric are in stellar form. You could say they’re ‘kicking ass’. Last night in Denver I saw some old friends in the front row. “Hi Guys!"….. always good to have someone to wink at.

Australian Designer Mel Greensmith ( she’s actually a limey but lives in Aus with guitar hero boyfriend, Mark McGinty ( did i spell that right?) from the Divinyls ) made me some divine little jackets and sent them all the way from her shop in Sydney, WHEELS and DOLL BABY. Just gorgeous! Combined with my STELLA McCARTNEY jeans and boots - I felt like Kate Moss with a guitar..

But the BEST thing is getting to hear STEVIE NICK’S VOICE every night. It’s MAGIC.
See ya soon in a town near you! xch

#stevie nicks#chrissie hynde#24 karat gold tour#news#misc#phoenix#denver

http://i.imgur.com/g7LWNjp.jpg

She is sooo nice!!!!

[Danielle]

How cool is this?

http://i.imgur.com/66VoeGw.png

[SisterNightroad]

Just saw it, it's incredibly cool!!

[denny23220]

She seemed to really be enjoying herself on stage in Columbia. They put on a great show - I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would as I only know and love 5 or so of their songs.

I wonder how Chrissie feels about Stevie's fur coat she wears during Moonlight (and if the fur is real). Chrissie is quite a stern animal rights advocate.

[sue]

She seemed to really be enjoying herself on stage in Columbia. They put on a great show - I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would as I only know and love 5 or so of their songs.

I wonder how Chrissie feels about Stevie's fur coat she wears during Moonlight (and if the fur is real). Chrissie is quite a stern animal rights advocate.

The coat is faux fur....it looks almost knitted with long, long tassels of mohair that look like fur.....very evocative and hippie looking.

[SisterNightroad]

Chrissie Hynde happy to return to Pretenders ‘Alone’

Chrissie Hynde is the first to admit alone time can be a very good thing. For the past eight years, The Pretenders frontwoman has put the revered rock band on pause to devote time to a number of solo ambitions — the short-lived duet project JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys, her eponymous debut “Stockholm” and a biography, “Reckless: My Life as a Pretender,” which details her coming of age in 1970s London where she still lives today.

That platter of experiences have only made the comeback of The Pretenders even sweeter in 2016 with a new album, “Alone” that harkens back to the band’s 1980 debut and a tour with Stevie Nicks that also pits the band right back in its heyday era. Even though the current iteration is really just the 65-year-old on her own after the untimely deaths of original members guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon early on and the more recent departure of drummer Martin Chambers.

“I just got so tired of talking about defending The Pretenders name with all the ongoing lineup changes. And sometimes you just to get your head into something else to stay inspired and stimulated,” Hynde says of her motive in trying to break out on her own. “But anyone who is a singer of a band also inherits this kind of position of having to be the spokesman, so I figured I just had to do what I had to do to keep the band going.”

She was also inspired by Dan Auerbach, who produced “Alone” and had carved a similar path by starting out in The Black Keys and branching out into side dish The Arcs and a swath of studio credits.

“He’s on such a roll that guy, and I was absolutely thrilled that he agreed to work with me,” Hynde admits. Though the two had met in passing “like I meet everyone else in this business,” says Hynde, she and Auerbach also both originally hail from the music breeding grounds of Akron, Ohio and had an easy time assimilating during recording at his Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville. While Auerbach’s touches are evident in many nooks of “Alone,” his gift was also allowing the natural girth of The Pretenders to shine through with all the characteristic hooks and melodies, Hynde’s buoying voice (preserved by quitting smoking, she says) and her heart-on-sleeve songwriting that together have made the band famous.

“All of my songs are always autobiographical, and I kind of wish they weren’t,” admits Hynde of the between-the-lines inferences on songs like the title track praising her own sense of solitude, “Roadie Man” in homage to the “whole subculture” of crew behind the scenes and the alluring “Let’s Get Lost” about a person she cares not to name, saying, “I wish I was more of a storyteller, but I’m not.”

That sentiment is hard to reckon with for anyone who may have read her biography, which came out in 2015. It tells of a brazen young Hynde, enamored with The Beatles, leaving her studies at Kent State (during the time of the infamous riots) and embarking on a mission to London to find her way in the rock echelon. Here she intersected with Sid Vicious, Iggy Pop, and The Kinks’ Ray Davies (with whom she shares a daughter) and had a brief stint at rock rag NME before finding her eventual Pretenders bandmates.

“You get to a certain age and you know you’re halfway through your life or more, and you kind of want to put the past behind you and figure out how to move forward without the burden of unfinished business,” says Hynde of choosing to write her bio, which she calls ‘Chrissie Hynde light.’ In fact the book ends in 1983 right before The Pretenders really caught steam.

“I didn’t really go into anything dark, and I didn’t go much into people because I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” she admits, empathetic with the idea of not wanting to be a household name. “It’s the last thing I ever wanted. I just don’t want anyone to have an opinion of me. The only time I want to be recognized is when I’m standing on a stage with my band.”

What keeps her going, Hynde says, is the music, especially feeling a duty at a time when she feels there is an absence of new bands forming. “I don’t know what happened over the last 20 years. It all went into this kind of singer-songwriter phase. But I sense that and hope that more people will start getting in bands,” she says, nudging at the greater picture. “In 20 years, all of us will be gone. We’re in what I call ‘The End of an Era era’ and someone else now has to step up.”



http://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/chrissie-hyde-happy-to-return-to-pretenders-alone/

[elle]

On the Road, ‘Alone’ with Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders
Written by: Jeff Slate

Photo: Jill Furmanovsky
“I adore her,” Chrissie Hynde says of fellow rock legend Stevie Nicks, on whose current tour Hynde’s band the Pretenders are filling the supporting slot. “Stevie’s shows are great, and she’s a darling. She’s got an incredible voice, and it’s a good audience.”

