Inspiral Carpets: In My Second Interview With Clint Boon, The Keyboardist Reveals The Stories Behind "Devil Hopping"

Originally published in American Music Press (April 1994)
By Devorah Ostrov

Inspiral Carpets - photo from the video for "Saturn Five"

Follow this link to watch the full video:/www.youtube.com/saturn-five

I got into the hotel elevator with Inspiral Carpet's keyboardist Clint Boon. His signature bowl haircut was gone, as was his trademark crazy-colored shirt; both hairstyle and clothing were now more contemporary, verging on low-key. Still, I knew it was him. But he didn't know it was me, or rather, he didn't know that I was on my way to interview him, or perhaps someone else from his band — at that point, it was potluck who I would get.

I wondered if I should say something, but worried about saying something stupid. Then we got off on the same floor and took the same turn down the wrong hallway. Two more hallways, and we finally consulted on the room number we were both looking for. I mentioned that we'd talked on the phone two years ago, when the Inspirals were promoting Revenge Of The Goldfish. He seemed strangely relieved and said he'd thought I was going to mug him. By the time the record company rep opened the door, we were chatting like old friends.

Devil Hopping (Elektra/Mute Records - 1994)

"Oh, I see you've already met," said the rep. He sounded a tiny bit peeved as he sent another journalist in the direction of vocalist Tom Hingley.

The guys were in town to publicize their new CD, Devil Hopping (Elektra/Mute Records). Produced by Pascal Gabriel (whose Belgian-accented pronunciation of "developing" inspired the weird title), the band's latest release has already generated two hit singles in their native UK.

The trippy "Saturn 5" entered the British Top 20 and stayed there for six weeks. Meanwhile, a remix of the album's opening track, "I Want You," shifted 20,000 copies before the video had even aired (featuring guest vocals by the Fall's Mark E. Smith, Melody Maker called it "psychedelic optimism meets psychedelic miserabilism"). There's a different schedule in the US, where the pristine pop tune "Party in the Sky" will be the first single.

Taking a seat on the bed, Boon explains that's because "Saturn 5" is a "very Inspirally song. As soon as the organ starts, you know it's the Inspirals. And the record company thought it was a better idea to promote something a bit more..." He runs through assorted ways to end this sentence in his head before eventually settling on "unusual."

While I'm not convinced that a vast majority of Americans would be annoyed with an "Inspirally sounding song" (or even know what that means), they trusted the label's decision. "We said, 'Okay, you know America better than we do. Do what you want.'"

Clint Boon is at the wheel in this pic from the "Saturn 5" video.

Originally formed in Oldham, Greater Manchester, the Inspiral Carpets' current lineup came together in 1986/ 1987.

Over the course of a handful of EPs, a 4-track Peel Sessions recording, and their first two major-label releases (1990's Life and 1991's The Beast Inside), the group acquired a reputation for its retro-psychedelic/ pop-infused songs.

This was fuelled in large part by Boon's hair and vintage Farfisa organ. "When we started out, we wanted to sound like the Seeds and ? and the Mysterians," he confessed in our previous interview.

They have an enormous and devoted UK following. And their singles — described variously as "the Doors meet the Electric Prunes" ("Directing Traffic"); "a colorful revisit to San Francisco acid rock" ("Commercial Rain"); and "sturdily melodic" ("This Is How It Feels") — consistently top Britain's independent charts.

Planet of Sound flyer for a "Devil Hoppings"

 promotion at Mad in Athens, Greece. 

The Inspirals finally broke through in the US with 1992's Revenge Of The Goldfish. But the band that we discovered was one that had become increasingly enamored with studio technology to create its sound.

Commenting on a particularly feedback-frenzied track from that LP, Boon observes, "When we were playing 'Generations' live last year, I had to think, how did I get that sound? It was created by a machine in a studio."

With Devil Hopping, they were determined to recapture the energetic feel of their early releases. "We wanted to sound like a band excited about what we're doing," asserts Boon. "In the past, we've gone into the studio individually, done whatever we had to do, and gone home. That's how we did Revenge Of The Goldfish. It's a brilliant album to listen to, but my memories of making it are driving 40 miles from my house to the studio, doing a few hours work, looking at my watch... This time I said, 'Let's all get together in the studio and stay there.' We brought our wives and kids to the studio, and it was really relaxed."

