[recording starts here]

Jane Gazzo: "Thank you so much for your time today."

Thom: "My pleasure."

Jane: "It's been a while, actually, since we've spoken."

Thom: "Is it? Well, you said three years, earlier, is that right?"

Jane: "Something like that."

Thom: "Ok. So three years was when we were there on tour presumably."

Jane: "-ish."

Thom: "-ish. Fish."

Jane: "How are you feeling today?"

Thom: "Okay, thank you, not too bad. A bit of a peculiar morning. Heathrow shut down today, lots of planes hanging around in the air. Lots of cars on the road not going anywhere."

Jane: "This is the state of the world at the moment - for people that don't know - basically there was a terror plot or something in High Wickham just outside of London, and Gatwick Airport shut down. I mean, this is, this is pretty much where this record's coming from, isn't it? Your record. The state of the world."

Thom: "Erm, maybe. I don't really... in a way it is, I get really 'twitchy' when it's not sort of a conscious decision, but everything always ends up getting absorbed in my work, I suppose, in the lyrics and things. But, I mean... I suppose... yeah, I suppose I'm obsessed by things like infrastructure collapse and stuff like that. (laughs) Yeah, yeah, you're right."

Jane: "Where do you get twitchy?"

Thom: "It's quite lovey-dovey this record, it's nothing to do with politics... (laughs) Not."

Jane: "Well, one review said it's kind of like sad love songs..."

Thom: "La la la la la la la..."

Jane: "...even breakup songs!"

Thom: (stops grumbling and laughs)

Jane: "And Thom doesn't like reading his own press and knowing about it, is that fair?"

Thom: "Oh, you know, I'm so sick of... well, whatever. Well, I mean... I think it's best not to know really, 'cause it tends to sort of hang with you afterwards and you go 'It's not like that, is it?' Nowadays I just do a lot of the old (loud grumbling 'la la la') thing."

Jane: "With fingers in ears?"

Thom: "Yeah."

Jane: "Um, ok! Let's not talk about the critics, let's talk about the rest of the band. What do the rest of the band feel about the record? Have they heard it? Have you played it to them?"

Thom: "Yep! They've got it now, I was a bit worried about that, but that was fine. Umm... what do they think? I think they like it. I know most of their partners like it."

Jane: "Why were you worried about how they'd take it?"

Thom: "Well, just erm... just 'cause it's a bit of a weird one, you know. But erm... you know, we talked about it beforehand, so they all knew it was happening, so... I mean, obviously if they thought it was shit that wouldn't be great. (laughs)"

Jane: "Was it a record you thought you had to do?"

Thom: "Yes, oh God yeah. It was something that had been hanging around for a while. I mean, I don't really want to jump in and do another one. Especially... I'd... what was nice about it was going away and focusing on something that wasn't Radiohead and getting out of that sort of feeling, erm, stuck inside the Radiohead thing. I don't feel stuck inside the Radiohead thing anymore. So, that's a very good thing, because that was always a bit of a problem, so..."

Jane: "And now do you kind of feel that you're out on a limb at the moment?"

Thom: "Err... Describe the limb a bit? (laughs)"

Jane: "You've got... you're promoting this album, and yet... I imagine you guys are kind of halfway through recording the new Radiohead record and getting ready for V festival? So, is it kind of double life where you're by yourself promoting this record, but you've got your Radiohead stuff to think about as well?"

Thom: "It's gotten a bit stretchy at points, but it's been alright, actually. It got a bit messy in America, because like on all of the days off I was doing promotional stuff, which means you end up getting kind of stressed out and it gets a bit confusing. But in terms of the Radiohead stuff... I mean, really... we had done lots of work, but we're kind of starting again from scratch at the end of the summer, for the rest of the year. Not in terms of the songs, just in terms of how we record them. And the festivals is, to be honest, a bit of a welcome distraction at the moment. You know, I mean, this, like, the Eraser stuff is basically all done, you know. It's sort of doing it's own thing. I didn't want them to be too mixed up, they did get a bit mixed up. It's much better to put all your energies into one thing at one time. It's very, very difficult to put, like, two heads on, or whatever, because you start thinking 'well, why would I choose to put this piece of music here and not here?' And you end up thinking: 'Ooh shit, that's exactly the same chord progression as that one, and I can't use that lyric, because that's too slanted' and it all gets a bit hairy. So, I'll try not to do it again. (laughs)"

Jane: "Is it a relief to get that record out, and done, and put to bed?"

