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Johnny Marr, Ex-Smiths Guitarist, Talks Solo Music & 'Poor Decision' Score

by Phil Gallo, L.A.  |   May 17, 2011 4:21 EDT
Redferns

Artists in this Article

The Smiths
Johnny Marr
Modest Mouse
The Cribs
The Healers

Johnny Marr, the former Smiths guitarist and songwriter, expects to start a world tour in October beginning with a show in New York.

 

Currently working on two albums and scoring the second season of David Cross's British TV series, "The Increasingly Poor Decision of Todd Margaret," he plans to release music from his new edition of his band the Healers early next year, soon after Fender's release in January of a Johnny Marr edition guitar.

 

"I just want to write more than enough material to avoid ducking back into the studio to record a follow-up album," Marr tells Billboard.com. His only previous solo album, "Boomslang," was released in 2003.

 

Ex-Smiths Guitarist Johnny Marr Plans Two Solo Releases

 

Marr has toured with the Healers, Modest Mouse and the Cribs over the past several years. Having recently left the Cribs, he figures that once he starts touring again, there will be no stopping.

 

"I want to take advantage of this point and when I set sail I want to set sail for awhile," he said.

 

Marr was nominated for an Academy Award last year for his work with Hans Zimmer on "Inception." His first full-length film score can be heard May 24 when the detective thriller "The Big Bang" -- starring Antonio Banderas, James Van Der Beek and Sam Elliott --  is released on Blu-ray and DVD.

 

Marr took seven months to write the score last year, which meant working on the film while he was touring.

 

"The discipline of finishing a few scenes in a day was useful in writing the record that I am now writing," he says just days after celebrating his favorite soccer team, Manchester City, winning the FA Cup. "There was not a lot of time for indulgence or experimentation - and I like to deliver when I say I'm going to deliver."

 

As for that Fender guitar, based on a 1962 Jaguar, Marr says "the model has to be perfect. You can see I'm spinning a lot of plates."



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