Police drummer Stewart Copeland recalled the period after the fifth and final album ‘Synchronicity’ that made the band rise to success. Copeland shared how he felt about Sting and the band during a conversation with Talkhouse Podcast, where he said:
“[I felt] Kind of miserable. We had enjoyed the rise to success and got all of the thrills that derided from that climb to success then we sat there. We played stadiums for two albums, and the albums became more and more difficult to record because we were driving each other crazy.”
He added how he described the band during the rise; he expressed:
“Now we all understand why we were driving each other crazy, and we all appreciate the result of driving each other crazy was something that we were very happy with, but it was not easy. I often describe The Police as like a Prada suit made out of razor blades.”
When the Talkhouse Podcast host Jon Wurster shared a quote by Stewart saying, ‘Every instinct I have is the opposite of what makes Sting happy,’ the drummer explained what he might have meant by explaining:
“One, I don’t think I ever put it in those exact terms, but it’s not far off the mark. It’s not so much of a complaint but more so a recognition that when we were young and codependent, we couldn’t get enough of each other’s stuff. We lit each other up, but album after album, as time went on, we did grow into different kinds of shapes, and fundamentally we make music for different reasons.”
The drummer added that he and Sting ultimately had a different outlook toward music. He continued:
“It [music] has a different function in our life; the kind of music we want to listen to as well as the kind of music we want to make and how we make the music are just on different planets, and we understand that it’s that contrast that made The Police what it was, but it’s not comfortable, it’s not easy.”
The two musicians are currently working on their solo projects. Stewart is on tour for his latest album ‘Police Deranged For Orchestra,’ and Sting is also on the road, which you can learn more about here.
You can listen to Stewart Copeland’s interview with Talkhouse Podcast and listen to ‘Police Deranged For Orchestra’ below.