And instead of letting machines fix any gaffes ("Y'know, you play a half-decent organ solo, but a few of the notes are wrong, so you move them on the tape."), the guys prepared the old-fashioned way. "This time, we put a lot more concentration into the rehearsal period before the recording session," states Boon. "That meant we could spend less time actually recording and be more spontaneous." As an added bonus, Boon can unwind onstage. "Now that we're playing these songs live, it's very easy because I know what I did," he says.

Inspiral Carpets 

(Mute Records publicity photo)

Traditionally, all Inspiral Carpets material is credited to the group as a whole. However, when asked, Boon is delighted to point out exactly which tracks he wrote. The enigmatic "Plutoman," inspired by his infant daughter Harley Luv, is one of them. "I'll go through the lyrics for you," he offers. As he pulls out the lyric sheet, he reassures me that he's "not gonna start writing loads of songs about babies."

You know what they say about the lady who talks with the fishes

They say she will always have at least a billion, billion friends...

"There's this little person who's so innocent she's talking to the fish on the wallpaper. She's not got any of the prejudices that will come later on in life. But the other character is the Plutoman..."

2014 advert for the 10th-anniversary 

celebration of Manchester's Mint Lounge, 

featuring a DJ set by Clint Boon. 

Even out here where he sits
Drowning in isolation

He's stacking his bricks high
 And slowly walling out the world...

"He's the person we've all got inside us. He wants to isolate himself. So he not only moves to Pluto, he builds a wall around himself."

She's sending him flowers and sunshine
But he doesn't notice

On the stem of a rose she writes
"Have a nice day, Plutoman"...

"And she's sending him messages on the stems of roses." He chuckles. "Er… as you do."

Two other Boon compositions, "Just Wednesday" and "The Way the Light Falls," take a disillusioned look at the music business and the detrimental effect it can have on a relationship.

"Just Wednesday," he reveals, "is about this guy whose girl or wife has left him because of the business. It's taken over his life."

Maybe it was my fault all along

'Cos I'm constantly talking in pictures and song...

"Which is what I do. I talk in terms of music — lyrics and songs. In conversation, something somebody says will remind me of a song. It's an occupational hazard."

And for anyone else this would be
The best days of his lifetime...

Inspiral Carpets - publicity photo

Clint Boon with his signature bowl haircut

in the center.

"Which it should be, being in a pop group and doing all this stuff. At the moment I have a really good relationship. But basically, it's my fear of what might happen if it all gets out of control."

But not for me 

It's just Wednesday

Or some other day...

"Like today, it took me a long time to figure out what day it was. I used to think that people like that were pretentious wankers, but it happens to you. You don't have weekends, you don't know what day it is, and sometimes you have to think about what month it is."

"The Way the Light Falls" echoes the same theme (here Boon refers to the music business as "the monster"), but one line pays tribute to a pop star hero of the keyboardist:

See the smile on the new music pages, now his face is all of the rages

Hey pretty satellite sing me a tune, the one I love is the man on the moon...

"That's my favorite R.E.M. song," he blushes.

Boon also wrote "Saturn 5," and the verses (which contain references to his American-born wife's family) hold a huge amount of personal significance.

Lady take a ride on a Zeke 64...

"My mother-in-law first met her husband when he offered her a ride in his Ford Mustang. The license plate was Zeke 64, which was his nickname and his football jersey number."

"Saturn 5" (US CD/maxi-single)

Jerry wants to be a rockette...

"Jerry is my wife's auntie. She always wanted to be a Radio City Rockette, and now she is one! The song's about optimism and ambition."

There's a popular misconception 
Says we haven't seen anything yet...

"I'm saying: You might think it's alright, but things are gonna get even better."

Laying down the lifeless corpse of President 35

The lady crying by his side is the most beautiful woman alive...

"That's John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy."

Saturn 5, you really were the greatest sight

Stretching out on a summer's day, Houston is calling me back to her...

"What really inspired the song was seeing the rocket. Saturn 5 is a space rocket, the rocket that launched all the Apollo missions. Last year I went to see it in Houston. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. And on the way home, I wrote the song."

An eagle lands...

"That's a reference to the Eagle landing on the moon."

Promo postcard for the "Uniform"/"Paranoid" single/2-CD set

(Mute 1994)

And a planet full of people raises its hands

All hail the men who walk up in heaven today...

