ARTIST INTERVIEW: Chris Stein (Co Founder of Blondie)

Blondie’s Chris Stein and Debbie Harry, 1980  © ALLAN TANNENBAUM

Chris Stein, cofounder of Blondie, may have lived even more lives than the nine given to his black cat, Lou. Both joined me on a video call to chat about their human half’s new memoir, Under a Rock. The book is a masterclass in rich storytelling, forgoing glitz and glamour in a stream-of-consciousness divulgence from a generational musician. Reminiscence is a gift, and each reader is a lucky recipient.

Chris Stein on…

Photography:

I was always dabbling with it. Even when I was a little kid, I had the brownie cameras.

I just liked the art process, and composing the images, and getting those slices of time. I wish I had taken more pictures, generally.

The photography was a part of the note taking for memories in a lot of cases. The photographs spur on memory.

Los Angeles:

It was nice being around all those old Hollywood guys when we were out in LA. We hooked up with [Sam Shaw], and screenwriter Ted Allen, and Cassavetes. It was kind of amazing.

I think the sense of personal space changes the further west you get. I don't know if I expound on that theory in the book. People stay further apart the further west you get. You'd be walking on the street and somebody will be across the street and they'll look at you weird, like you're too close to them.

Influence:

Blondie was just more diverse. The Ramones and Talking Heads had a very specific focus and we were just pulling elements in from lots of different places, musical elements. That became what the Blondie sound was.

We have this authenticity which I think derives from our lack of megastardom. I always see Blondie as this big cult band. I never thought we quite made it into the A-list. But at the same time, Debbie laid all this groundwork for all these girls.

Breaking up with your bandmate:

Yeah, it's just how the course is. I've been married for 25 years to [my wife] Barbara now, so it is what it is. That's my longest relationship. And Debbie and I just have a similar mindset, and are usually on the same page about things we're doing.

Aging:

The only aging process that's difficult is the physicality of getting fatigued and dealing with all that nonsense. That's it for me. Again, Blondie has a certain kind of credibility and authenticity that some others may lack.

Touring:

I always liked the recording a little bit more. But live shows are great, and there's nothing that compares to that, doing the whole thing with the people. But the fucking hotels, and the airplanes… after 50 years of that stuff, it's rough.

Fate: 

I'm kind of a “time is a flat circle” guy.

NYC:

When I was growing up, the word gentrification wasn't in the vocabulary. But there's still great stuff going on here. I was lucky to be involved with all that stuff when I was younger. Growing up in the ‘60s was amazing. I took it all for granted when it was happening, of course, but I see it differently now.

Punk:

I think the first two Rolling Stones albums are completely punk. Stylistically, they really have all the elements of punk music in there.  You know, the fringe aspect of the beatnik scene and all of that early ‘60s music scene was similar. It was the same. It was all on the outsides of society.  So when we got to CBGBs and everything, it just seemed normal. It was a great thing to be involved with, but I'd always been on the periphery of the music scene.

Fashion:

The guys were very influenced by the Rat Pack and James Bond and all of that earlier ‘60s stuff in our stylings. It wasn't just the British mod scene, but that was a heavy element.

Film:

Blow Up was huge to me. All the kids who went to see Blow Up immediately decided they should be photographers.  And Performance, the Donald Cammell movie. That's a fucking masterpiece. It's Mick Jagger's one brilliant movie.

Acting:

I don't know if I have any acting ability. It's tricky. My wife is a real savant. If she hears the song once, she knows all the lyrics. That comes from her acting career, where she's really good at memorizing lines. I'm not that good at that stuff.

Blondie’s new album:

I don't know if it's going to be out this year or not. I'm looking forward to it. We've had it done for a while now.

Just having grown up being a music fan and listening to recordings and analyzing all the little aspects of what I'm listening to, [recording] is a great process. And music uses a different part of your brain than anything else. There's this kind of emotional through line to listening to music. Some of my favorite tracks of all time are from the last 10, 15 years. There's modern stuff that I think is just fabulous.

There's a couple of things that are really old that we reprocessed. There's a couple of cover songs in this next bunch of stuff. There's a song I've been wanting to record for 40 years.

Legacy:

I guess I'm optimistic, and I enjoy adding a little to the culture, and being recognized now that we're in the position we are now. It's got this elder statesman role.

Between, you know, all the tension and doing drugs and all that shit, I don't know. We're lucky.