The Wildhearts: We captured the punk spirit on Renaissance Men

Back in the summer, Classic Rock magazine caught up with The Wildhearts shortly after they released Renaissance Men – their first album since 2009’s ¡Chutzpah!.

In the interview they spoke about their return, the new album and took a look back at their past, with vocalist and guitarist Ginger also touching on the band helping to provide an essential service in these uncertain times.

He said: “Whenever there’s political and social unrest, it fucks the mood. That’s when you get great punk bands. But I’m not seeing any young bands with that stare-you-in-the-eye attitude that I’ve always associated with punk.

“So I’m really proud that we’ve made an album that captures that spirit. And if there are no great punk bands that come out from this, then the next Wildhearts album is going to be really fucking pissed off!”

Ginger also reflected on the band’s wild reputation – which included scrapping with heavy-handed security at a Finnish festival – that got them into hot water in the past, with the musician reporting that things have mellowed over the years.

“Back in the 90s we used to pride ourselves on telling people to fuck off, just because they hadn’t been told to fuck off enough,” he said. “We never cared about anyone.

“I remember us tripping our bollocks off at some festival somewhere and sitting at Bryan Adams’ family table, and no one had the balls to come and tell us to fucking shift.

“Obviously we’ve all had a lot of experience since then, and having children changes you a lot. So now we’ve got the element of gratitude, which is something we’ve never had before. And that’s why I feel confident that we’re not going to break up later today.”

Guitarist CJ adds: “And if we did break up later today we’d be back tomorrow anyway. That’s how it tends to work with The Wildhearts.

“It doesn’t worry me any more because we could’ve split up years ago and never worked with one another again. But we do always bounce back. That’s why this album is a celebration of a band who are still out there doing it.”

The Wildhearts will head on tour with Backyard Babies and The Bones towards the end of January in support of Renaissance Men, which was recently named the best album of 2019 by Classic Rock staff and writers.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.