Field Dispatch
Jah Wobble | Matt Connarton Unleashed
Speaker 1: Oh, let me bring this up, John Able, is that you?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Sorry about that?
Speaker 2: You know, I've got my phone on, got my headphones
Speaker 2: on ready, and then I'll say, miss Cole, I've not
Speaker 2: on anyway.
Speaker 3: Are you great?
Speaker 1: Great? No, It's wonderful to have you. I'm excited that
Speaker 1: you're here. I love the I love the album. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I listen to the whole thing. It's it's
Speaker 1: absolutely excellent, and you know it's it's very interesting, it's
Speaker 1: very very topical obviously. And can you tell us about
Speaker 1: about this collaboration with John Klein. Uh? We played Uh,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what we played from it so far
Speaker 1: this morning. Uh, this collaboration Automated Paradise. We played Fading Away,
Speaker 1: Who Wins? And Make It Stop? And I told our audience,
Speaker 1: I said, make sure you're paying attention to the lyrics
Speaker 1: of these because, uh, you know, these guys are saying
Speaker 1: a lot. But can you tell us about this project,
Speaker 1: this release Automated Paradise, and and what the theme of
Speaker 1: it is?
Speaker 3: Well, dystopia is the theme.
Speaker 2: I suppose the world Samsara is really heating up and
Speaker 2: everything's pretty crazy now, isn't it.
Speaker 3: There isn't any.
Speaker 2: Sense of that you can take refuge anywhere in this
Speaker 2: world and find peace everywhere is s troubled it seems,
Speaker 2: you know. So we had dead time in the studio.
Speaker 2: Me and John. I started a community project for music
Speaker 2: in an auth of England quite a few years years ago,
Speaker 2: moved it to London where a very good friend of
Speaker 2: mine is involved with a local council and he's very
Speaker 2: good friends with John and I met. I met John
Speaker 2: fuss All actually doing a He came to video a
Speaker 2: show that we did. He's a very good video maker.
Speaker 2: John's got all the qualifications, even makes corporate video sometimes
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. So we met, we became friends,
Speaker 2: started working on a community project, built a studio, so
Speaker 2: we have lots of times together to record and hang
Speaker 2: out and we get on very well. We did first
Speaker 2: the first thing we did together like that, I think
Speaker 2: was metal Box Rebuilt in dub Okay, and that worked
Speaker 2: really well and we've just continued and this We had
Speaker 2: some dead time. Every time we had some dead time,
Speaker 2: there was a decent drummer about and that actually makes
Speaker 2: a huge.
Speaker 3: Difference, you know, to a session just having much.
Speaker 2: My son was was around on one occasion when we
Speaker 2: had this Japanese girl with Zumi was around on another occasion,
Speaker 2: and a really modest Italian guy called Gilberto, and just
Speaker 2: having a real druma not spectacular, not tribes spectacle, just
Speaker 2: just a good drive to k it.
Speaker 3: Gives it a bit of air to begin with.
Speaker 4: So you have a bit of a real vibe.
Speaker 2: You can't you haven't got the options to go and
Speaker 2: change because it is what it is, and I just felt,
Speaker 2: this is what it is.
Speaker 3: This is in the moment for.
Speaker 2: Once, let's look at the external world rather than the
Speaker 2: inner world to find inner lights or something, which you did.
Speaker 2: Actually just sensible things to do and write about how
Speaker 2: crazy things are.
Speaker 3: And it's very easy actually for me to write about
Speaker 3: how crazy things are and not offer a solutions vid
Speaker 3: the one you know, I wish I could, well, the.
Speaker 2: Only thing that would be turningside. There's no refuge in
Speaker 2: the outer world matter. It's an insane time that we're
Speaker 2: living in. You know, so much information. I find it
Speaker 2: hard to read a book. Now I can read a book,
Speaker 2: but I find it difficult to sit down and allow
Speaker 2: my mind to settle in a calm fashion because they're
Speaker 2: so used to fragmented intomotion.
Speaker 3: Coming at me from the bloody telephone, You're not.
Speaker 1: I think that's part of what I really enjoy about
Speaker 1: the album and what I'm sure that people who listen
Speaker 1: to it, one of the things that they relate to
Speaker 1: is well that it is so relatable because so many
Speaker 1: people feel that way the way that you just described it.
Speaker 1: And that's interesting. What you said too about reading a book.
Speaker 1: You know, even that can be difficult because how do
Speaker 1: you calm your mind and not think about everything else
Speaker 1: is going on in the world. Then you also mentioned too,
Speaker 1: we have more access you know, for better or worse.
