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Interview with Paul Weller

Jim McGuinn (left) interviews musician Paul Weller in the green room at the Pantages Theatre.
Jim McGuinn (left) interviews musician Paul Weller in the green room at the Pantages Theatre.Nate Ryan | MPR

by Jim McGuinn

September 14, 2018

Paul Weller just keeps pushing forward. On Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, Weller released True Meanings, his 14th solo studio album.

Last October, when Weller was in town to play a show at the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis, The Current's Jim McGuinn had a chance to sit down for a conversation with Weller. In an introspective chat, Weller shared his thoughts about his career today and how his earlier career — leading such seminal bands as the Jam and the Style Council — has shaped where he is in the present day.

And despite the fact he didn't quite "make it in America" based on chart performance, Weller doesn't think of it that way. "I'm happy that I can still come here and play, that I've even got an audience here," he says. "That's good enough for me. I'm not out to try and make it in America. I'm just coming here to play because I love playing and I love the audiences."

Weller finds audiences in the United States to be very open minded. "I think people listen more [in the U.S.]," he says. "I'm generalizing, I suppose, but I think people listen to the music, and they're not that familiar with the new stuff, but they're willing to listen to it and it seems to go down all right."

Watch the complete interview above. True Meanings is out now on Parlophone/Warner Bros. Records.

Paul Weller - official site