The author of a new book about the ’00s UK scene has spoken to NME about the “hedonism and high ideals” of the time, and if another such wave could ever happen again.
Janine Warren is a former publicist for the likes of Johnny Marr, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, Marianne Faithfull, The Clash‘s Mick Jones, and many more.
Having interviewed artists, friends and familiar faces from across the era along with figures including former NME editor Conor McNicholas and producer Paul Epworth, she has just published the acclaimed The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect: The Last Indie Music Scene 2000-2010. It relives the “chaotic, creative, and utterly unrepeatable moment” of the birth of a new “British indie movement born at the dawn of social media, thriving on hyper-local scenes, legendary club nights, cheap decadence, and the sheer force of youth culture”.
“If you were there, then it will bring back some memories,” Warren told NME. “If you weren’t, I hope it gives you an insight into what it was like in this pre-digital space and how it felt before you could record everything on your phone.”
The book also comes a foreword from Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos and a collection of previously unseen photography by Andy Willsher, the most celebrated gig photographer of the period.
Warren first moved to London at the turn of the century for a role at the iconic Beggars Banquet label.
“I arrived thinking ‘I’ve made it, I’ve got my dream job, I’m working at this really cool indie label with 4AD and XL’,” she recalled. “But then it was quiet and no one was signing anything. I’d go down and see Ed [Horrox, head of A&R] at 4AD and say, ‘What’s happening?’ It would be like, ‘Oh, nothing…’
She then went for a new role as a press officer at Coalition, when suddenly everything changed.
“My interview was seeing The Strokes at their first gig at The Barfly, which was then The Monarch, in February 2001. It was like, ‘Yes, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for: noisy, sexy, rock’n’roll’. That’s what I signed up for.”
Warren continued: “I don’t think you realise at the time, but anyone who was anyone in the music industry was at gig that night. I’ve never seen that venue so full, and it must have all been guest list. Everyone knew that this was it and where we were heading. At the time it was all acoustic-lite stuff like Turin Brakes and Travis coming through. No offence to them, but it was very mild and we just wanted something different.”
When the influence of The Strokes took hold, it wasn’t long before a new wave of UK indie swept away the rotting corpse of the late ’90s and post-Britpop.
Check out the rest of our interview with Warren below, where she explained the seismic shift of the time, when the bubble burst, her thoughts on the term ‘indie sleaze’, and if another movement like that could ever be possible again.
