Sex Pistols‘ original bassist Glen Matlock recently discussed the latest figures of punk while answering whether Machine Gun Kelly had what it took to go punk during a chat with SPIN.
Matlock was only fourteen when he found himself at a Faces gig, and it took him another couple of years to join Sex Pistols before he was out and Sid Vicious was in. Still, that didn’t stop him from carrying on as a punk rocker, as he went on to perform alongside all-time icons Iggy Pop and the Damned.
When it comes to the punk scene, it could be safe to say that Glen was born into it, so he can really qualify as an honorary jury when answering the question, ‘What or who is punk?’ Well, the host just asked that while questioning the rocker what he thought of Machine Gun Kelly and whether the singer actually qualified as a punk rocker.
The bassist was quite supportive and optimistic when it came to mentioning MGK, noting he’s been aware of the younger rocker a bit and liked the musical path the former rapper was on. Matlock then discussed how the trick of being a punk was always to have various influences and successfully reflect them into your work, which would help any act seem brand new.
Glen then pointed out that he’d seen some young punk bands doing that trick, sneaking influences here and there into their music as Sex Pistols once did. So, he didn’t have any problems with MGK or any other ‘new’ punk rocker, especially celebrating Green Day when honorably mentioning their name and their hit piece, ‘American Idiot.’
Glen’s words on whether MGK had what it took to go punk:
“I know a little bit about Machine Gun Kelly. I think he’s giving it a go, and he’s doing it in his way. With the Pistols, we took loads of different elements from different things — not deliberately, but stuff that you dig sneaks in there somehow.
I think good music is a skill of loads of influences. The trick is to make it seem new, you know? Some of these younger punk bands do that a little bit. But what I’ve seen from Machine Gun Kelly is quite cool. I think Green Day are very open-minded. I think ‘American Idiot’ was a fantastic evolution coming out in Bush’s America at the time.”
So, while MGK received numerous backlash for trying to go punk, an all-time punk rocker who we might call to have almost born into the scene gave him the green light and supported the young singer’s musical path.
