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"Johnny Marr was just 23 when the Smiths broke up, but it took him until he was nearly 50 to finally cut a solo record. &amp;quot;There were plenty of other things to do,&amp;quot; Marr, who has played with everyone from Modest Mouse to the Cribs in recent years, tells Rolling Stone. &amp;quot;So I did them. I love being in bands because you have all these different ideas lying around, and I&amp;apos;ve been in bands with so many interesting people.&amp;quot;\r\nIn 2011, Marr parted ways with the Cribs and began writing music without much of a plan. &amp;quot;I started to get really excited about the work,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;Each day I went into the studio, there&amp;apos;d be a new song. A couple of weeks into it, people around me suggested that I just think of it as my own record and not stop it to try out different musicians. It all just came together very quickly.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nThe result was The Messenger, his solo debut &amp;#x2013; and for the first time in his long career, Marr had final say over an album. &amp;quot;It&amp;apos;s a very different thing,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;I also produced it, so I had to look at it in an almost schizophrenic way. It was like I was producing somebody who just happens to be me. That was helpful because I&amp;apos;d put myself under the same scrutiny as everyone else. I&amp;apos;d be like, &amp;apos;Is this a good riff?&amp;apos; or &amp;apos;Is this bit cutting it?&amp;apos; I tried to keep some objectivity and not overanalyze it.&amp;quot;\r\nJohnny Marr on Breaking Up the Smiths, Remastering Their Catalogue\r\nThe Messenger hit shelves on February 26th and was met with largely positive reviews. Marr&amp;apos;s spent the past few months promoting it on the road. &amp;quot;We had been dying to play it live,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;Every song on the record sounds right onstage, no tricks involved. That was one of the considerations we made when making the record. The songs had to work live.&amp;quot;\r\nMarr&amp;apos;s live show features most of the tracks from The Messenger, along with about five Smiths songs and a couple by Electronic, his former side project with New Order&amp;apos;s Bernard Sumner. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;d feel a bit weird about playing old stuff if I felt it was propping my set up,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;But I&amp;apos;m playing a ton of new songs and you gotta give people some stuff they know from back in the day. I just approach it as if I was seeing a band I like. You wanna hear something that reminds you of that time in your life.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nHearing Marr sing Smiths classics like &amp;quot;There Is a Light That Never Goes Out&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;How Soon Is Now?&amp;quot; is a little bizarre for fans so used to Morrissey&amp;apos;s distinct vocals, but the guitarist enjoys his new role as a frontman. &amp;quot;You have more direct contact with the audience,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;When you&amp;apos;re at the microphone, you can be more communicative. If I&amp;apos;m just playing guitar, I&amp;apos;m not likely to grab the microphone out of the singer&amp;apos;s hands and start talking. That would be rude.&amp;quot;\r\nEven though he&amp;apos;s willing to perform old Smiths songs, a reunion of the band remains a virtual impossibility. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;ve probably been asked about a reunion about 8,936 times,&amp;quot; he says with a big laugh. &amp;quot;I don&amp;apos;t mind, though. I can understand people asking it, even if they&amp;apos;re not actually listening to the answer. I also don&amp;apos;t want to be impolite.&amp;quot; Still, he&amp;apos;s working on a new stock answer to the inevitable question: &amp;quot;I must just start saying &amp;apos;Google it&amp;apos; when people ask me that.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/johnny-marr-on-his-solo-debut-and-all-those-smiths-reunion-rumors-20130503>