KINGS OF TRASH: Moulin Rouge

Children of the Revolution? What does it mean? BOOGALOO TO YOU…. ‘and the song he sang meant EVERYTHING’… a pre punk pop anthem full of pure ‘i dont wanna grow up’ teenage angst…with one of the best guitar/string riffs of all time… eat your heart out Phil Spector…. Talking with the man can be a bit of a head fuck at times, but we do it gladly. Here’s our interview with Gavin Friday, about the song, the film and collaborating with his childhood mate, Bono.


One of the most anticipated films and soundtracks of this year is “Moulin Rouge”, director Baz Luhrmann’s new musical extravaganza starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Though apparently the film isn’t completely finished yet, it debuted at the Cannes Film festival last week.

For the soundtrack, Luhrmann asked Bono, Gavin and Maurice Seezer specifically to do T Rex’s “Children of the Revolution”. It is the theme tune of the ‘Bohemians’ in the film. A song that is “a pre punk pop anthem, full of pure ‘I DON’T WANNA GROW UP’ teenage angst… with one of the best guitar/string riffs of all time,” says Gavin, speaking to us from the studio in Dublin.

Gavin and Maurice, who are currently working on their fourth studio album, took time out to record the song in their own “HORSE studios”, after seeing “a snippet or two” of the movie, which according to Gavin, “looks amazing, like Fritz Lang in the 21st century”.

“T Rex/Bolan have always been a love/interest to me… “take me back to ’72″…”The Slider”, “Rex Mortuus Est”, “Life’s a Gas”, “King of Trash” (all songs Gavin and Maurice played or recorded). Over the years myself and Maurice have tipped our hat to Bolan many a time. The music of T Rex will always be close to my heart, it’s a ‘you never forget your first kiss’ type of thing.”

When we ask Gavin how roles in the studio were divided, he says: “We are one but not the same… Bono took the role of Bolan and I took on the role of Flo & Eddie (backing singers on the original) at the request of the director. The recordings were very free form, just the three of us dossin’. It was chaos ‘n’ fun, mad jams, very uncontrived with our tongues firmly in our cheeks.”

Two versions of the track were mixed by ‘Biffco’ at Windmill Lane. The mix used in the film is different from the one on the soundtrack: “It’s a demented camp/handbag/heavy metal/pop kind of thing.”
Will it be released?

“Maybe?”

read the full interview at GavinFriday.com.

The Moulin Rouge soundtrack is out now on Interscope Records.