Speaker 1: We have more access to information more quickly than ever before,
Speaker 1: and you don't even know if the information that you're
Speaker 1: accessing is correct or not. And you know, with the
Speaker 1: rise of AI and deep fakes and all of it,
Speaker 1: and it's and I think that I think the album
Speaker 1: really kind of speaks to that sense of overwhelm. And
Speaker 1: as you mentioned too, you know, there's no there's no
Speaker 1: solutions necessarily offered, because what is what is the solution?
Speaker 1: I don't know, and it doesn't sound like you do either.
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone really does necessarily other than to
Speaker 1: just try to unplug from it.
Speaker 3: All.
Speaker 1: But that's that's pretty challenging in this world in which
Speaker 1: we live.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean you just what you did there was
Speaker 2: make a build up for me to Buddhism. Actually Budgies,
Speaker 2: I mean, older religions have something to offer. I think
Speaker 2: the biggest religion of our time is materialist ittheism with coats.
Speaker 2: That's the actually the biggest religion that between to it
Speaker 2: with not a huge amount of information but cleaned desperately
Speaker 2: that there's there's nothing. You know, in a nihilistic kind
Speaker 2: of way, you could say, but I think we're Buddhism.
Speaker 2: You know, Buddhism actually teaches that Samsarah. All the stuff
Speaker 2: we're talking about, this external manifestation, how we perceive things.
Speaker 2: We in fact we make this world, We interact with it,
Speaker 2: we make it so the the only the foreheads of Buddhism.
Speaker 2: On the first one, all phenomena lacking here in existence.
Speaker 2: A second, all phenomena la.
Speaker 3: That they're in.
Speaker 5: Permanent permanent, and thirdly or condition phenomena are suffering because
Speaker 5: we suffer because we cling onto things thinking that they're
Speaker 5: definite and they're real and they're stable, when they're not.
Speaker 3: Nothing is the world.
Speaker 2: Is constructed real concepts in the way of course the nirvana,
Speaker 2: so that once once you's go beyond.
Speaker 3: That, once you see beyond that, you're you're in pain.
Speaker 2: So price is possible, I think, actually, but it's not
Speaker 2: a prostlyizing record.
Speaker 3: It's a record where I love.
Speaker 2: The negativity and the craziness and enjoyed pointing fingers and
Speaker 2: and and being being an angry man. I'm enjoyed its
Speaker 2: plan of role.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think who Wins especially, uh really kind of
Speaker 1: connected with me because you asked, you know, you asked
Speaker 1: the question, Well, you know, we have these people who
Speaker 1: are in power, these politicians and whomever. But but in
Speaker 1: the end, who wins? And of course we know who wins.
Speaker 1: The only ones who really win are the people in power,
Speaker 1: because you know, as they continue to amass more power.
Speaker 1: But I think that distrust and power structures. Again, I
Speaker 1: think it's just very relatable for people regard regardless of
Speaker 1: where they sit ideologically. I think everyone can connect with that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think I think a lot of people
Speaker 3: fed up with ideologies. Now.
Speaker 2: I was very left wing kind of guard when I
Speaker 2: was younger, and then it's actually you, so you're for
Speaker 2: this kind of bar bones ideology. But that roadmap doesn't
Speaker 2: fit anymore in the modern world, so you know. And
Speaker 2: then on the other hand, you have what's called right
Speaker 2: wing kind of nationalistic as well. And if you apply
Speaker 2: it with this country, where very angry at the way
Speaker 2: the country's turning out, and this, that and the other.
Speaker 2: But the very hero that they followed, Margaret Thatcher, was
Speaker 2: the person who deregulated everything, attacked the working class, smashed
Speaker 2: the unions, sold, made sure everything council houses, what you
Speaker 2: call projects in America could be sold off, and we
Speaker 2: sold our utility works so become everything was as probably
Speaker 2: as privatized as America. The public basically you probably you know,
Speaker 2: just about as privatized as America. And of course people
Speaker 2: at the time make a little bit of money. A
Speaker 2: lot of people were able to own their own home
Speaker 2: and all that. But eventually, of course it catches up
Speaker 2: with you and the rich get the richer get much
Speaker 2: much richer, seems to be the demographic, you know, and
Speaker 2: the poorer get really poor. In the middle class, it's
Speaker 2: not even the American middle class is very squeezed now financially,
Speaker 2: is it, you know. So and of course you know,
Speaker 2: there's one. A lot of the world leaders now remind
Speaker 2: me of that comic book film Sin City.
