“Until we go into survival mode, we will continue to make music”

20 years ago, the first album was released by a group that was to mark English rock: Up The Bracketby The Libertines, is now a classic, and it is now entitled to its reissue, with exclusive content gathered in a box set available Friday, October 21, with dozens of unreleased takes, demos, lives of the ‘era.

In 20 years, the group experienced ups and downs, to the point of only releasing three albums together, but nostalgia has taken its toll and here they are, happy to meet again for this anniversary. Carried by the voices of Pete Doherty and Carl Barât, the group born in London adopts the urgency and the punk posture of the time, on a production of the former member of the Clash, Mick Jones. Twenty years later, the Libertines are still touring, it was in the lodges, in Guéret this summer, that franceinfo found them.

“This anniversary is a good opportunity to sit down and reflect. To see what we’ve been through and to see that our chemistry is still there, that we still have a lot of love for each other.”

Carl Barat

at franceinfo

“It just confirms that I’ve always said: that we were the biggest band in the world, which I had kind of forgotten 20 years ago, adds Pete Doherty. I thought the world was coming to an end, but look, we still have electricity and clean water, so until we go into survival mode, we’ll keep making music.”

In 2002, the recording had been complicated, parasitized by youth, alcohol, drugs. It was in fact the beginning of a turbulent history for the group, between separations and permanent reunions. “A lot of people bought what the media was writing about our relationship, highlights drummer Gary Powell. That we hated each other, that we kicked Pete out of the band, and it all ended sour. But nothing is less true than all that! At that time, the guys were writing beautiful lyrics and we hadn’t lost our faith in the music or in each of us. What keeps me going is being able to play with these guys who have been on this journey for so long.”

With only three albums in twenty years, what is the place for nostalgia? “Today, we can be nostalgic for something written two hours ago, but we should keep this nostalgia for the stuff we don’t really remember”, sweeps Pete Doherty. twenty years later Up The BracketBritish rock is once again full of sap, driven by young bands, many of whom have certainly listened to the Libertines a lot…