Melody Maker
26 July 1986

SHRINK Rap
BILL CARTER of the Screaming Blue Messiahs on the MM couch

GUNS
About two years ago I used to be really into guns, but now I've gone off them. I think they're a little too close for comfort. I'd protect my flat with a gun, and I suppose I'd like one, but I always feel if you've got one, you're gonna use it.

HATS
It's normal to wear hats in America, but you can't really wear a hat here. I think people deem them to be too outrageous nowadays. People won't tolerate them. We live in self-conscious times.

THE CLASH
The first thing that comes into my head is Joe Strummer. The second thing that comes into my head is disappearance. That's politics for you, innit?

FREEDOM
That's the one. It's quite elusive. I think money can help you compensate for a lack of freedom. I think it can buy you a bit of time, but it never compensates for what's in your head. It helps if you have no aspirations and no ambitions. The amount of money you get to a certain extent dictates what you are able to do with your time. I'd love a lot of money. Then I'd just piss off somewhere. I'd keep moving – a bit smarter than gypsies – one of the few wandering Conservatives!

SPARE TIME
I do fuck all with time I have to myself. The nearest I come to doing anything is washing my Porsche.

DANGER
The smallest things seem dangerous to me. I find getting up the most treacherous part of life. I was in a plane that hit a storm as it was taking off and we all thought we were going to die. When we eventually landed I slid off the seat. I like things to be exciting, but not life-endangering. The hour or two hours we play on stage is the only time I really enjoy anything. I suppose that's a form of freedom.

CAREERS
There's nothing else I could do that would give me what I've got. Well, there is something, but I don't want to depress anyone so I'll keep quiet about it. I like doing what you shouldn't do, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

WATCHES
They've become very cheap now. I still don't have one though. I find wearing one too claustrophobic.

NEWCASTLE
It used to be a nice place before the town planner poured a lot of concrete all over it. It's a nice accent still. Dartmouth is my favourite town – a good naval base.

FLYING
I'd rather sail. I don't like being locked up in a plane. There's always some drunk with marriage problems sitting right in front of you!

SHAVING
Life's great problem. I shave my head because I think it looks better. I suppose shaving adds a much needed dicipline to life.

THE DOLE
The one place I never want to see again.

READING
I'd like to read more, but I can't concentrate. I always find books get on my nerves after the first couple of paragraphs. You end up not liking the person that's writing them. I like Raymond Chandler – it's about the only author I've ever got through.

ADS
Funnily enough, I suggested selling ads on our last album last year, but the idea didn't go down too well with the record company. I'm always trying to find ways of getting more money. I also thought that anyone who bought our album and it got into the charts, they get a free album. Nobody listens to me about that sort of thing because I've never worked it out right.

POLICEMEN
You've guessed it. If I wasn't in a band I'd be a policeman, fighting crime. I'd have to be a detective. I wouldn't like to wear those stupid hats, I only like the flat ones with checks around it, like 'Z Cars'.

BOREDOM
I think I'm really boring. My car isn't.

AMERICANS
You're either for them or against them, really. I don't know what I feel, I haven't sussed them out yet. It's a bit like 'Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers'. I'm not sure if I want to be one of them.

DENTURES
It's a bit like dying really. It's all part of rotting away.