While the Pretenders have been fitting in the odd headlining show while supporting Nicks on her U.S. trek, Hynde says it’s been good for her band to stretch their collective legs.

“If we can go out on our own, do our own show, it’s going to be a little more crazy,” Hynde admits. “I like that, and I know the guys in the band like it.”

But for fans, it’s a dream bill: Two of the most powerful female singer-songwriters of the past 40 years bringing down the house each night on a coast-to-coast trek that’s been filling arenas since it began in September.

chrissie-hynde-potential-cover-image

However, Hynde admits the pairing was all down to luck.

“It was just availability,” Hynde says with a shrug. “Management asked if I was into it, you know, how all tours come about. It just depends on who’s going out, who’s available, what’s compatible.”

Hynde, of course, founded the Pretenders in 1978, along with ace guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon and drummer Martin Chambers. A fantastic self-titled debut album, produced by Chris Thomas, plus a follow-up and a string of groundbreaking singles followed, but Honeyman-Scott and Farndon died drug-related deaths in 1982 and 1983, respectively, leaving Hynde battered and broken.

She regrouped, and continued under the Pretenders moniker with a rotating cast of bandmates and mostly stellar results throughout the 1980s and well into the 1990s, before she began taking her career at a more leisurely pace, though with no less enjoyable results.



She released an excellent, if left-of-center solo album, Stockholm, in 2014, and a memoir, Reckless: My Life as a Pretender, in 2015, but hadn’t released new music as the Pretenders since 2008’s Break Up the Concrete.

But Hynde and the current lineup of the Pretenders, which includes original drummer Martin Chambers, aren’t just out on the road on a victory lap. They’ve got a solid new album to promote, Alone, produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.

pretenders-alone-artwork

“It was kind of the thing where, even if you weren’t a fan, you knew all the songs,” Auerbach says of growing up in Akron, Ohio, also Hynde’s hometown, and hearing the Pretenders seemingly everywhere.

“It was like Tom Petty, in that there were these bands that, even if you’d never owned one of their records, you knew all of their songs somehow, miraculously, just because it was part of the fabric of the community. And those songs were always on the radio, constantly.”



As great as Alone is, Hynde admits it’s those glory years that everyone still wants to hear about, though she says it’s just part of the job.

“I’m not really moany because everybody wants to keep talking about the same thing over and over again,” Hynde says. “Besides, I always say that whatever you said in your first interview I think you have to keep repeating for the rest of your life. But if people still care, that’s really not such a bad thing, I guess.”

In fact, Hynde brightens when talking about the early days of the Pretenders, and says setting the record straight was one of the motivations for writing her memoir last year, especially as it relates to Honeyman-Scott’s status as an unsung guitar hero.

“One of the main motivations for the book was because I see Jimmy as one of the great guitar heroes, and he didn’t really get his due,” she says. “If I was a professional widow, I could spend the rest of my life just digging up the deceased to give myself some prominence in the world. But because of the nature of the whole way it went down, I didn’t see any dignity in talking about it. It was a tragedy, it was very sad and I was probably a bit traumatized. So I chose to just keep doing what we started and honor what we set out to do. We set out to make this music and I wanted to keep making it. I wanted to keep doing the songs, and that’s why we carried on and didn’t change the name, so we could go out and do them. And also, I didn’t really have too much time to think about how to go about doing that. It honored them by keeping it alive. And then I had to keep explaining that for 40 years!”

Still, even though Chambers doesn’t appear on Alone, Auerbach, who appeared with the Pretenders recently, says his spirit is an important link to the band’s history and to its current live sound and dynamic.



“Martin is such a character,” Auerbach says. “He’s a lovely guy and his drumming is so ****ing amazing. And he’s a nutjob, too, in the best possible sense.”

While the current tour with Nicks is obviously chock full of arena shows, Hynde says she’s learned over the years that smaller venues pack a better punch.

“It’s funny, because we toured here two years ago after the Stockholm album and we were playing in theatres, and every night I asked the guys, ‘Isn’t this better than arenas?’ But of course you become what you criticize and now I’m playing arenas again.”

Still, she admits, whether the crowd is 300 or 30,000, it doesn’t really affect her performance.

Hynde and Auerbach on 'Colbert.'
Hynde and Auerbach on ‘Colbert.’
“I don’t do anything different,” Hynde offers. “A couple of weeks ago we played to 300 people in a club, and that was great. But all we’re doing differently (for the arena shows) is we’ve got to have a shorter set. And it’s not really our audience, necessarily; it’s Stevie’s audience. So we have to do more of our greatest hits, so people will recognize us. I understand that. But to me it’s always the same. We just stay the same wherever we are. It doesn’t really matter where we play. I prefer the smaller clubs, for all the obvious reasons, because if I’m going to see a band I want to see them. I don’t understand big gigs. At a certain level you have to play them because you have that big of an audience. I never wanted to really try to rein everything in and keep it right in the middle at all times. So I’ve played a lot of arenas, and even stadiums, supporting the Stones and Neil Young, The Who, and we’ve played amphitheaters, because I like going out with other bands together and doing those. My feeling is, if you’re a working band you take what becomes available to you. Personally, my preferred thing is it stay in the middle and keep it relatively small, a couple thousand, but you have to take what comes your way and not take that for granted, either.”

