"Music has been a touchstone for me" (From The Bolton News)

"Music has been a touchstone for me"

9:20am Thursday 12th August 2010 in

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BACK in 1995, one song was everywhere. Sampling from Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, the Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ hit Scooby Snacks made robbing banks cooler than it had been since Butch and Sundance.

Fifteen years on, frontman Huey Morgan still has the same New York purr that, despite his marriage and subsequent domestic bliss, suggests that he could charm the birds into the cat’s mouth, should he so wish.

He’s a busy man, is Huey, what with the business interests, the radio show, the acting roles and goodness knows how many other pies. But he’s never too busy to work with his band, which is why after Classic Fantastic, their first studio album in five years, was released in March the Crims are heading out on tour again.

“We’re playing a bit off the beaten track,” he says. “We wanted to play to the people. We could sit on our ass but we’re a band, we should be on stage.”

Despite his laissez-faire attitude, Huey knows that nowadays, touring is where the money is. But rather than railing against the download culture, he gives music away for free via the Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ website — and says that they have all the more fans for doing so.

“Pretty much anyone over the age of 11 ain’t buying music any more,” he says. “That’s fine by us, we have our own record label, it’s not like we’re part of the big music industry.”

So he’s not riling about how unfair it is for kids to get music for free, like some other bands we could name?

“I think it’s great,” he says. “I think nowadays bands are in more direct contact with the fans, it’s like they’re cutting out the middle man of the record industry.”

This expansive attitude to sharing music has spread to his 6 Music radio show, which plays an eclectic mix, from Tom Waits to Broken Social Scene.

“Music is one of those things that has been a touchstone for me - I want the show to be like that for more people,” he says.

He admits he was worried when the BBC first said that they would close 6 Music, a decision which has since been overturned due to a huge public outcry.

“I was a little worried,” he says. “I always thought it was such a good station it would be silly to lose it. But when you hear David Cameron’s voice saying that he listens to it, you know that it’s not going anywhere.”

He’s passionate about the bands that have influenced him, and we discuss how the blues have influenced so much modern music, including his own. He likens music industry time to dog years, saying that the band see their five years away as a chance to start fresh and impress a new audience.

“It’s been kinda surprising the way the crowds have been a the shows,” he says. “There’s some guys my age, but there’s also a lot of younger kids looking for something different.

“A lot of commercial music is aimed at the lowest common denominator, but people out there have got brains in their heads.”

• Fun Lovin’ Criminals play 53 Degrees, in Preston, on September 4.