Thom: "Erm... Yeah, it's a relief to not feel part of this big monster sort of structure thing, that I've always felt obliged to be part of. It makes me sort of see what I do personally as freed up, a bit, which obviously... I mean, hopefully will benefit like working with the band entity as well, I think."

Jane: "Erm... Interesting too, you decided to put it out on XL, away from kind of the corporate Parlophone/EMI Machine."

Thom: "Well, yeah. I mean, XL is sort of the biggest independent, but... yeah, I mean, it didn't really feel right to put it through EMI, this one, to be honest, 'cause it was... a lot of reasons... It was done sort of out of the way, without anybody seeing, without anybody actually knowing about it, really. And it wasn't... it was a sort of gut instinct thing. It definitely didn't really feel like the right thing to do. When we met with Richard and everybody, it was like 'Yeah, that's a good idea'. No offense to EMI, really, particularly, it just wasn't a good idea at the time."

Jane: "Radiohead technically without a deal at the moment?"

Thom: "Yeah! That's nice isn't it, I like that... (papers are falling) Oops, sorry! There's not much I could say about it, really, it's just 'Yes, we don't have a deal, err, record deal'. Hopefully it's not because people don't want to sign us, but it's more just because at the moment we really don't give a shit about that element of it. And we haven't run out of cash yet, so, when we do, we'll be calling."

Jane: "I wanted to ask you about fatherhood as well. Did that inspire you with this album at all?"

Thom: "(Contemplative suctioning noise) Uh, yup! Erm, it inspired me in the sense of worrying 'will my children have no future'... Erm, and every second I've got would be a good thing to use to make their lives and our lives as good as possible, because it's all looking a bit twitchy, up ahead."

Jane: "Let's talk about some of the things that you just touched on, because "It Rained All Night" is obviously about global warming... yeah?"

Thom: "Oh, whoa..."

Jane: "That's the sense I get, as a listener."

Thom: "Yeah, it could be about that. It could be about the fact that, erm, I was ranging around in the middle of nowhere with a full moon, as well, at the time. But, yeah, it could be many things, but that's one of them, I suppose. I mean, it was also to do with a particular incident I was involved in, as well, in a major, major, major, major flood thing. And it was a response to that. Which was a... I mean, it was like one of those disaster things, it was horrible."

Jane: "Was that the tsunami of last year?"

Thom: "No, it was something else. I'm not gonna describe what it was, because that sort of specifically then illustrates where I was at the time. It's annoying not to describe it, 'cause it would be much easier, but if I did it'd be a nightmare. So I won't. But... It was one of those instants where suddenly you feel very, very small, and you realise that one day nature is just going to pick... you know, get its big thumb and squash you like a fly (laughs) when it feels ready! Um, and it wasn't anything like the tsunami. I mean, I have had friends... I'm sure in Australia it's as bad, if not worse. But I've had friends who were there, surfing friends and stuff, who... yeah, that's why obviously... But it was that sort of... suddenly you witness the power of nature and everything you're doing seems utterly insignificant, it's quite interesting. And the sort of trauma afterwards is very... it shapes your perspective on human activity, generally, and I guess that's where 'And It Rained All Night' came from. But initially it was all... I mean, all the music was written in a flood in New York, which was one of those things where the rain... the rain just absolutely pounded, and the raindrops were enormous. And all the roads... because in a lot of America they don't... the drain system's inadequate, if you wake up the next morning, and the whole place is just awash. It was really interesting."

Jane: "I guess I want to talk a little bit too about 'Black Swan', because that's on rotation at Triple J at the moment, and the line 'It's all fucked up'!"

Thom: "Yeah. What do you wanna know?"

Jane: "'Crushing people like biscuits'... Etcetera..."

Thom: "Wooh, that's a difficult one to explain, erm... I can't really explain that. I get away with it. (laughs)"

Jane: "What about 'You cannot kick start a dead horse, you can just cross yourself and walk away'."

Thom: "Yeah. You have to guess."

Jane: "I have to guess?"

Thom: (laughs)

Jane: "You're not making this easy for me, Thom!"

Thom: "No, I can't, I can't! I don't wanna.... (sings) 'I don't wanna, I don't think so.'"

