Chumbawamba

Interview, Jan, 1998 by Ray Rogers

But Chumbawamba tackles weighty issues with hooks and humor - not hubris. And on the band's major-label debut, Tubthumper (Universal), which is another term for a soapbox orator, the combination has finally paid off. The record's first single, "Tubthumping," a drunken working-class protest song, entered the British charts at number two, then quickly crashed the U.S. Top Ten. After fifteen years in relative obscurity, Chumbawamba is a living testament to the song's rallying chorus: "Knock me down, I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down." We spoke to band member Alice Nutter about the conflicts inherent in mixing communism with capitalism, and the band's commitment to making the most out of both the soapbox and the jukebox.

RAY ROGERS: Having spent so many years releasing your albums independently, why sign with a major label now?

ALICE NUTTER: Our indie label didn't want us. When they heard the songs for this album, they said, "We don't like them. Take a year off and write stronger songs." We thought, We have to get off this label because they don't know what they're talking about - this is the best thing we've done. We finished the album as it is now without a label. It was total gang mentality: us against the world. Everyone was saying, "Oh, Chumbawamba, they're crap, can't get arrested." But we had absolute faith in what we were doing, so we put our heads down and made the best album we possibly could. Then we got a deal based on the final product.

RR: Do you feel at all hypocritical working with a major corporation?

AN: No. We seriously considered what we were going to do before we did it, and we've always known that Chumbawamba was all evolving idea. Working with a big company doesn't change our feelings about capitalism. We live in a capitalist world, but money is not our prime motivation. If Chumbawamba makes loads of money, we're not going to rush out and buy two houses or designer- label clothes. That's the rock 'n' roll bubble, and we're not playing into it.

RR: Is it uncomfortable for the band to do things like play radio station showcases?

AN: No. We don't mind the radio things because we understand it's the way America works. Well, actually we do mind, but we do it because it's absolutely important to get into people's arms. You can be pure and isolated, but if you love pop music and you've got real politics, you should be offering ideas to people right in their kitchens over the radio, not just in art houses and coffeehouses.

RR: Is there anything you refuse to do?

AN: We won't do adverts, although we're actually considering doing one in Italy for Martini but giving the money to something really subversive. We're now in this position that we call Satan's cock. We keep being offered Satan's cock, and it's up to us to bite it rather than suck it.

RR: I read on your Web site about the information that was deleted or censored from your CD booklet. There was one statement under the song "Tubthumping" that struck me -

AN: "Don't let my unseriousness make you think it isn't serious." That's from one of the British antiroyal protesters. We saw that quote and thought. That is absolutely perfect, because you don't need to take yourself seriously to take the world seriously.

RR: Do people make that mistake about you?

AN: Oh, God, yeah. People think that if you've got politics, you must be lecturing all the time. The whole point is to enjoy your life, but many people can't because of restricting circumstances like poverty. We're not a band because we're trying to be the Mother Teresas of the music industry, out to serve everybody. We're a band first and foremost because we love playing pop music.