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So, Viv, with new album 'The Vermilion Border' outnow, where have you been the last few years?“Well, after The Slits, I went to film school, I was really in awilderness for a few years, studying, and then I directed for aboutfifteen years. But after the recession, and there’s no real filmindustry in this country now, I was just jobbing, and that’s not me.I’m too individual, too awkward, too difficult to be an employee.There was no way to express yourself; it was such an expensivemedium.And then I got very ill, and moved to the seaside, basically.That absolutely rejuvenated me after going to ground, like awounded animal. None of my friends even knew. I just disappeared. Ilick my wounds. I’m gone. I needed to mend myself. I think whenyou get physically well, your creativity comes back too.”

Tell us a little about the making of the album.“Well, it’s taken bloody years to make.Which is very stupid,because, it’s just not cost-effective at all, is it? But, I had to do itright and because I’m so new to music again it took me a while toget it anywhere near right. I had to keep going in, saving some moremoney, and then go back again.When I play live, I play solo as I can’tafford a band!”

You helped fund the album through Pledgemusic?“Oh, yeah, the crowd funding thing, yes. It’s fantastic; it’s so liberatingactually to not have a record company or anyone breathing downmy neck. It gave me a lot of confidence that people out there wouldfund me before hearing it. In another way, that makes you feel verybeholden to them, to make something decent.After The Slits, I feltso damaged, so burned that I couldn’t even listen to music foryears. I lived beside the sea, shut myself away and avoided music.”

The last days of The Slits were quite traumatic…“That’s the thing; we had no support, no one behind us, no-onefunding anything. It was like 'You’ve had your moment' and wewere still very committed to the music but when you’re gettingno feedback and people just… You know what it’s like in England,you’re flavour of the month and then you’re gone.We weredropped by the record company, dropped by fans really… It tookabout thirty years for it to bed in what we’d done.We’d foughtso hard, for so long, to be ourselves, not be manipulated, wewere absolutely exhausted. For twenty years we were justignored. It’s just in the last seven years have taken notice andseen what contribution we made.A lot of young people havesought us out, actually. It’s different now.Then, audiences weremuch more tribal, they’d all turn out for scenes, whereas now it’smuch more dissipated.”

Mick Jones plays on the album too...“Yeah, we’re still close. He gave me a big boost, because the firsttime I played solo, he happened to be there and told me he wantedto record with me.A huge boost for my confidence.”

I guess, since Mick Jones has been mentioned, I needto ask you about 'Train In Vain'?“Mmm. I’m not too sure if that was written about me.You’d need toask Mick. But it was. (Laughs).”

You did a couple of shows with the reformed Slits?“They asked me before, can’t remember when, my daughter wasabout five years old and there was no way I was gonna leave herto play in a band. Plus, I just thought it was old hat, old news, Ididn’t want to do it.And then, when I started playing again, Ithought, 'When am I ever gonna be asked to play in a punk rockband again?' So I decided I was going to say 'yes' to everything fora year, January to January. No matter how terrifying they are, itvirtually transformed my life.When I did The Slits again, I waswriting my own songs and it didn’t make sense to be playingthese old songs again.”

'The Vermilion Border' is out now on Cadiz Music

SIRENS VIV ALBERTINEFormerly of THE SLITS, VivAlbertine has returned with soloalbum 'The Vermilion Border'.Joe Whyte finds out more...

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