An Interview With Baz Warne from The Stranglers

Life on the road with The Stranglers may well be more ‘hot baths, vitamins and not-too-much to drink’ than ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’ these days.

But with 50 years of punk under their belts, they’ve honed the art of recovering between shows, and as they celebrate their half century in 2024.

“We laugh about the fact we’re still going,” says frontman Baz Warne. “I remember people saying ‘I won’t be doing this in my 40s’, and look at the number of bands still going. We’re all still 21 in our heads though the bodies are protesting more, and the niggles remind you you’re not 21 anymore.

“Hot baths, vitamins and not-too-much to drink… that’s what’s keeping most bands of our vintage going.”

Now the influential punk pioneers – whose hits include Golden Brown, Peaches, Always The Sun and No More Heroes – are counting down to a date at TK Maxx presents Live At The Piece Hall in Halifax on Saturday August 3 , which will bring frontman and guitarist Baz close to home – and where his heart was… for one special day in 2018.

“I will always have a bit of a thing for Halifax”

Baz, who joined The Stranglers in 2000, is originally from Sunderland, but has made Yorkshire his home and got married in Halifax five years ago.

“I’ll be honest, we didn’t want to travel too far to get married,” he admits of the special day in Halifax. “My wife is a Scot, so we’d had a thought of getting married there, but we found somewhere really nice in Halifax. It was a really memorable day – I will always have a bit of a thing for Halifax because of that day.

“We had a bit of a wander around the town the next day and went into The Piece Hall – and I remember just thinking ‘Wow, this is amazing’, so now to be going back as part of our 50th anniversary year is fantastic.”

The Stranglers’ gig at The Piece Hall comes on the back of their official 50th anniversary tour in the spring, but it’s already expected to be a highlight in their celebratory calendar.

“There’s been a lot of talk about The Piece Hall the past few years,” said Baz. “We’ve got a lot of mates in various bands who have played there and we have never heard a bad report – and looking at the events coming up this summer, what a line-up!

“There is something very special about outdoor gigs. The sun, the sunset, the sights, the smells – there’s always the smell of hot dogs especially, and on a clear night as the sun has set then the stars come out. It’s brilliant.

In Halifax, they’ll be joined by special guests Buzzcocks, making for a more ‘festival feel’ on the night.

“We’ve done a lot with Buzzcocks over the many, many years both bands have been around – but it’s been a long time since we have seen them, so it’ll be interesting to see them again and catch up,” said Baz.

“People won’t have necessarily come to see The Stranglers, and one of the joys of these kinds of nights is going into a song and seeing people’s faces as they realise ‘I didn’t know this was by them’.”

“It’s incredible that The Stranglers have been going 50 years”

Baz himself is now a veteran of the 50-year-old band, although he only joined in 2000. He said: “It is incredible that The Stranglers have been going 50 years. For me, personally, joining the band was something I never thought would happen. I was 36 years old, most men live ‘til about 72 – so to me, half my life was gone, and I was struggling away as a musician in the North East. Now I’ve turned 60 earlier this year, in the middle of our 50th anniversary tour. If anyone had told me that would be happening, I’d have never believed them.

“For JJ (bass guitarist Jean-Jacques Burnel), he was something like 23 when it started and is now 72 – so it’s been a very, very long time for him. I have to remind myself that as long as it has been for me, it’s twice as long for him!”

Recent changes to the band bring added poignancy to the landmark anniversary this year – most notably since the deaths in 2020 of keyboardist Dave Greenfield and drummer and founder member Jet Black in 2022 – with Baz admitting it’s a ‘time for reflection, without wanting to rely on nostalgia’.

“This year is definitely a celebration of The Stranglers, but it’s also natural and automatic to be nostalgic,” he said. “Things have changed, a lot in recent years, but we do still write, and had a successful album in 2022, which hit the top five for the first time in 40 years, so we still feel we’ve got value and something to say. And I’ve always said, God must be a Stranglers’ fan. He shines on us.

“After Dave’s passing things were tremendously shaky. We just didn’t think the band would exist. How do you replace someone like that; his style, his sound, his personality – a true British eccentric? And we found Toby, and he is Dave reincarnated! He is every bit as nuts and as extraordinary and wonderful as both a keyboard player and as a band member. He’s managed to take Dave’s iconic sounds and style and make it his own in a very short space of time.

“Jet passed away in 2022. He hadn’t been with the band so much for a while, but we were still in touch with him. I spoke to him about 10 days before and he was laughing, joking and carrying on as ever. To reach your mid-80s and to be surrounded by your loved ones in the Welsh countryside, that’s the way to go, isn’t it?”

That may be the ‘way to go’ when the time comes – but for now, it’s clear Baz Warne is very much still living the live music dream with no plans of slipping into a quiet retirement.

The Stranglers play TK Maxx presents Live At The Piece Hall in Halifax on Saturday August 3. Final tickets are on sale now via ticketmaster.co.uk