Speaker 3: You know, there's sort of you know, you.
Speaker 2: Look at all of them, they all they're all they're
Speaker 2: all kind of parodies. They're that bad, you know, they're
Speaker 2: all parodies.
Speaker 1: You know, well, certainly, I mean when you look at
Speaker 1: American politics, it's especially easy, too easy to see that,
Speaker 1: you know that they're they've become caricatures of of what
Speaker 1: what I thought a politician was growing up. It's it's
Speaker 1: it's unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I remember coming across one or two Labor
Speaker 2: so that's the rough approximate the Democrat Party in America.
Speaker 3: And of course I always grew up. I grew up
Speaker 3: in a very very.
Speaker 2: Left wing area, very left wing, and you had you
Speaker 2: probably had to wade of votes rather than count them.
Speaker 2: It was it was hardly anybody voted voted for the
Speaker 2: other parties.
Speaker 3: It was all labor.
Speaker 2: And you look at those guys from the Labor Party,
Speaker 2: but even some for the Conservative they'd seen the horrors
Speaker 2: of the depression, the terrible, terrible poverty and what they
Speaker 2: did to people, breaking families up, terrible things happening, and
Speaker 2: they and they'd seen the horrors of the Second World War,
Speaker 2: so they really had a municipal They had a thing
Speaker 2: in them that really wanted to put something back in
Speaker 2: and make a better society. At the end of the war,
Speaker 2: Churchill would have been the big wartime leader. It was
Speaker 2: heavily defeated, and the Labor Party, the Socialist Party got in,
Speaker 2: you know, because people just wanted to change at that point.
Speaker 2: You know, when you compare the ploy titians we have
Speaker 2: now with the politicians, then they come up very very short,
Speaker 2: because a lot of politicians, whether on a big level
Speaker 2: or a lower level, are just kind of hustlers. Politics
Speaker 2: is a hustle obviously, we know that. You know America, America,
Speaker 2: you know, so it's pretty ugly. But the more of us,
Speaker 2: it's kind of nice, I think, to put a voice
Speaker 2: into the world saying yeah, if there's any message in
Speaker 2: the record, it's like, yeah, this is all it's too
Speaker 2: shell pass.
Speaker 3: It too shell pass. One way or the other, it
Speaker 3: will pass, you know.
Speaker 1: Right well, assuming it doesn't continue to just get worse
Speaker 1: with each generation. I don't know. I mean, you know, everything's.
Speaker 3: Everything cycles.
Speaker 2: You have relative you have relative levels of peace where
Speaker 2: every with with the with the Cold War, everything felt
Speaker 2: very static. There were literal walls in place. You had
Speaker 2: the Soviet system, you had the Western system, and then
Speaker 2: there's China was always this fowl, scary place, you know
Speaker 2: that even clash with Soviet Russia. So you had three
Speaker 2: kind of you know, world power, but the two main
Speaker 2: well ours obviously Soviet Russia and the West America and
Speaker 2: the West. And now of course that's all with Trump's
Speaker 2: attitudes of beauty, that's all breaking down, the NATO alliances
Speaker 2: severely weakened, and everything fills in a state of flux.
Speaker 2: But you're still essentially you're dinner with constructs and ideas
Speaker 2: in your head of how the world is. You know,
Speaker 2: when the Romans invaded Britain and eventually all the rebellions
Speaker 2: kind of died down, there was a long period of
Speaker 2: relative peace until until you know, the Roman Empire started
Speaker 2: to fall. The barbarians got in through the gate, so
Speaker 2: to speak. And normally the barbarians, I think, are invited
Speaker 2: in actually to some extent in history. You know, the
Speaker 2: thing itself have a cell by date and wants are change.
Speaker 2: Does that make sense?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 2: And the West has been going for I think you
Speaker 2: get two hundred and fifty three hundred years of of
Speaker 2: these these civilizations, Chinese dynasties, they all fall. It's it's
Speaker 2: how do you fall? You know, what do you fall into?
Speaker 2: You know Plato's with the republic into you know, He's
Speaker 2: very clear you have democracy. Once democracy goes, then you
Speaker 2: get into plutocracy, rich people run in the world, and
Speaker 2: then comes totalitarianism. Well, it looks a little bit to
Speaker 2: me like that's how we're going right now.
Speaker 1: It does to me as well. Now what is UH?
Speaker 1: If you're just joining us? Of course we're talking to
Speaker 1: John Wobble about his UH, the brand new album, his
Speaker 1: collaboration UH with with John Klein, Automated Paradise, which is
Speaker 1: just fantastic. I can't recommend it enough. What's the touring
Speaker 1: situation for you? Are you are you playing these songs
Speaker 1: out live or or do you plan to?