"Obviously, the people cheering while they watch the astronauts walk in space."

Monochrome TV...

"Black and white telly."

All the things you ever represented to me

Take me once more, take me to heaven again...

Comic take on the "Madchester" scene featuring

the Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets & James

Boon places his hand reverently on the hotel room's television as if he's going to testify on a Bible.

"Seeing the rocket reminded me of being a kid and watching this stuff on the telly, seeing Kennedy on the telly, and Elvis, and the Empire State Building. When I was growing up, America was this little box!"

He's positively beaming with pride. "Good, innit?" It sounds like a question, but it's actually a statement, and Boon isn't waiting for an answer.

"I think it would be great to have a separate sheet with the album that explains what the lyrics are about," he continues. "People don't do that, do they?" This time it is a question. I shake my head to indicate they do not, and he makes a mental note to discuss this with someone.

While the lyric sheet is out, I ask Boon to clarify some of his bandmate's more cryptic stanzas. "We never ask each other what the songs are about," he argues. But he agrees to take a stab at "Half Way There."

"Tom wrote that song," he remarks. "I think it's about..." There's a long pause during which Boon glances over at Hingley to see if he's eavesdropping (he isn't). Boon leans in and dramatically hisses, "SEX!"

Clint Boon - photo from the "Saturn 5" video

Though I'll never see you again

It only makes me wanna do it some more...

"He knows that this is the one and only time he's going to do anything with this person. And he's got no respect for her."

Would I lie to you? 

Yes, I probably 

would...

"I know Tom's not promiscuous," insists Boon, defending his buddy. "If I wrote a song like that, my wife would kill me."

Is Tom married?

"Yes!" exclaims Boon. "And he's got four kids!"

★ ★ ★

Carpet Burns - My Life With Inspiral Carpets

Hardback cover of Tom Hingley's memoir

Q: Is there a way to tell which Inspiral's songs are yours? Any tell-tale clues to your writing style?

Boon: There are certain things I do that the others don't. One thing, I'm very sentimental when I write, and I don't try to hide it. Like when I wrote, "This is how it feels to be lonely/This is how it feels to be small/When your world means nothing at all." It's very blunt. I'm not trying to hide my feelings. And I like to make sure there's no superfluous syllables. If the syllables don't quite fit on the beat, it bothers me until I get it right. Then I ponder over the lyrics for ages, thinking: What's a nice way to describe Michael Stipe out of R.E.M. without saying, "Michael Stipe out of R.E.M.?" So, "Hey pretty satellite sing me a tune." I spend a lot of time on things like that.

Q: Tell me about Mark E. Smith and how he came to collaborate on the remix of "I Want You." 

Boon: We came up with this idea to do some collaborations for the B-sides, just to make the singles more interesting and more sellable in England. And Mark is someone we respect a lot. As you can imagine, he's an icon! He's a god to a lot of people! I'm the biggest Fall fan in the band, so I was appointed the job of ringing him up. I was thinking, he's gonna tell me to fuck off. I mean, people like U2 and Sonic Youth would probably be glad to work with this guy if they had the chance. And he says he's been asked to work with people too big to mention, but he's always turned down the idea of a collaboration. So I phoned him up, put the idea to him, and he was really into it. He jumped into a taxi and came down to the studio; made a video with us a couple of weeks later; did a photo session; an interview with the Melody Maker. He's gone headlong into the project!

Q: Did you know he was a big Inspiral Carpets fan?

Clint Boon - recent publicity photo

Boon: He never let it be known that he was a fan. But he never slagged us off, either. Mark doesn't say nice things about a lot of other bands, so by process of elimination... I always had a suspicion that he thought we were a bit cool. When we did the interview with Melody Maker, the guy asked Mark why he was doing this. It was the first chance we'd had to hear his explanation. He said that the Inspirals is the greatest pop band of this generation, and that pop music is what he's always loved. He went on to compare us to the Seeds and the 13th Floor Elevators — which is his ideal pop era. Briefly, he said he loves his band, but the Fall can't do the pop music that we do. So, for him, it was a chance to become a pop singer.

Q: Will the track be released over here?

