‘I am basically Taylor Swift with cheaper trousers’: an interview with MJ Hibbett
This Machine Kills Wasps’ impending headliner on fire drills, comics, and the joy of mistakes
Indiepop legend and writer of some of the most life-affirming songs, well, EVER, Mark “MJ” Hibbett, is headlining my show This Machine Kills Wasps on Thursday 8th Feb at the lovely Folklore Rooms in Brighton.
To celebrate this FACT I got in touch to ask about matters of GREAT IMPORT, like academic publishing and who we think the best Star Trek captain is.
Tickets are selling well but there are still some available, contrary to rumour. Buy yours here!
Hi Mark! I think I’ve interviewed you for every fanzine and/or gambit I’ve ever done.1
I’ll try to avoid descending into over-familiarity and in-jokes as much as possible, as some of the people coming to the gig are going to be YOUNGLINGS.
This is fine with me as my music speaks directly to the concerns of the young i.e. bad backs, additional management responsibilities and the incorrect prioritisations of fire drills.
I am basically Taylor Swift with cheaper trousers.
With that in mind, how would you describe your kind of music to a 24 year old recent Sussex Biochemistry graduate?2
Imagine if one of your Dad’s friends had a guitar. But even more exciting and rock and roll!
I’ve never actually asked you this so I’m going to ask now: what are your influences?
Thank you for finally asking.
As far as “what I actually sound like” goes it would be Billy Bragg, Half Man Half Biscuit and John Otway (see above re. Imagining if one of your Dad’s friends had a guitar - not one of his cooler pals).
The biggest influence on how I do it is The Beatles, specifically the bit where they went “Oh no we made a mistake there, but let’s keep it in, it might be fun.” I do that a LOT.
Do you remember the first song you ever wrote, and if so, was it any good?
Yes, it was called “Martian Pop Rocks” and it was about space aliens taking over the world by bribing us with sweets3 - I was only about eight at the time, but nowadays it feels like a dark political satire.
I can still sing it, so it must have had something going for it, and I still like the chorus which went “Martian Pop Rocks coming down in dozens - people try to grab a few, to stop them they wear muzzles.” Para-rhymes before the age of ten!
You have a long and storied career in the world of ROCK. What are the top three weirdest moments??
In no particular order, they would be performing a rock opera in Croydon to an audience comprised entirely of babies; secondly playing an autobiographical musical in an allotment in Brighton while young offenders threw twigs at me; and finally going onstage at David Cameron’s favourite musical festival to play one song (“Boom Shake The Room”) on a ukelele, supporting Tony Blair’s old band from college4 and Echo and The Bunnymen.
You’ve also done comedy as well as music - well, you’ve done funny rock operas at any rate. You also write songs that can be funny, heartfelt and devastating all at the same time.
Do you think there’s a stigma attached to writing “comedy songs”, and is this something you’ve ever been accused of?
Weirdly, I’ve always expected that someone would get annoyed about it, but nobody ever has.
I guess if I was playing Proper Grown-Up Festivals where people Sternly Enjoyed Music it might be a problem, but so far nobody’s asked me. Hang on, maybe they’re not asking me BECAUSE it annoys them?
You have your FINGER in many CREATIVE PIES. Tell us about your IMPENDING BOOK, and has music taken a bit of a backseat since you’ve been esconced in academia?
My BOOK is called “Data and Doctor Doom: an empirical approach to transmedia character cohesion”, and it’s about a way to measure how fictional characters change as they move through time, across different media, and from country to country.
It is a riveting read and a SNIP at about 90 quid a copy (academic publishing is WEIRD). It’s the result of my PhD which took AGES and so yes, music did have to take a bit of a backseat while I did endless revisions!
You flit between releasing SOLO ALBUMS and doing stuff with your band, THE VALIDATORS. Is the latter songwriting process collaborative, and how do you figure out which songs to put out YOURSELF and which songs to save for the FULL ROCK SOUND EXPERIENCE?
The Validators all have exciting lives of their own - two of them are this year getting back with their old bands, for instance - so we don’t get together as much as we’d like to.
Basically what happens is that I gradually build up a CRITICAL MASS of ROCK and at the point when it needs to be expelled from my BRANE I look around and see which formulation is available.
I did the last album during lockdown, so it was quite an easy choice!5
Do you have any ADVICE for young artists finding their way in this crazy world?
There are only two ways to do it: EITHER be born posh and have loads of money OR get a job.
The romantic myth of a starving artist staying dedicated to their craft without concern for material matters is a lie propagated by posh people who don’t actually have to worry about paying the rent, and its continuation is part of the reason there are hardly any working class people on the telly any more.
Also, if you get a job you don’t have to worry about doing ART that other people like, you are free to do what you like. THAT is my excuse and I am sticking to it.
Right, some less consequential questions to finish.
Which is the best Star Trek captain and why?
This used to be easy - Captain Sisko, obviously - but Strange New Worlds has given us the glory of Captain Pike, so I really don’t know. Maybe they could meet up?
Yes, there could be some kind of time travel thing right, where the original Enterprise ends up at Deep Space Nine, yeah, and first of all they have a fight and then unite to fight …. Oh blimey, is it hot in here?
Which career are you better suited to, hostage negotiator or Hollywood stunt double act?
I’ve spent thirty years trying to gently persuade academics to do things, and if i can get a Professor of Art History to read something BEFORE a deadline I am pretty sure I can get a terrorist to let the President’s daughter go free.
What’s scarier, a vampire or a zombie?
ZOMBIES because they’re easier to make. Vampires take all sorts of faff to create, so they’re likely to be a bit more choosy about attacking people, but zombies don’t care. Also, I have garlic in the house but do NOT have a machete.
That’s it! Thanking you as always.
Cheers dear and see you soon - I’m just off to B&Q for a machete!
For example, here he is being interviewed for the Factually Inaccurate Fanzine in 2021. And below is him on the cover of a much earlier fanzine of mine…
I am thinking of a specific person here. The future will be micro-targeted interview questions.
Given Mark went on to write Dinosaur Planet, a rock opera about dinosaurs from space destroying Peterborough, this makes a lot of sense.
“Ugly Rumours”.
You wouldn’t catch me writing and releasing an album during lockdown…