Speaker 2: I've got a show tonight. I'm playing all the time,
Speaker 2: a playby of Invaders at Heart. We will play this
Speaker 2: live if there's a if there's a demand, me and
Speaker 2: John will go out play it because it's not not
Speaker 2: too difficult to pull off. We made an album a
Speaker 2: couple of years ago called last exit, and we were
Speaker 2: dreading being asked to play that live. In fact, it's
Speaker 2: called a brief history of now, a brief history now.
Speaker 2: We dreaded that because it was quite involved the production.
Speaker 2: Whereas this is eminently doable, you know, so if there's
Speaker 2: a demand, will go out and do it. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I planned tonight. I've got a big tonight. It's lovely day, year,
Speaker 2: lovely spring day, very warm. I'm playing shows all the time.
Speaker 2: Was in America a couple of years ago. Twenty twenty
Speaker 2: four was the last time we toured. You know, traveling's
Speaker 2: now getting kind of difficult, you know, one word, even
Speaker 2: going into Europe because we have to have a customs
Speaker 2: can't again because of Brexit.
Speaker 3: Which was ridiculous.
Speaker 2: But even the last time in Belgium, we get there
Speaker 2: and we find out we need a go box. If
Speaker 2: you've got a commercial sized vehicle it's not that big
Speaker 2: a bus, emercial side group, you have to have a
Speaker 2: go box to allow you to go on the highways
Speaker 2: in Belgium, and that means you have to have the
Speaker 2: log book, ownership registration at the van, the insurance details
Speaker 2: everything you know, all the engine number, the works. Wow,
Speaker 2: I come out to join the tour manager, who's a
Speaker 2: very good tour manager, who's just on the verge of tiers.
Speaker 2: For the frustration of this, you know, so everything you know, traveling,
Speaker 2: everything gets more and more to the eurocracy gets worse.
Speaker 2: Traveling becomes more of vassal. Whereas in the nineties with Brexit,
Speaker 2: we had open borders in Europe and you felt you
Speaker 2: could travel. At one time before ninety eleven, I had
Speaker 2: an indefinite visa for America.
Speaker 3: You know, it's incredible, and the border some guy or
Speaker 3: at the MBC eight it's jammed.
Speaker 2: You go into America a lot of times, you never
Speaker 2: make any trouble.
Speaker 3: Is a We're going to give you a multiple Can
Speaker 3: you imagine multiple? Indefinite? These are you.
Speaker 2: Know and level. When I was living in a north
Speaker 2: of England and I would run, I'd get to the
Speaker 2: airport fifteen minutes before the plane left and they'd play
Speaker 2: to the eighth the flight to British Airways, the flight
Speaker 2: to Heathrow's not left you You want to get that, yes, please,
Speaker 2: We'll call the gate tell them to hold. You know,
Speaker 2: it was incredible and you zoomed down to London really fast.
Speaker 2: You know now obviously we know flying is not right,
Speaker 2: you know, And and I was lucky enough to use
Speaker 2: Spirit Airlines when I was in America, and that was
Speaker 2: was like right, I thought Ryan Air was hardcore.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Spirit Spirit Airlines was like wow, oh goodness, this.
Speaker 2: Is budget flying was It was quite memorable more than that.
Speaker 1: You know, no doubt, no doubt. Well, Joe Wibble, it's
Speaker 1: wonderful talking with you. I'm glad. I'm glad you're able
Speaker 1: to join us this morning. We should definitely do this
Speaker 1: again in the future. But again, I love the album
Speaker 1: Automated Paradise. Are you do you have any anything else
Speaker 1: in the works with John Klein? I know you've always
Speaker 1: got a lot going on, But are you guys going
Speaker 1: to continue to work together?
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, I'm absolutely certain. Will we get on? We
Speaker 3: have fun?
Speaker 2: Oh, I meant every week were recording because we run
Speaker 2: this community venture for tuned In, so we're we're running
Speaker 2: stuff all the time. We called in every every other Tuesday,
Speaker 2: we have sessions of people come in. Jenny Bell starts
Speaker 2: came in last week, so she's been coming to tuned in.
Speaker 2: So we did this suff Jenny Bill, so Meg Lee
Speaker 2: Chin who was around on that Chicago scene. Many is
Speaker 2: it and she comes and her hands out. There's a
Speaker 2: lot So we work with a lot of people from
Speaker 2: the community.