Jane: "Sonic Youth! Fabulous. Um, ok! Mercury Music Prize. Radiohead have been constantly nominated, constantly! Ok... What's your reaction about being nominated?"

Thom: "If... I think... no, I was kind of down with that, actually! I mean, just because... you know, anything that gives the chance to have the record have some sort of longevity, because everything is like 'Well, here's the new thing, and here's the new thing, and here's the new thing, and here's the new thing, and here's the new thing!' AAAHH! So anything that was like "Here's the new thing... oh, actually wait, come back! come back!' might be good!"

Jane: "What happens if you win? What will happen if you win?"

Thom: "Well it's twenty grand, isn't it? That's good, 'cause..."

Jane: "What would you do with the money?"

Thom: "Friends of the Earth are getting that, if I win. That's it, they will..."

Jane: "How will the rest of the band feel? Will they think that's funny?"

Thom: "Yeah... they'll be winding me up about the kiss of death and all that sort of stuff! But I'm not going to get into that now! (laughs)"

Jane: "Ok. You mentioned Friends of the Earth? And you are a figurehead for them, in a sense, and you famously turned down meeting Bush... I mean Blair, you can confuse them sometimes... You still stand by that decision?"

Thom: "Absolutely, not the least of which because his cards on the Nuclear issue came out fairly and squarely. I think you're choosing to go the same route in Australia, as well, with no one taking account of the waste issue at all, as far as I can work out. Which is, frankly, hilarious, if it wasn't not hilarious. So, no he's... I mean, basically - much like in Australia and most of the G8 countries - there's this thing where the governments want to keep the huge, err, the large polluters, with a lot of cash involved in the government, a lot of corporate interest, want to know that the economy will stay as it is, that energy usage can stay as it is, that we can have our cake and eat it. And the only way to do that is to turn around, and for people like Blair to say 'Yes, it's ok, we haven't ruled nuclear out, it's ok, you can carry on as you are, we're not going to inconvenience you in any major way.' And I think because most of them, like your man in Australia, is concerned that, if they turn around and say 'We're gonna go the renewable route, we're gonna discount nuclear', investment in the country will collapse. So, the large companies will walk away going 'Screw you, we're going to go to China, or, we're going to go here and there'. It's like a weird sort of blackmail situation. So it's deeply frustrating."

Jane: "Why don't you run for... I guess politics bores you, but why don't you run for Prime Minister?"

Thom: "Err, 'cause I'm a musician (laughs), and I think that the climate is... I don't know... I think we should all... I mean, what I find most disturbing about it is not like the characters that are in there now, what I find most disturbing about it is the fact that people my age don't give a shit. And that really scares the hell out of me. I know I'm sounding like someone from the Labour party, but the Labour party want you to give a shit so they vote for them, whereas like, why would they vote for a compromised bunch of bullshitters, or any of the parties, actually. So there is this general disillusionment with politics. It shouldn't be me, obviously, I have another job to do. But I have lots of friends who are at college, who are extremely good, I know, you know, involved in politics and are extremely talented and could easily be Prime Minister. There's lots of people out there who could do the job really, really well. The reason we as a generation don't give a shit is because politics now is the job of administering for corporate interests, and trying to keep the population of your country quiet. It's not... it is no longer about representing the interests of your population. If it was, your man, and my man, would not in any way be supporting what's happening in Lebanon. We wouldn't have supported the Iraq war. The only reason we're doing it is because that's what the large corporate interests want to happen. And we, the unwashed, are an inconvenience."

Jane: "Woah.. I'm going to ask you one more question. When are you coming to Australia, and when is the new album out?"

Thom: "Um..."

Jane: "Two questions!"

Thom: "Err... I don't know, can you sail to Australia? (laughs)"

Jane: "Considering what's going on in the world right now? Maybe not."

Thom: "Might not be a good idea. Erm, I don't know, to be honest. I don't know when the Radiohead record is going to be done. We're gonna be stuck in it 'til the end of the year and see what happens. But we've not made any plans after that, at all."

Jane: "How much do you love Australia?"

Thom: "Um, I actually had a really good time last time I was there, I have to say. Previous to that I'd always sort of considered the journey to be a real drag, but it was worth it last time we went, so... I had a good time, especially in Sydney, it's a great place, so... I would love to go back, but the travelling thing is obviously a real downer."

Jane: "Thank you so much, Thom Yorke!"

Thom: "Thank you!"

[recording ends here]