Hynde has always been outspoken about her views, even if she’s never been outright political, but she says during the current tour she’s been shocked at the change in the typical music journalist she’s met.

Photo: Jill Furmanovsky
Photo: Jill Furmanovsky
“I think my politics are pretty ****ing obvious,” she says with a laugh. “I mean, I had a (female reporter) ask me the other day if I was a feminist. I said, ‘What do you ****ing think?’ Stupid question. Any woman should know better. But journalists now seem obsessed with this sort of gender thing that’s going on and the politics of all that. I just think it’s pretty obvious what I am. It’s annoying.”

She’s also used to getting asked questions about the ever-changing Pretenders lineups since the days of Honeyman-Scott and Farndon.

“I understand very, very well the confusion about it,” Hynde admits. “But really, after 40 years, things are gonna change. The dynamics of a band changes over time, and the personnel sometimes changes for a variety of reasons, death sort of being the most conclusive.”

While Hynde did enjoy making and touring Stockholm as a solo artist, she says she’s happiest as part of a gang.

“I don’t even want attention, I want to put it on the band,” she says. “That’s what I get off on, on stage, is looking at the audience and seeing if they’re thinking, ‘****ing hell, where’d she find him?’ I think my bass player is a joy to watch. I mean he’s totally on 100% of the time. The whole band, they move great, they’re elegant, they have a real finesse, and they play great. But mainly the thing is that they have the vibe. They’ve always got the vibe. So it always works like clockwork, and that’s what turns me on. When it’s too polite there’s always the danger of overplaying something, or playing it too often or over rehearsing. No one wants to go through the motions up there. So they’re always paying attention to each other, and that keeps it kind of exciting all the time. No one is thinking about if they have to call their girlfriend in 20 minutes.”



Hynde also sees her role in the Pretenders clearly, and it’s not just as the singer.

“I am certainly the weakest player up there,” she says, with a laugh. “But my job is to orchestrate it, and I will sometimes just **** it up a little bit so that the guys never quite know if I’m gonna change it or rearrange it, or even when I’m going to end the song!”

When I mention that’s how Bob Dylan operates, she laughs again. Hard.

“Well, that’s an extreme,” she says. “I don’t try to **** them up that much. I just want to keep them on their toes. I mean, Bob can do whatever he wants because he’s Bob!”

I ask Hynde about Dylan’s recent Nobel Prize, and she immediately gets excited.

“How awesome is it that he didn’t say anything for two weeks and then he said he was speechless?” she asks, full of laughter again. “The thing that people don’t realize about Bob, which I’m always quite amazed by, is that he’s ****ing hilarious. And I think because he’s a poet — and he’s a genius and all that — people take him so seriously. So I think they miss a lot of the humor. But you can hear it in his music, if you pay attention. Anyway, I thought that was just hilarious.”



While Hynde runs a relatively democratic ship in the Pretenders, she’s all too aware she’s the focus of attention as the frontperson, even if she’s humble about her place in the scheme of things.

“I try getting my guys up front, and addressing the audience, because I spend most of my time up there,” she says. “But I know what an audience wants. I know they want to be engaged. They don’t want to watch a sound check or a rehearsal. They want to be part of it!

“You know, when I go on stage, I know my position when I’m out there,” Hynde continues. “I know who I am when I’m out there. I have to. But in my heart of hearts, whenever I stand on the side of the stage, and I’m about to walk on, for me it’s a happening. Everyone in that whole place is part of it. Whether you’re in the third row, or you’re in the balcony, or you’re on the lighting towers, or you’re doing the sound, or you’re on stage, we’re all part of it and everyone has to do what they do best. That’s what makes the whole thing work. So I never think it’s all about me. If I thought that, I would just find that kind of boring.

“Like I said, I don’t like solo things. It wouldn’t hold the interest for me. What interests me is to turn around and see those eyes, you know, the guys in the band. They started playing when they were kids, and it’s the thing they love the most in the world. On stage, that’s when they feel the most themselves. If you just wind them up and turn them loose it’s just a joy for me. And when you look into the audience, and see people looking to the bass player, saying, ‘****ing hell, I wish I could still play bass.’ That’s amazing. I can tell everyone in the audience who used to play and hung up their guitar. You can see it and you’re thinking, ‘You wish you still played, don’t you?’ Because there’s no better feeling than doing what we do. There just isn’t.”

stevie-nicks-pretenders-tour-2016

When Hynde first got the tour schedule for her trek with Nicks, she found it a bit too leisurely. So she spoke to her management and filled in some of the gaps with Pretenders headlining shows.

“There were so many days off on this tour that I started freaking out when I saw the schedule,” Hynde explains. “I thought, ‘Well, I’m gonna go ****ing nuts.’ Because you know we don’t really do days off. I mean, a day off after three shows, maybe four, is fine because if I do more than that it’s against me, psychologically, and I start to get a little ****ed up in the head. I’ve got to take a break from it. But there were a lot of days off on this tour. I don’t know how Stevie organizes it but what we’ve done is we’ve popped in a lot of our own shows between on some of these days off.

