The VICE Interview: Julien Temple

London-born filmmaker Julien Temple is probably best known for immortalising some of the UK’s most-loved bands and musicians on screen.

In the 1970s, Temple was a film student living in a squat in west London when he stumbled across four blokes resembling “insect demons from outer space” murdering a Small Faces song in a warehouse in Rotherhithe. Those insect demons in mohair jumpers turned out to be the Sex Pistols, and, although they had yet to play their first gig, Temple knew he had seen “the future” and had to start filming them.

The Great Rock n Roll Swindle, released in the spring of 1980, became the first of several films Temple would make about the Sex Pistols. Focusing largely on the band’s manager, Malcolm McLaren, the film tells the story of the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols through a mix of animation, interviews and live music. It was Temple’s debut movie and not only launched his career as a filmmaker, but helped him on his way to becoming a pioneer of the music video, too. Twenty years later, Temple would return to his original subjects with the release of The Filth and The Fury, a documentary telling the Sex Pistols’ story, this time from the band’s perspective.

The Kinks and The Clash have both received the Temple treatment, too, but it’s not only band biographies that he’s been interested in telling. In 2002, Temple started working on a documentary about Glastonbury, which would eventually encompass the music festival’s entire history from 1970 to 2005. More recently, Temple took his home city as his subject, releasing the clip collage film, London: The Modern Babylon in 2012.

And then, of course, there’s Absolute Beginners. Adapted from Colin Macinnes’ novel of the same name, Temple’s musical film was an ambitious project from the outset, with what can only be described as an eclectic cast – David Bowie starred alongside the likes of Lionel Blair, Patsy Kensit and Sade. It was expensive to make, and a commercial failure roundly panned by critics. After its release, Temple entered a “very dark place” and relocated to the US.

But time is a great healer, and Temple is now reissuing the cult classic on DVD in time for its 30th anniversary. We caught up with the filmmaker on the phone for a quick chat while he bought some soup for his lunch.

VICE: What was your first email address?
Julien: Oh, fuck. I think it was something really exciting like julientemple@virgin.net. Nothing funny.

What would your parents have preferred you to have chosen for a career?
Putting car handles on Dagenham Ford cars, to see how the other half lived.

What was your worst phase?
Probably immediately after Absolute Beginners was set on fire.

How many books have you actually read and finished in the past year? Don’t lie.
About ten that I’ve finished. But I’ve read lots and put them down. I’m looking through things for a project I’m working on at the moment, and I’m always completely frustrated that I can’t finish them all. I’ve read a lot about Cuba this year, and a lot about Keith Richards. I’ve been learning up about him for a project [a new documentary about the Rolling Stones musician that has just been announced].

How many people have been in love with you?
You’d have to ask them. It’s hard to assign a number, but not many. I hope my wife is still.

Who do you think the worst person on Twitter is?
Probably me; I’m very bad at it.

What’s the grossest injury or illness you’ve ever had?
I did get a stigmata from sleeping on a reed bed a few years ago in my garden. It had just been cut and went right through my hand. It didn’t hurt that much, but it looked spectacular.

What’s the closest you’ve ever come to having a stalker?
Well, I’ve got a copy of Stalker on laser disc, on DVD and now on Blu-Ray – it’s my favourite film. But in terms of having a real life stalker? None that I’m aware of. I don’t look behind me.

Are Radiohead shit?
Sometimes, definitely. But not all the time. I haven’t had time to listen to the new album, but I saw a really bad gig a couple of years ago at Glastonbury. It was a low moment.

When you first passed your driving test where did you go?
Well, when I first took my driving test I drove up the street the wrong way. But then when I did pass the first place I went to was the pub – where else?

Out of ten how good do you think you are at sex?
Er, I could do with more practice.

What have you done in your career that you’re most proud of?
Survive Absolute Beginners, probably. It’s hard to sift the highs out from the lows, really. I’m proud of my London: The Modern Babylon film – I did that for my dad.

Have you ever stormed out of a meeting?
I haven’t, but I’ve watched in awe when people have. I’ve seen spectacular walkouts – Ray Davies is very good at it.

Is there anything you regret in your life?
Regrets? There are too many to mention.

What would you eat as your last meal?
A slice of bread and peanut butter.

What picture of you, taken recently, do you think you look nicest in?
I was doing an edit in a cutting room in Denmark Street that was so fucking freezing we had to dress ourselves in underwear made out of bubble wrap. We put layers and layers of it on under our clothes. I got some good pictures of that.

Without Googling, can you explain the basics of global warming?
Greed.

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