Saturday, September 27, 2014 1:40pm ET by  
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Johnny Marr on the UK: 'I am never without hope'

Johnny Marr has told today's Guardian (September 27) that he is "never without hope" when it comes to the future of the UK.

The former Smiths guitarist and songwriter answered, when asked if ever feels 'like the last of something?' in the world of rock and roll:

"I hope not, but yeah. Yeah, I do. I think Billy [Bragg] represents it as well. But the great thing is that I spend a lot of time with people who go to college, and the majority of them are super-switched on... As always, it’s down to the young." 

Speaking about the current Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition, he said:

"I'm not being dramatic, but I actually did get depressed in a way that surprised me, and it lasted quite a long time, when the current government got in... And with what’s happening with Ukip...".

"I do not have many conversations like this with musicians, I tell him. One of the most striking aspects of the last four years has been the large-scale absence of any musical response to things that have cried out for comment, from the nastiness wreaked on the welfare state, to the silver-spooned backgrounds of the people responsible."

Marr also talked about not drinking alcohol since 1999:

“I just got bored of it. I started to flip back to the idea that the rock’n’roll lifestyle was really quite conventional, which was an attitude that I’d had round about 16, 17 … And when I got into my mid-30s, drinking started to look a bit corny to me. I didn’t want my future to be the guy who turns up to his friends’ gigs and goes straight to the table with the beer on.”

Instead Marr now gets his kicks from fitness, and enjoys a run before jumping onstage:

“When I go out, I do 10 miles. If I’ve got decent time between a soundcheck and a gig, I’ll do 15, sometimes 18. I try and time my run so I finish 20 minutes before a gig, and I’m hopping around.”

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Watch Johnny Marr perform in The Smiths, Electronic and as a solo artist below: