No strangers to an ambitious vision, the Waterboys’ 16th album, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper, tells the story of the Easy Rider director-star and outsider actor – as well as the last 75 years of pop culture.
“The arc of his life was the story of our times,” says band leader Mike Scott. “He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of pop art with the young Andy Warhol. He was part of the counter-culture, hippy, civil rights and psychedelic scenes of the 60s. In the 70s and 80s he went on a wild 10-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”
The album is 25 tracks long, features the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Fiona Apple and marks the Waterboys’ first album for Sun Records, making them labelmates of Elvis and Howlin’ Wolf. No big deal, then! On top of all that, Scott will sit for the Guardian’s reader interview. There’s a book’s worth of topics to cover in Life, Death and Dennis Hopper alone – but you might also want to ask about the concept of “the big music”, Scott’s youth in Edinburgh’s punk scene, maintaining the identity of a band through an ever-changing lineup, Celtic music, Scott’s literary influences and more.
Post your questions in the comments by 10am GMT on 29 January and the best will feature in a future issue of Film & Music.