“There we can do a lot of our new songs, because with Stevie I can’t expect to go out for an hour to an audience that isn’t there to see me and say, ‘Hey, listen to all our new songs!’ They’ll be, like, ‘Well, **** you. Who are you? I don’t even know who you are.’”
“So we hit them with stuff they know because that’s the name of the game. But for our audiences, at our own shows, everyone that’s going to come probably has listened to [Alone], because when we did it with the Stockholm album, and we went out and toured it, certainly everyone that I could see up at the front seemed to know all the words. They’d been listening to it. And it’s actually a pleasure to do the new songs, because you feel like the audience knows what you’re talking about. I mean, the thing is, when you’re in a band, every time you do a song in front of a new audience it’s like the song is new again. So if it’s an emotional song, it’s just as emotional as it was the day you wrote it. But there’s also an element of over doing something and that’s why it’s good to have the option to move some songs around and to try some different ones. So you don’t get jaded. To do the material that you’ve just been working on more recently, that’s how you get the biggest kick. Let’s face it, it’s got to be.”

Photo: Jill Furmanovsky
Photo: Jill Furmanovsky
Still, Auerbach says that even though the Pretenders touring band is a crack unit, the sessions for Alone began as a Chrissie Hynde solo record. It was only once recording was well under way that Hynde thought of calling it the Pretenders.

“I think that what Chrissie was feeling was how much of a band feel it had,” Auerbach says of the Nashville sessions. “We weren’t sticking to the demos. I’d picked these musicians because I love what they can do on the fly, and how they can improvise. That’s why they’re there! And I guess she just felt it was really a band effort. It wasn’t just Chrissie making a new record. And she really loved that, and everybody did. I think it’s just when you’re able to really have success, making something, creating something with a whole group of people, it can feel so much more satisfying in the end. Because the more people you add the more the odds are just stacked against you. It’s going to be more and more difficult. So when it actually works, and it did work in this case — we did the whole record in 8 days or something like that — it’s a really overwhelming feeling, it just feels extra special, and I think that might be why she called it the Pretenders.”

Hynde, typically, is more blunt, if a bit more evasive.

“I think the thing with Stockholm was that I thought I’d try something different. I don’t know what to say, call me a whatever. It’s a band, and I’m out with the band, and it’s my own damn fault, because I just don’t like solo stuff. I like bands and Alone was made by a band. Everybody wants to get my take it, and I’ve talked about it for 40 years now, whether it’s a solo thing — if it’s just me — or if it’s a band. So let’s say it’s a band.”

- See more at: http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2016/12/09/chrissie-hynde-pretenders-interview-dan-auerbach-alone-new-album-tour/#sthash.A0ptB68U.dpuf

[SisterNightroad]

Rocker Chrissie Hynde says she's a recluse and 'lone wolf' in new documentary

<iframe width="780" height="439" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aOHdooks490" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

One isn’t the loneliest number, according to musician Chrissie Hynde.

The 65-year-old Pretenders lead singer bluntly describes herself as a “lone wolf” and reveals she spends most of her time by herself, in an upcoming BBC documentary, which follows the musician as she travels between Paris, London and New York where she’s interviewed by old pal, actress Sandra Bernhard.

“I think being alone is a huge luxury,” the “Brass in Pocket” singer says.

“It’s my choice, I like it,” she says. “I get lonely and morose. But you know, I’m a prize, if no one wants to pick up on that, f--k them.”

The rocker, who rose to fame in 1979 when her band The Pretenders — who had formed the year earlier — rose to the top of the charts with the single “Brass in Pocket," just appeared at SXSW where she sang with Stevie Nicks.

Hynde had a daughter, Natalie, in 1983 with Ray Davies of The Kinks and then had another daughter, Yasmin, in 1985 with Simple Minds lead singer Jim Kerr whom she married. In 1997 she married again, this time to artist Lucho Brieva, but they separated in 2002.

Later while lunching with Bernhard, the singer bemoans her non-existent love life.

“It’s from isolation, I spend all my time along, I have nothing else to do,” she explains.

Instead, she focuses on several issues close to her heart including vegetarianism. Hynde has been vegeterian for more than 30 years.

“Vegan tyranny winds me up,” she explains. “It’s all become about nutrition, it’s not about compassion anymore. I am a vegan in practice but in theory I am a vegetarian, they don’t like that.”

She also says she has a book on “cow protection,” coming out.



http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/chrissie-hynde-recluse-article-1.2996482

[SisterNightroad]

SXSW: Chrissie Hynde in Wisecracking Form as the Pretenders Deliver Hits-Filled Show

Chrissie Hynde was certainly aware of the Pretenders’ surroundings as the group filmed an episode of Austin City Limits on Monday night (March 13) during South By Southwest.

“We’re not taking stock of the fact this is being filmed,” Hynde told the crowd at ACL Live’s Moody Theater early in the quintet’s nearly 90-minute set. “To us this is just another gig…You don’t have to be polite. We don’t plan it on it.” But even though she later acknowledged a bit of self-consciousness, Hynde and company rose above it to deliver a stirring 18-song show, making the most of the venue -- intimate compared to the arenas Pretenders has been playing recently with Stevie Nicks, including the previous night in Austin -- and the chance to play slightly longer than that opening slot usually allows.

Hynde delivered a dose of cheek, too. Her chief target was the ACL line on the floor in front of the stage, which attendees were warned not to cross. “Don’t cross that line – how many times have you heard THAT before?” she cracked early on, though insisting that, “I’m not trying to incite anything.” But she made several other mentions about it throughout the night before waving the crowd forward during the closing “Brass In Pocket,” even bringing one exuberant fan onstage for the last half of the song.

