Frank Carter Chats Winning Over Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie & More

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes are a band that vehemently embody the mantra "can't stop, won't stop". 

Formed in 2015 with former-Gallows frontman Frank Carter and guitarist Dean Richardson, the band have since gone on to become a sonic staple, with their hardcore-meets-pop-and-rock mayhem endearing them to a legion of fans in full-bodied fashion.

While the group are relentless in their pursuit of gifting a biting and ferocious live show to their fans, it was while the group were touring their third studio album End of Suffering in 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic first reared its ugly head, with the group forced to prematurely pull the pin on future live plans and, seemingly, putting a halt on the Rattlesnakes trajectory. 

But, for anyone familiar with Carter or the Rattlesnakes band generally, what started as a blight on creativity around the world evolved into the group embracing the lockdown life while also fortifying their social sonic natures, cultivating an eye-watering lineup of collaborators for their impending album Sticky - including musical idols such as Brit rockers IDLES, as frontman Carter explained on today's episode of The Green Room podcast.

"We've always wanted to collaborate," Carter told The Green Room host Tiana Speter. "I love that band."

"With this, we finished writing My Town, and Dean was just like: 'man. This is good - but this is a moment for someone'.

"It was like: who can we hear on this that is just gonna push it over the edge? And the minute you said 'push it over the edge', I thought we literally need someone unhinged," Carter chuckled. "Just to, like, come and actually push it over the edge.

"You want that song to feel like...not only aggressive, but that you're outnumbered."

Carter and guitarist Dean Richardson's quest for someone to bring some beautiful frenzy to proceedings was over in the blink of an eye, with Carter quickly turning to one of his own musical heroes: IDLES frontman Joe Talbot.

"Joe is the only other person I know who's, like...you just put him in a room and you feel outnumbered," Carter explained.

"Joe's like 50 people, he's like a one-man army. And I feel like that sometimes, I thought: oh, the two of us - we'll crush everyone! Let's do it!"

Once the Rattlesnakes had secured Talbot and discovered the power of bringing in additional vocalists into proceedings, the floodgates were indeed opened for additional collaborations on Sticky. From up-and-comer Cassyette, whom Carter described as "Britain's answer to Miley Cyrus" in today's episode, to rambunctious popster Lynks, Carter and the team continued to unexpectedly add to their burgeoning feature list on their fourth studio album, including an actual bucket list moment, securing Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie - but the road to securing Gillespie wasn't exactly smooth sailing.

"The guy's a fucking living legend," Carter exclaimed. "He's an icon, to me, and to Dean."

"I met him at an art exhibition years ago, my friend Jake Chapman had an art exhibition and I met Bobby there...and I remember saying to him: 'look, I would love to work with you, I'd love to do something with you'.

"And he's like: 'yeah, yeah, yeah...I'm too busy'..." Carter paused and chuckled. 

"He was just no bullshit, he was like: 'yeah, that'd be nice...but no, kid', do you know what I mean? And just put me in my place. 

"I was like: 'fuck. Alright. Cool'. And then he was like: 'but, you know...in the future...maybe...'. He was just so cool about it, he just shut it down but didn't make feel bad about it. Which I love him for, forever."

While Carter's initial attempt to secure Gillespie's interest appeared futile, some patience and a musical Hail Mary would eventually prove to seal the deal.

"Then we wrote [Original Sin], and I just thought: 'I've gotta ping it to him'. So I sent it to him, and he just loved it.

"And honestly, Tiana, I've never had a day like that in the studio," Carter said with a giant smile inching over his face.

"The guy is fucking dripping cool, he's just effortlessly cool. Walks in the studio, just listens to the song, he's like: 'oh, I'm not really sure this is for me'," Carter laughed.

"I'm already like: 'oh my god, I've invited Bobby Gillespie down, and he didn't like the song!!'. And I was like: 'we've got this other one', we played it to him, and he was like: '...OK, I'll give it a go'.

"He gets in there, and he's, like, muttering away over the thing, and he's like: '...I need some paper and a pen'. So, I just frantically scoop up anything and give it to him. And he just wrote half the song, like, on the spot.

"Then be basically came in, listened twice and was like: 'yeah, I like it. Cool. You guys like it?'. 

"We're like: 'yeah! It's incredible!! You're gonna finish our album!'

"He kind of just floated in and floated out of the studio, and in the middle of it just left this absolute pure rock'n'roll, the spectre of rock'n'roll just stayed there and did this thing. And then he left.

"I just went in and scooped up all his lyrics, and I took them home. I was like: 'they're coming with me, I'm gonna frame them and put them on my wall."

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Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes new album Sticky is out today, for more info head here.

You can watch the full episode with Frank Carter and host Tiana Speter chatting more stories behind Sticky and beyond below or here. Alternatively, you can also listen to full The Green Room podcast episodes below, as well as on Spotify, Apple Podcasts - or wherever you usually get your podcasts from.

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Need more music, film, TV and comedy in your life? Check out all previous episodes of The Green Room here - and did you know you can also watch episodes of The Green Room too? Head here to check out some of the recent videos, and if you're still hunting for content to feed your ears, be sure to check out some of the other exciting Handshake Agency podcasts below!

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