Inspiral Carpets - publicity photo

Boon: We're not planning for it to come out in America, but we've got a few tracks in the can for B-sides, which are too brilliant not to release over here. We also just did two tracks with Peter Ork from New Order. We got Orky to produce the Inspirals doing a cover of [Black Sabbath's] "Paranoid," and he played some bass on it as well. The other track doesn't have a proper title yet; we just made it up in the studio. It's a very ambient... It's like a collage where things keep coming in and going out, things that don't suit each other; there's a bit of African-like singing and some synth noises. It goes on for like six minutes, and Ork plays bass over it — you can spot his bass a mile off! It was so spontaneous, and it's one of the most beautiful things we've done.

Q: I've heard about your cover of "Paranoid," but I thought it involved a rap group.

Boon: Collapsed Lung! They'd expressed an interest in doing something with my organ on it, so we sent them a multitrack of "Paranoid" and said, "Do what you want with it. Preferably rap over it and leave some of us on it." It's a really good track! In fact, the version with Collapsed Lung is so good, we have to remix our conventional version to make it sound better. But again, it's all B-sides.

Q: Maybe you could do an EP of B-sides for your American fans...

Inspiral Carpets with Mark E. Smith 

performing "I Want You" on Top of the Pops

Follow this link to watch the full video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch

Boon: I'm thinking about an LP of B-sides! I'm pushing for the next album to be as loose and spontaneous as these experimental sessions. The compromise might be a double album: one pop album and one over-indulgent, progressive rock — whatever you want to call it.

Q: You guys cover great tunes, but don't include them on your albums. Why is that?

Boon: We're a bit precious about the albums. Those are the definitive Inspiral's records that people will listen to, and we feel it's important that they know they're our songs. Plus, covers date what you do in some ways. Like when we first started, we used to do [the Seeds'] "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," and [the Velvet Underground's] "What Goes On," and [? and the Mysterians'] "96 Tears." If we'd put those songs on our first album, it would've made us look even more retro than people suggested we were. And "Paranoid" is a good example. If we'd put that on Devil Hopping... This is the year that progressive music is big again, innit? Pearl Jam, Blind Melon — they're all dropping names like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. So, the last thing we want to do is put a track like that on an album.

Follow Clint Boon on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/ClintBoonFanPage

Q: I've heard that you and Tom have been doing some acoustic radio sets while you've been over here. Any chance the group will go in that direction?

Boon: No! But I am thinking of busking in Manchester. Y'know, me and Tom on a street corner. The Clash did it in Manchester and Bob Dylan did it in London. People would be like, "It can't be the Inspirals! They're a Top 20 band!" Ha!

Q: Finally, I just want to say how amazing it is that your label flew you and Tom over here just to chat with some journalists. They must be really supportive of the group.

Boon: It's a sign that the company is giving us a good push! Somebody said to me last night, "You're really going for it with all this promotion." And I said, "Not really." I'm very happy to exist at the level we're at. If we get any bigger, great! If we don't get any bigger, no problem. I'm very comfortable and very happy with it.

* R.I.P. Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill who died on November 20, 2016

* To read my first interview with Clint Boon, go here: devorahostrov.blogspot.com/inspiral carpets/revenge of the goldfish

Inspiral Carpets: Discussing Revenge Of The Goldfish, Coronation Street & Cows With Clint Boon

Originally published in American Music Press (1992)
By Devorah Ostrov

Inspiral Carpets

Cover photo from the "Island Head" EP (Mute 1990)

At this point, several years on from the peak of the 1980s garage-rock revival, any American group still employing a Farfisa organ and wearing paisley shirts would be regulated to the dollar bin of any quality record store. But should the band be from England, especially Manchester (or "Madchester" as it's been affectionately nicknamed), they're hailed as "innovative" and top the independent charts on both continents. And I say that in all fondness because I really like Inspiral Carpets.

To their credit, although Inspiral Carpets (they really deserve kudos for that excellent moniker which, like the Peanut Butter Conspiracy and Chocolate Watchband, appears cool but means absolutely nothing) make a good job of capturing the essence of mid-sixties garage-rock in their sound, they've never been overly concerned with recreating the whole picture. Only keyboardist Clint Boon has the requisite psychedelic wardrobe and hairstyle.

Revenge Of The Goldfish — Elektra/Mute (1992)

"That's definitely one of our strong points," agrees Boon on the phone from Los Angeles, where he's promoting the group's latest Elektra Records/Mute release, Revenge Of The Goldfish. "Even though everybody knows that the '60s inspire our records, we could never be looked at as being a revivalist band; we've always looked like a '90s bunch of guys. Sure, I wear crazy shirts and have the bowl haircut, but Martyn [Walsh, bassist] is bald!"