Speaker 1: So excellent.
Speaker 3: Definitely, the we'll definitely be.
Speaker 2: Doing some some some stuff over the over the years
Speaker 2: to come while the world's still turning. Yes, will be,
Speaker 2: will be, We'll be working together for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, excellently. No, that's good to hear. That's good to hear.
Speaker 1: And you know, as you're putting out new stuff and
Speaker 1: you know, it gives us a reason to have you
Speaker 1: back and we you know, would love to have you
Speaker 1: back soon. Definitely. And uh, where where's the best place
Speaker 1: to go online to keep up with everything that you're doing?
Speaker 3: Uh, Josh, I've got.
Speaker 2: Oh, I've got a bank camp page. I've got a website.
Speaker 2: Like a lot of people, I don't ever update it.
Speaker 3: It's terrible.
Speaker 2: Social media kind of took over. Yeah, so you know,
Speaker 2: sort of the combined social media kind of becomes a website.
Speaker 3: But I'm a real job. Weble on Twitter.
Speaker 2: I've got a Facebook, a Facebook page, so that's probably
Speaker 2: the best. Bang can bank camp page as well. There's
Speaker 2: a shop and e Bay shop. I can't remember the
Speaker 2: address a bit, Heather really nice one with called whatever runs.
Speaker 3: Out for me.
Speaker 2: We're doing something, doing stuff with my sons. All my
Speaker 2: sons have got a Banti and Ky. They're starting to
Speaker 2: get they're a duo. They're getting some traction now. They're
Speaker 2: playing Woemad this year and they come out with me
Speaker 2: and play live as well at times, you know. So yeah,
Speaker 2: we'll be we'll be doing stuff if you want to laugh.
Speaker 2: By the way, me and John did some versions for
Speaker 2: Cleopatra Records. Check out Start Me Up. We did a
Speaker 2: cover version of the Rolling Stuff, which so there's some
Speaker 2: fun stuff.
Speaker 3: We did Pink Floyd cover. There's a few couple of
Speaker 3: covers that are up.
Speaker 2: There on online. And I even Cleopatra set me up
Speaker 2: to play with rit Weightman and you believe.
Speaker 1: That, oh no kidding, oh wow.
Speaker 2: With Fusion Syndicate, Yeah, which is an amazing project that
Speaker 2: was going over there on the West coast. So if
Speaker 2: you check out Start Me Up, you'll have a good laugh.
Speaker 2: I will.
Speaker 1: I am going to check that out. I'm very very curious.
Speaker 1: I was thinking about, uh, I do want to play
Speaker 1: one more track At the end of our conversation today,
Speaker 1: I was thinking about playing Terminal. Terminal the end what
Speaker 1: do you think swearing.
Speaker 2: At the swearing at the very end, at the end,
Speaker 2: I used the F word. You know, I'm not I'm
Speaker 2: not proud of myself.
Speaker 1: I bet I gotta I gotta avoid that one. That
Speaker 1: it's FM American radio. What about read between the lines
Speaker 1: like that one a lot too? Did I play that one?
Speaker 3: HB? I was earlier? Yeah, that I was earlier doctor
Speaker 3: of HBO.
Speaker 2: It's a kind of piano, kind of tribute to HBO,
Speaker 2: which I love. I live in the HBO world. Was
Speaker 2: the earlier doctor of HBO, remember oz? I think was
Speaker 2: the first? Yes, the old production. I love American TV.
Speaker 2: I always loved American literature. That's kind of what the.
Speaker 3: Britishtory and aurial was about.
Speaker 4: And in a way, this is must I just need
Speaker 4: to it's between the lines.
Speaker 1: Oh oh cool, very cool. Yeah, all right, yeah, we'll
Speaker 1: play that, all right, joh wobble. We will let you go,
Speaker 1: my friend. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 1: We'll have to do this again soon, especially Matt.
Speaker 3: You've got good energy.
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me absolutely absolutely all right, take
Speaker 1: care bye.
Speaker 3: Bye, thanks Matte, thank you.
Speaker 1: I got it all right. That was the great Joh Wobble.
Speaker 1: That was wonderful to speak with him, and I'm glad
Speaker 1: that it worked out. So, uh, we're gonna play this track,
Speaker 1: and again, I really encourage everybody check out the album
Speaker 1: Automated Paradise. It is on band camp by joh Wobble
Speaker 1: and John Klein, and I really listen to the whole thing.
Speaker 1: It's really really good. But let's give this a spin.
Speaker 1: This is called a read between the lines.
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