Hynde also drew groans over a joke of questionable taste; Asking a fan seated sidestage in a wheelchair how he was doing she related that, “I dated a guy in a wheelchair once,” Hynde noted. “****er dumped me. He got tired of me pushing him around.” She ordered the production team at one point to do away with the light fog “haze” used to soften the lighting, complaining that it affected her singing. “I’m not used to being gagged – of late,” Hynde quipped. And she was profuse in her praise of Austin, name-checking musicians such as Charlie Sexton and Willie Nelson as well as the nearby condominium where the group was staying. “I could live in one of those condos – If I could afford it. If YOU could afford it,” she quipped.

Musically, meanwhile, Hynde and company were in tight, mid-tour form, starting with a pair of tracks from last year’s Dan Auerbach-produced Alone -- the title track and “Gotta Wait” -- before Hynde removed her dark jacket to reveal a Recycled Records T-shirt to begin a hit parade that included “Message Of Love” and “Private Life.” Pedal steel player Eric Heywood made his presence known on the latter as well as “Hymn To Her” and “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” while James Walbourne continued to cement himself in the group’s formidable lineage of lead guitarists with slashing solos during “My City Was Gone,” “Mystery Achievement” and “Middle Of The Road” as well as chiming ambience for “Up The Neck.”

“My City Was Gone” also gave Hynde the opportunity for some political discourse as she noted -- perhaps surprisingly -- that, “Things are looking up in the States. There are some problems, but when weren’t there problems? We don’t have slavery. You can be gay. You can be in a ****ing rock band!” And when it was a band as sharp as the Pretenders were on Monday night, it was definitely an early up note for SXSW.



http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/sxsw/7721011/sxsw-chrissie-hynde-pretenders

[SisterNightroad]

Chrissie Hynde, holding out for the independents

Chrissie Hynde lit out of Ohio as a young woman, found her way to London, witnessed the birth of the punk scene and came up with her own indelible band, the Pretenders, in 1978. The picture of a tough, snarling frontwoman, Hynde continues her campaign with a different band (save for drummer Martin Chambers) on an arena tour with Stevie Nicks, which also provides time for the occasional headlining show.
The tour started last fall, after the release of the first Pretenders album in eight years, “Alone,” and Hynde’s revealing memoir, “Reckless: My Life as a Pretender.”

We spoke with Hynde, 65, recently from Memphis, where she had just visited Graceland and had to be reminded that she was arrested there once (“I forgot about that!”).

Q: What has it been like on the Stevie Nicks tour? It doesn’t seem like a natural fit.

A: I met Stevie over the years, and we like each other. I think the timing was right. I really didn’t know what to expect at all. We were in arenas with her and traditionally, I don’t like big venues. I like clubs and theaters. But I’ve been – in fact the whole band has been – surprised at how much we enjoy the arenas, because of just the way it’s lit and the sound.

We really liked it. So we took on another leg of it, which is what we’re on now. And then on our days off, we get to do our own shows. Which is great, because we get to do a longer set. But it’s slightly frustrating, because we go in, and we hadn’t played those songs for a while. It can put us in a state of anxiety, but that’s always good.

Q: Your latest album was done with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Was it just a coincidence that he’s also from Akron?

A: It’s a coincidence. I probably left Akron before he was born. I left in 1973. I don’t know how old Dan is, in his late 30s? But he feels like he’s older than me. His musical sensibility is really sophisticated and very old-fashioned in a really good way. He really hears music in terms of vinyl albums – side one, side two. So he has all these elements, and his knowledge of music is very classical, I think, and very modern.

Q: You call it “Alone,” and it follows your 2014 album, “Stockholm.” Was this going to be a solo album in the beginning as well?

A: The reason I probably called the “Stockholm” album solo is because I was asked for 30 years, “Yeah, but it’s really just you, isn’t it?” every time I did an interview, and it got so frustrating that I finally said, “OK, so call it Chrissie Hynde.” But that didn’t feel right, so we went back to the Pretenders.

I think of this album as a Dan Auerbach/Chrissie Hynde album. But when people first listened to the album, they said, “Oh, it’s good to hear the Pretenders are back.” So I called Dan and said, “What do you think about that?” And he said, “I don’t care what you call it. Call it whatever sells the most records.”

Q: I was looking at some of the duets you’ve done over the years. I had forgotten you had done “Luck Be a Lady” with Frank Sinatra. What was that like?

A: I went in, as I always do, very, very unprepared. I think it’s just a throwback to when I was in school. I never did my homework, and I still can’t get my head around anything until I’m actually doing it. So I really let myself down often with my last-minute preparation.

The one that I think was probably my most favorite unknown gem in my mind was the one I did with Willie Nelson. I certainly guested with some of my favorite artists – Emmylou Harris, I was on an INXS album, I was on Mick Ronson’s last album. I’ve been on an Elvis Costello record. I sang background vocals for U2, and my name isn’t on that – “In the Name of Love,” I’m the background vocalist. Tons of stuff.

But you do it because you like the artist, you go in, you’re friends, you do it, and then you leave. I kind of don’t want to be in the mainstream. The thing that turns me on about music is its anti-establishment aspect. In my head, that’s where I’m at. I’d rather stay in the shadows. But not so much that nobody knows who I am and you can’t get gigs. So you’ve got to tread the middle ground all the time.

Q: Amid all your rock songs, the 1994 ballad “I’ll Stand by You” has become something of a standard among younger artists. How did it come about?