Guitarist Graham Lambert and vocalist Stephen Holt (who was replaced by Tom Hingley before the band signed to Mute and released their first album), formed the nucleus of the Inspirals in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The current lineup came together in 1986/87 with the addition of Boon, Walsh, and teenage drummer Craig Gill.

At the time, a psychedelia resurgence in the UK saw members of the Damned and ex-Sisters of Mercy drinking the night away to the nostalgic nuggets of the Seeds, ? and the Mysterians, and the Electric Prunes at a London club called Alice in Wonderland.

Boon hung out there too. "I was probably watching Doctor and the Medics," he says. And he notes: "When we started out, we wanted to sound like the Seeds and ? and the Mysterians."

Inspiral Carpets in America and

on the cover of the NME

Of course, Inspiral Carpets could never completely emulate their musical heroes. Mostly because they're just not insane enough. No one is these days.

Although we didn't discuss the group's drug use (or lack thereof), I'm pretty sure that for all its feedback frenzy, "Generations" — the lead track off Revenge Of The Goldfish — wasn't written while they tripped on acid.

And while the lyrical output of most '60s garage-rock bands tended towards flower-power mysticism and teen angst, the Inspirals tackle more poignant issues of the human condition.

Take for example the melancholic "Two Worlds Collide" — one of the singles from the new album. "It could be placed anywhere," explains Boon, "every city has them. But it's about the vagrants we saw in Athens last year. It's about all the poor people starving to death in the city of the Acropolis and the statues of the gods." The opening verse goes:

"I steal to feed

I fight to breathe

To hunger not greed

I find these days,

It's the only way I can survive..."

Besides, Boon and his bandmates seem like really nice guys. During the interview, he tells me how their success has afforded him and his American-born wife a better lifestyle. "I've been able to help my parents out as well," he adds. "We bought two brand-new [semi-detached] houses and knocked the wall down between the two dining rooms so we can go through into each other's houses." (I have a feeling Sky Saxon wouldn't tell his parents where he was living, let alone move in next door.)

Inspiral Carpets (publicity photo)

By the time John Peel gave the Inspirals his stamp of approval with a Peel Sessions recording in 1989, the group had already issued "Plane Crash" (an EP which included a cover of "96 Tears") on the Manchester indie Playtime Records, as well as a handful of three, four and five-song EPs on their own Cow label.

It's debatable whether the "Madchester" scene would've happened in such a big way had the legendary DJ not drawn attention to the creative groups emerging from the grey northern city. However, Boon is confident that Inspiral Carpets would have made it with or without "the scene."

NME special "Madchester" issue featuring

the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays & 
Inspiral Carpets

"The end result was we got success a little quicker than we would've done," he allows. "But we knew we were destined to be successful."

Boon's voice rises a touch to emphasize, "The scene was christened nine or ten months after John Peel came along and raved about how good we were, so we were already established."

Then he gets downright huffy. "And it became a bit frustrating really, because we were just seen as the third of what they called the 'triumvirate' of Manchester bands. It was always the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, and the Inspirals — when we were the first ones doing psychedelic music and the dance/crossover kind of stuff."

In 1990 the Inspirals had a UK hit with the evocative "This Is How It Feels" from their debut LP, Life. (There's also a rather jaunty cover version by Carter USM. When I mention that I heard the cover first, Boon remarks: "I wrote that! But I do think theirs is really good, and it's done with respect. Some people think it's a send-up, but it's not. We appreciate them doing it.")

Since then, they've consistently topped the charts in Britain. "Traditionally, all of our songs have been No. 1 in the independent charts," states Boon. "Then you have the Top 40 — the BBC charts — where we're always at least in the Top 20."

Inspiral Carpets

Elektra Records publicity photo

Although they are getting a lot of airplay on alternative radio stations here in the Bay Area, Boon acknowledges that conquering America won't be so easily done.

"It's a lot harder over here because we're not as typical of the '90s, as say a band like EMF. They're a very definitive '90s pop group. All the elements that are relevant to the '90s — dance music, attitude, gay culture — are embodied in EMF's image and sound. And that's exactly why they're big in America. To me, they're the Rolling Stones of the '90s. I really mean that. Whereas we're like the Kinks."

