Glastonbury 2023: Glen Matlock on playing with Blondie, solo work and “self-centred nitwit politicians”

nme.com:

Sex Pistols guitarist Glen Matlock caught up with NME backstage at Glastonbury 2023 to tell us about returning to the festival to play with Blondie and his successful solo career.After being announced last year to appear on Blondie’s new album – the follow-up to 2017’s ‘Pollinator‘ – the punk veteran has also been playing with the art-pop icons for recent world tour commitments, performing to a huge Pyramid Stage on the closing day of Glastonbury on Sunday (June 24).Before he took to the stage, NME asked the bass legend if he could recall the first time he met the band.“I can’t remember exactly because I was probably really drunk and out of it, but I think I met them first when I did a for-one-night-only gig with Sid Vicious at the Electric Ballroom in ‘78 or ‘79,” he replied. “Blondie turned up as a band, and I think that’s when I met Clem [Burke] and Debbie [Harry] for the first time.“What I thought was quite sweet about them was that when bands go on tour and have a night off, everyone tends to filter off somewhere – but they always seemed to be out and about as a band.

I thought that was good.”Matlock also revealed how their collaboration came about “just over a year ago”, when he received a phone call from drummer Clem Burke while in the middle of cooking his dinner.“I was in the middle of doing my risotto, it was nearly ready, then the phone rang, I had a mate round so stirred it for me,” said Matlock. “I told Clem, ‘My risotto is nearly ready and you’re spoiling it, so get on with it’.“He said, ‘We need a bass player’, I said, ‘I thought you got one’, he said, ‘It’s not working out, can you come over?’ I thought he meant in a couple of months but he said, ‘No, next week’.