A: That was a very coldblooded attempt to get back on the radio. I was writing with Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, and their whole thing is to make hits. At the time, the Pretenders weren’t really on the radio so much. Then I realized how I had taken that for granted, being on the radio and how I missed being on the radio. Because that’s why I always made records, was to be on the radio.

So when I worked with Tom and Billy, that was really what I say was a coldblooded attempt to write something to get on the radio. To be honest, I was a little ashamed of it. I didn’t even want to put it on the record, because I thought it was a little bit too sentimental. It didn’t fulfill my rock credentials that I thought I had to have.

But I played it to a couple of girls who weren’t in the music business; they actually worked in a boxing management company. I like to play stuff for people who have nothing to do with the music business to get their real reaction of people who work in shops – you know, real listeners. And I looked over at these girls, and they both were in tears by the end of the song, so I said, “Yep, we’ll do it. Put it on the record.”

I really enjoy doing it now. I love it. I wouldn’t put anything out that I didn’t believe in. There are songs I like better than others, obviously.

Q: Which ones?

A: It just depends if there are songs we haven’t played for a while; when we bring them back it’s always good. We’ve got quite a few songs now, and we can only do so many. I think an hour-long set is perfect, but people expect more at your own shows. I mean, we could play three hours. But I don’t like to see anything for three hours. I just think it’s too long. I don’t think it’s a proper show. But that’s just for me … I think I would just become a bore.

Q: One of the surprising things about your memoir is how big a role drugs played.

A: Yeah, I was surprised myself. At one point I said this was a story about drugs. It wasn’t unique to me.

Q: There is such a different kind of drug epidemic now.

A: Oh, it’s a scandal. It’s a huge problem. I think it’s a bigger problem than we’ve ever had in this country. These painkillers are prescribed, they get Vicodin, OxyContin, whatever they get, they steal the pills, they get hooked on them. Everyone I know in Ohio is on pills.

Obviously, there are all sort of drugs that are lifesavers. I’ve taken them all. But I don’t take anything now. And I look around me now and I don’t see many people my age who can say that.



https://www.abqjournal.com/975538/chrissie-hynde-holding-out-for-the-independents.html

[SisterNightroad]

Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde Tells Fans Filming Concert To “Stick Your Phone Up Your Ass”

Pretenders’ frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has cracked it at a crowd in Dubai for filming their concert.

As The Sun report, Hynde stormed off the stage after calling the crowd “c**ts” and told them to “stick your phone up your ass”, appearing annoyed at everyone pulling their phones out to film the gig.

She also reportedly said that she didn’t give a “****” because she already had their money. She then walked off stage but not before cocking her leg and saying, “Take a picture of that.”

This week the band will touch down in Australia playing headline shows as well as supporting Stevie Nicks. The first show will be in Perth and upon touching down in Dubai Hynde wrote on Facebook, “Hot and a little jet-lagged but looking forward to Perth!”

After a recent UK tour Hynde took to Facebook to apologise for being “a bit of a bitch when it came to camera phones”.

“I know I’m sometimes not the celebrity you want, but believe me, I suffer for it later that night and wish I could be a nicer person,” she wrote.

The Dubai audience that copped Hynde’s serve were also not treated to an encore which means they didn’t get to hear one of the band’s biggest songs ‘Brass In Pocket’.

The band are yet to speak out about the incident.



Read more at http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/pretenders-chrissie-hynde-tells-fans-filming-concert-stick-phone-ass/#I4f3XKypcl836IeH.99

[Newzchspy]

Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde Tells Fans Filming Concert To “Stick Your Phone Up Your Ass”

Pretenders’ frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has cracked it at a crowd in Dubai for filming their concert.

As The Sun report, Hynde stormed off the stage after calling the crowd “c**ts” and told them to “stick your phone up your ass”, appearing annoyed at everyone pulling their phones out to film the gig.

She also reportedly said that she didn’t give a “****” because she already had their money. She then walked off stage but not before cocking her leg and saying, “Take a picture of that.”

This week the band will touch down in Australia playing headline shows as well as supporting Stevie Nicks. The first show will be in Perth and upon touching down in Dubai Hynde wrote on Facebook, “Hot and a little jet-lagged but looking forward to Perth!”

After a recent UK tour Hynde took to Facebook to apologise for being “a bit of a bitch when it came to camera phones”.

“I know I’m sometimes not the celebrity you want, but believe me, I suffer for it later that night and wish I could be a nicer person,” she wrote.

The Dubai audience that copped Hynde’s serve were also not treated to an encore which means they didn’t get to hear one of the band’s biggest songs ‘Brass In Pocket’.

The band are yet to speak out about the incident.



Read more at http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/pretenders-chrissie-hynde-tells-fans-filming-concert-stick-phone-ass/#I4f3XKypcl836IeH.99I used to listen to TP on Sirius satellite radio and he "felt" the same way . When he first opened his channel, he talked about how people in the restaurants don't talk anymore and that they look like a "pumpkin patch" with their faces all aglow from their cell phone!! The only difference is, he never acted on it like Chrissie apparently did in Dubai.

[ricohv]

Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde Tells Fans Filming Concert To “Stick Your Phone Up Your Ass”

Pretenders’ frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has cracked it at a crowd in Dubai for filming their concert.

As The Sun report, Hynde stormed off the stage after calling the crowd “c**ts” and told them to “stick your phone up your ass”, appearing annoyed at everyone pulling their phones out to film the gig.

She also reportedly said that she didn’t give a “****” because she already had their money. She then walked off stage but not before cocking her leg and saying, “Take a picture of that.”