I venture that while the Stones may be more popular than the Kinks, the Kinks are actually more important musically.

"Yeah!" responds Boon. "That's exactly what I think about us and EMF. EMF are friends of ours, so I'm not knocking them, but what they're doing is a bit more inventive, very relevant to now. Whereas we write traditional songs. We like melodies and themes, and there's always going to be a demand for that. In five years' time, EMF's songs may not be relevant, but I think the albums we're making will always be relevant."

* * *

An assortment of Inspiral Carpets' merchandise

Q: What's the deal with cows and all the stuff with "moo" on it?

Boon: I was raised in an area full of farms; I was as familiar with cows as I was with dogs and cats. That led to some embarrassingly over-publicized audience encounters. We decided to use some photos I'd taken of the cows as projections onstage, and that's where it all began. The audience started mooing at us like cows!

Q: Is your wife a big Inspiral Carpets fan?

Boon: She's into the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction — those are her two favorite bands. She's not an Inspiral Carpets fan, which is quite amusing, although she likes some of the songs that I write. Being in a band, we obviously meet a lot of girls who like us because we're one of the Inspirals. So, it's great when you meet someone who likes you but hates that you're in the Inspirals. That's why I married her!

Q: What do you think about the possibility of a Sex Pistols' reunion?

"Two Worlds Collide" 12-inch single
(Mute 1992)

Boon: I'm a bit saddened by it, but only because they're one of the bands who have always said they wouldn't do it. Actually, I was never a big fan of theirs. I was into Buzzcocks and the Fall — who I still believe won't reform. That would be a sad day for me because the Fall are one of my icons! But I believed in the Pistols; I believed in a lot of the values of that generation. I take it someone in the band is short of money, which is sad. So, I can't blame them. If fifteen years down the road me wife and me babies are a bit short of money and someone says, "You wanna reform the Inspirals?" I'll say, "Yep! Let me just get the Farfisa outta the attic and I'll be right with you." We've always been dead straight about things like that. I don't think we've contradicted ourselves — yet.

Q: I heard that you bumped into Iggy Pop. What was that like?

Boon: We met him in Toronto two years ago. We were doing the same TV show, and he was a really nice guy. But to meet Iggy Pop... It's not even like meeting God; it's like meeting IGGY POP!

Inspiral Carpets (publicity photo)

Q: Do you vote Conservative, Labour, or for an independent party?

Boon: In England, we've just got the Green Party, and that's the kind of political party I'd definitely vote for. But I honestly don't know what the solution is, and that's why I can't bring myself to vote for any particular party. What Bob Geldof did with Live Aid, that is an inspiration! And Sting, he's doing his bit. I think people like that are more capable of sorting out some of the planet's problems than Bush or Clinton.

Q: Why is Coronation Street such a big deal in England?

Boon: Coronation Street is the world's oldest soap opera. It's been going for thirty-something years. It's based in Manchester, in a very industrial, poor part of the city. There's one guy in the cast who was in the original show. In the original episodes, he played a young boy. Now he's approaching middle-age. It's something we've all grown up with. I'm thirty-three, so this program has always been a part of my life. It's not like an anchor point, but it gives you a sense of security to know it's there. It's a very important part of people's lives.

Q: Is it true that the Inspiral Carpets are going to be in an episode of Coronation Street?

Campaign to make "Saturn Five" a Christmas No. 1 
in memory of Craig Gill who died in 2016.

Boon: We've approached the scriptwriters and said, "Could you write us a part?" You know, just a walk-on part, and they're working on it. We'll probably walk into the Rovers Return, drink some beer, and go back out. Our music's actually been played on Coronation Street. The McDonald children fancy the Inspirals!

Q: Have you noticed any big differences between Americans and Brits?

Boon: In England, things don't change as fast as they do in America. One of the things I've noticed about America, and Americans in general — every so often, they just pack up shop and move to a different part of the country; their families are all spread out. Whereas in England, people are born, and they live and die in the same town. I'm generalizing, but that's the way it works in England. I now live two miles away from the village where I was born. Whenever I drive through that village, I see the same people that I went to school with. They'll die in that same town without ever seeing the world. They'll never travel around like we do. Even though I still live in the same place, I've managed to break away. I'm quite lucky in that respect.

*To read my second interview with Clint Boon go here: devorahostrov.blogspot.com/inspiral carpets/devil hopping