Beware of the Train recently caught up with 80s guitar legend Marty McFly, and talked to him about life, love, his upcoming new album, and his mysterious fascination with the Old West.
PV: Hi Marty, and thanks for agreeing to talk to Beware of the Train.
MMcF: No problem. Hey, Beware of the Train: I like that. Mind if I steal it for my next album?
PV: I'd have to check with our lawyers, but sure, be my guest. Your band Weather Experiment have got a new album coming out soon: what can you tell us about it?
MMcF: Well, I don't want to say it's more of the same, but it develops a lot of themes that our fans will recognise: the interplay between heart and head, the importance of knowing your roots, the awe produced by a scientific understanding of the Universe around you.
PV: Your father is an award-winning science fiction writer: do you get your interest in science from him?
MMcF: A lot of it came from him, obviously, and I really benefited from having a supportive family when I started touring, but I'd say most of it came from a scientist I used to hang out with after high school, Dr Emmett Brown.
PV: You used to hang out with a scientist after high school?
MMcF: Yeah, kinda unusual, I know. I went over to his house one day when I was about twelve to ask if he wanted any yard work done - you know, earn a bit of spare cash to buy guitar strings - and he said "No, but you can pass me that 3/16" Hemworth sprocket." After that, I became something like his apprentice, I guess. I owe a lot to the Doc - he taught me about the importance of reason, and showed me that science isn't a dry thing, but something you can get passionate about. He also taught me the importance of history, of knowing where you're from: it's what shapes us, and lets us know where we're going. In return, I think, I taught him the need to temper reason with emotion, and to listen to your heart.
PV: You mentioned history, which has been your other major source of lyrical inspiration - in particular the Old West and the 1950s. What is it that makes you keep coming back to those two periods?
MMcF: I'm interested in all periods of history - I just finished reading a great biography of Sir Isaac H. Newton - but you're right, those are the ones I keep coming back to. Growing up in the West, I was always surrounded by that myth of the Old West - we had a ravine through town named after a guy who drove a stolen train over it, that kind of thing - and it's when my Irish ancestors, the Mac Fallaighs, came to America and became McFlys. But when I started looking into the period seriously, it turned out that the reality was even more interesting than the myth. And they had some great music.
PV: And the '50s?
MMcF: The 1950s is just an endlessly fascinating period. But most importantly for me, it's when rock'n'roll got started. I mean, wouldn't it be great to have been there at that moment? When white audiences first encountered the blues, and gazed, open-mouthed, at how music was gonna be?
PV: How did it feel when your early hair-metal sound was sidelined by grunge in the early 90s?
MMcF: I wouldn't say we were exactly sidelined, but [laughs]. My time with the Doc helped here - he pursued lines of research outside the mainstream of science, and that showed me that you shouldn't necessarily worry if you're doing your own thing - but he also showed me the passion and commitment necessary to succeed on your own. But musically, those years actually worked out well for us - after the initial burst of fame, we had to take a step out of the limelight during the grunge years. We spent the time playing smaller venues, honing our stagecraft, and developing our own thing musically - and then, when electronica came along a few years later, our interest in the science and technology side of things meant we were well-placed to join the party, bringing our rock'n'roll sensibilities with us.
PV: Your fusion of historical influences and high-tech sound has led to you being called "the house band of the steampunk movement".
MMcF: Oh yeah, we got a great kick out of that. Actually, the whole SF community has been really good to us: they seem to really get what we're about, musically. Our 1997 album The Sound of 2015 was nominated for a Hugo Award, and we were invited to perform at Worldcon. That was pretty special.
PV: Speaking of that album, how do you feel now that we're nearly in 2015 and the flying cars on the liner art are nowhere in evidence?
MMcF: Well, that album was less of a prediction and more a vision of an alternative future if things had gone differently. But if there's one thing my study of history has taught me, it's that the future has a habit of surprising you. So I wouldn't rule out the hoverboards just yet.
PV: How did you feel about UK boy-band McFly using your name?
MMcF: Oh, the lawyers went mad over that - they wanted to sue them until there was nothing but a smoking patch on the stage where they'd been standing. But I said "Guys, lighten up, it's an homage, this is what artists do." I mean, did President Bueller sue the band Save Ferris for using his name? Of course not.
PV: Can you tell us anything about your long-running feud with Huey Lewis?
MMcF: Hey, cut that out! Huey gave us our first big break when he asked us to open for him, and he's been a good friend to us since. Sure, we had a falling-out, but the media blew the whole thing out of proportion, and anyway that's all in the past now. I still see Huey and hang out when we're both in town.
PV: And what about your other mentor, Emmett Brown?
MMcF: The Doc travels a lot these days, and so do I, so we don't see each other as much as we'd like. But he still drops in and visits from time to time. That's him singing guest vocals on (This is a) Science Experiment.
PV: You recently re-married your high-school sweetheart (and mother of your children) Jennifer: what makes you think it will work out this time?
MMcF: Listen, it's no secret that when we divorced, I was drinking pretty heavily - there's a strong tendency to alcoholism in my family - and Jennifer's had her own well-publicised battle with tranquiliser addiction. I couldn't bear to be without her, but rationally - and here's that heart/head thing again - I knew that we were driving each other further down, and it was bad for both of us and bad for the kids. So I had to leave, even though it broke my heart. But now, we're both clean, we're still crazy about each other, and we're determined to make it work this time. And as my friend Huey once put it, "the power of love is a curious thing".
PV: And your relationship with actress Elisabeth Shue?
MMcF: That was a confusing time. Elisabeth's great, but on some level I think I was always looking for Jennifer, and Elisabeth didn't quite fit the part.
PV: Thanks for your time, Marty.
Weather Experiment's new album Flux Capacitor is available on Warp records from August 14th.