Billboard.com - Wed 2nd Nov
Bryan Ferry interviewd by Nicki Gostin for Billboard.com
After a long absence Bryan Ferry just finished hopscotching around the United States in support of his latest album, "Olympia." It features an impressive array of guest musicians like Nile Rodgers, Scissor Sisters and Groover Armanda. And keeping with his debonair image longtime fan Kate Moss graces the album cover. The 66-year-old singer spoke to Billboard.com about his long career, Roxy Music, his dazzling fashion sense and that kerfuffle a few years ago when he gave an interview to a German newspaper commenting on Hitler's persona. It's still a subject that clearly rankles him and feels that he was completely misunderstood.
You haven't toured in the States for a long time.
They've been really terrific audiences, great reaction. I'm very pleased. The American audience is really into music, they appreciate all the solos and the nuances of the show. We're talking about coming back in March and doing all the places we missed.
You're touring to support your latest album, "Olympia," but a lot of the audience is coming to hear Roxy Music. Does that ever bother you?
No. I'm thrilled my main body of work as a writer is with Roxy Music. They're my babies. We do songs from the first two albums from '72, '73 and throughout the whole Roxy career. It's strange having so much material to choose from. It makes it difficult to pick the songs to do in a show. But you try to get a balance between the hits people know and the more off the wall songs that we like to play.
You're known for doing covers. Will we be hearing some, say, Lady Gaga in the show?
What do you think is the state of British pop music now?
Your mentor, artist Richard Hamilton, recently passed away.
You studied art.
When you say "we" what do you mean?
What was the first song you played at the wedding?
It's her favorite song. It's called "If There Was Something." It's from the first Roxy Music album. It's the only wedding I've ever played. It was really cool; it was quite bizarre having such a celebrity studded audience right in front of you. It was a tiny stage. Jude Law, Christian Louboutin, John Galliano, Paul McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Jack White.
You're an amazing dresser. Is it important to look a certain way?
Does it hurt you to put on a cheap suit?
Would that kill you if they weren't?
Have you been approached to design your own line?
You're 66. Do you have any thoughts on retiring?
I have to tell you I'm Jewish and I totally understood what you were talking about with your Nazi comments a few years ago.
It's totally bewildering and it's absolutely outrageous but I really don't want to go into it because it's just a bad vibe. But if I tell you my best friends are Jewish, it's totally absolutely true. It's so annoying to me. You can't say anything. Even if you say he's bad, it becomes, 'Hang on, he's brought that up.' It was actually very malevolent. I'd love to meet the people who did it face to face, a couple of female journalists who picked up on this interview and I have the tapes of it. There's nothing... it's extraordinary. I had a lot of letters from people like yourself who said it was absolutely ridiculous. Black music and Jewish music have been the two sort of big musical influences in my life. I just said the fact that they mesmerized a whole nation is pretty amazing through the general way they were so organized.
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