This week the band will touch down in Australia playing headline shows as well as supporting Stevie Nicks. The first show will be in Perth and upon touching down in Dubai Hynde wrote on Facebook, “Hot and a little jet-lagged but looking forward to Perth!”

After a recent UK tour Hynde took to Facebook to apologise for being “a bit of a bitch when it came to camera phones”.

“I know I’m sometimes not the celebrity you want, but believe me, I suffer for it later that night and wish I could be a nicer person,” she wrote.

The Dubai audience that copped Hynde’s serve were also not treated to an encore which means they didn’t get to hear one of the band’s biggest songs ‘Brass In Pocket’.

The band are yet to speak out about the incident.



Read more at http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/pretenders-chrissie-hynde-tells-fans-filming-concert-stick-phone-ass/#I4f3XKypcl836IeH.99
I'm curious to know if she's this adamant when on tour w Stevie? And, I imagine Stevie feels this strongly about cell phones but I doubt she'd ever make such a statement about it at one of her shows-or even allow Chryssie to (if she has that control over the supporting act?).
I think Stevie would be afraid to alienate fans that way.

[MikeInNV]

Chrissie said something at both 24KG shows I attended, but nothing quite as bold and blunt as all this. I know phones used to bother Stevie, but I think she's gotten over it. At one of my shows, security advised someone in the front row not to film Chrissie because she didn't like it, but then said that when Stevie came on they could take all the pictures they wanted.

[SisterNightroad]

Chrissie Hynde reveals what it's like touring with Stevie Nicks

Chrissie Hynde has a long-held reputation for being the epitome of rock and roll anti-establishment, sticking it to the man, shirking fame, and even being a little mean.

There are things she hates talking about - feminism, keeping The Pretenders name, the messages in her music - but speaking ahead of her tour with Stevie Nicks, she blows all the preconceptions out of the water.

So you're coming to New Zealand on tour with Stevie Nicks - how on earth did that come about? That's kind of an odd match.

It was actually a lot more compatible than I would've thought. I've certainly been on the road with a lot of different people in the past but this was particularly...I don't know...our sets are very different from each other, we really slam home some rock in an hour and then she does a lot of talking and explains her songs so it's kind of an interesting dynamic between the two of us.

We've become very fond of each other and it's been a lovely experience actually, to work with her.

Are you excited to come back to New Zealand? It's been a long time since your last visit.

Yeah, I've been there a couple of times. We had a really memorable gig in New Plymouth...and the audience got so nuts they actually were jumping into the lake and swimming up to the stage. And I remember the first time I was there - this is really going back, 30 years ago - there were bikers and they were lighting flares, it was really crazy and that impressed me because I like that kind of ****.

I'm certainly looking forward to getting back there.

And fans can still very much expect a Pretenders show, right? Despite the obvious line-up difference?

You know, the name was a thing that sort of plagued me because...I wanted to keep the music going and I worked very hard to get it to that point, and it didn't feel like I should just stop playing those songs so I kept the name.

I'm not a solo artist, I never have been. I know I had that Stockholm album...but I think that's just because I got so tired of defending the ethos of a band, everyone kept saying, "but it's really just you". Actually, it's not though, I can really only work with a band, as you'll see if you come to see us.

Talk to me about the latest album; I find it interesting that at one end it celebrates being alone, and at the other, there's a song called I Hate Myself.

Yeah, you know I could say it was slightly tongue in cheek but it's not really. That's a kind of universal theme, everyone I've ever met certainly has had a day where you wake up and look in the mirror and think, oh f**k.

We do it every day - if we drink too much, if we don't stop smoking, if we eat too much, if we've been an asshole to someone, if we let ourselves down. Of course, we're human so we all make mistakes and...at some point, you wish you'd behaved differently.

I don't really use music to try to moralise or send a message out to people...it just seems to have hit a nerve, that song.

So you're not trying to spread any messages and you've been very vocal about not being into awards and celebrity - so why do you do it, what's a victory to you?

Look, I think awards are fine for sports, because...there's clearly a winner, but music is such an emotional thing and...it's very subjective and also from a rock and roll point of view, it's everything I f**king loathe, to be honest.

Awards, accolades - I mean it's very nice if people love the music but to me, it's all about if a song comes on the radio, if you want to turn it up or you want to turn it over.

I guess the thing that I don't like about it is that it makes an establishment and the reason that most of us got into this is because we were trying to be anti-establishment. It's just not rock and roll, man.

But I'll tell you a story: I was in the train station the other day, and my guitar player said "don't go over there because there's a girl with one of our shirts" - she'd obviously been to our show the day before and he thought that she might hassle me. So I just walked over to her and said "I like your shirt", and she looked at me, she went: "Oh my God we named our daughter after you."

We had this lovely moment and when I was leaving [her husband] went: "You've been really nice and we read that you were such a bitch."

So it's more those human moments than any of the other stuff that does it for you?

Yeah, f**k the awards. The great thing for me is when I'm on stage and I turn and look at my guitar player and I look at the audience and see them all thinking "f**king hell he's amazing", and that's what turns me on; when I see the response to the band, because people want to dance and they want to be happy.

LOWDOWN:
Who: Chrissie Hynde
What: Stevie Nicks' 24 Karat Gold Tour with The Pretenders
When: November 20-24
Where: Auckland's Spark Arena and Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium
See: Livenation.co.nz for details.



http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11938872

[Nathan]

Good interview, thanks for posting.

