Lawrence: “I loved solos…”

You’ve changed one of the album titles.

I reverted back to the original name of The

Seventeenth Century for the album Let The Snakes… God, I can’t even say that title, I just can’t bear it. I don’t know why I changed it, I don’t know why I went there. You should always stick with your original idea, it’s always the best.

There’s that story about Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream commenting on the original title, too.

When I took it to the [Creation] office, he was there and he was like, “What are you calling it that for?” [Laughs] “What does it mean?” At that moment, I knew I’d made a mistake, and I should have got back on the train, gone home and rejigged it. I’ve always wanted to rename that album.

Felt were always an unpredictable and mysterious group.

For me, it had to be interesting. I’m thinking of the future all the time when I’m making these records. I’m thinking, ‘How’s it going to be viewed?’ I wanted my band to be something really special, not just a group; something that, if they wanted to, could do any kind of music. I think the binding of it all was that I loved solos, so every song had a solo. I think that’s the glue that holds it together. INTERVIEW: JON DALE