Her guitarist is definitely a hottie

[SisterNightroad]

Rocker Chrissie Hynde says ”mobile phones are the new cigarettes”
Going to see Chrissie Hynde in concert this month? Best leave your phone in your pocket. The Pretenders’ front woman and rock icon says people filming concerts on their phones proves “cool is dead.”

THINKING of getting your phone out at the Pretenders’ upcoming Australian shows?
Maybe keep it in your pocket.
Chrissie Hynde lashed out an audience in Dubai, calling them “c----s” for filming the band on stage and offered a place to put their phone which wouldn’t see a lot of daylight.
During her first Australian shows on this tour she’s already been asking fans to put their phones away and watch the shows with their eyes.
“People are uncool,” Hynde says. “Cool is dead. When I see someone on their phone at a rock show I think it’s further confirmation that cool is dead. It’s like a compulsion. It’s like smoking. Phones are the new cigarettes.”

Hynde has an eagle-eye when it comes to mobile phones.
“It’s a hideous distraction when you’re trying to do a show and you see people on their phones taking pictures and texting. I’ll stop in the middle of a song and say ‘Lady, put your phone down’. We have announcements not to use your phones before our own shows. I’m really eyeing the audience all the time. If people are on their phones I find it quite demoralising. I’m up there trying to do my thing, I can’t work out why they’re on their phones. It’s a modern conundrum.”
Hynde is also not a fan of the new autograph — a selfie.
“I don’t particularly like my picture being taken. I tell people that and ask them if they like having their picture taken and they say ‘No, not really’ and I say ‘There you go’. It just can be very intrusive.”
The Pretenders are Australia-bound at the personal invitation of Stevie Nicks; they’ll open for Nicks as well playing a handful of their own shows.
The slots opening for Fleetwood Mac icon Nicks are literally an hour of power — shoehorning in hits including Brass in Pocket, Message of Love, Talk of the Town, Hymn to Her, Don’t Get Me Wrong, Middle of the Road and a handful of songs from latest album Alone.

“We have to really cram it in on that hour we get with Stevie, which is great, we can do it. Personally, I think an hour is long enough for a band to play. I’m not a big fan of bands who play for three hours. I’ve never watched a band play for three hours in life. I think you can get the job done in half that time.
“When we do our own shows we’ve got a larger body of material than we can cram into that hour, so we have to give people what we think they want. If we had more time we could give them what we want. As much as I don’t like a three hour show, we could easily do one.”
Nicks and Hynde had never met before starting their double tour earlier this year.
They’ve become fast friends — Hynde even steps in for the late Tom Petty on the duet Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around — a song that’s become more poignant since his passing.
“Stevie is very sweet, very gracious, she loves her dog,” Hynde says. “She’s got a lot of friends around her, it’s a nice feeling of family on the road. It’s totally different for me, my only entourage is the band, I don’t even have a wardrobe person. I look like one of the road crew and she looks like a queen, but we meet in the middle somewhere and have a lot in common.
“I was surprised at how compatible the two bands are. Audiences like guitar based rock and that’s certainly what they get with us. It works really well. I just have to remember not to talk too much so I can get all the songs in. I can’t go off on one. Stevie talks in-between songs and explains where they came from and people get that with her. On our own shows I have more to say. I think people would rather hear me sing than talk given the choice.”

Hynde recently added Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant to her long list of musical collaborations — reworking Alone’s Let’s Get Lost as a duet.
She duetted with Michael Hutchence on the title track of INXS’ Full Moon Dirty Hearts (“Michael and I were mates, but we weren’t best friends”) - there’s even a video for the song featuring Ben Mendelsohn. and is an uncredited backing vocalist on U2’s Pride (In the Name of Love).
“I’d met Bono that night, U2 had played in Dublin that night. We went back to the studio, Brian Eno was there and they said ‘Do you want to hear the demo we’re working on?’ I thought it was a demo, Bono said ‘Sing here’ and that was it.”
Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the Pretenders forming after Hynde moved from the US to the UK — she almost married Sex Pistol Sid Vicious for a visa.

She hasn’t planned anything to mark the occasion, similarly she hasn’t planned a second autobiography — her first, Reckless, charted her youth and ended just as the Pretenders had broken through and two members, Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott died.
“I didn’t expect the book to end there but once Pete died I couldn’t write the next chapter, it just felt wrong,” Hynde says. “Since then I haven’t thought about it too much. There’s been 30 years of stuff that’s happened since then. I enjoyed writing it more than I thought, it was good to get it out of my system so I could turn the page and move forward and not have to talk about it so much. The irony is you write a book and you have to talk about it more.”

Hynde is also “bored” about talking about the other major legacy in her life — animal rights.
She became a vegetarian at age 17 (“as soon as I heard the word I knew it was for me”) and supports Ahimsa farming, where dairy cows die of old age.
“None of the animals get killed. If you want to drink milk you can. It’s not about being vegan or vegetarian it’s just about looking after the animals.”
She’s befriended fellow meat-dodgers Paul McCartney and Morrissey but questions how much things have changed in the way of animal rights.
“To be honest, I find the subject kind of tedious because it never goes away. I don’t necessarily find things are changing. 40 or 50 years ago people didn’t think about it very much, so it was important to talk about it. Now all the information is out there, everyone can make their choice.”
The Pretenders, Forum Theatre, November 17. Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders, Rod Laver Arena, November 16, A Day on the Green Rochford Wines November 18.



http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/rocker-chrissie-hynde-says-mobile-phones-are-the-new-cigarettes/news-story/23f3ac19adba6f276945b314e8e19abe