The Tim “Napalm” Stegall Substack Interview: Galen (Ayers) & Paul (Simonon), Part One

Yeah, I know. Been promising this one since May. Whaddaya want? I’ve been writing a book….

Galen and Paul wanna trade hats with you. (Pic: Dan Donovan)

I must apologize, dear reader. This is happening later than I planned. I did not expect The Book (which I know you are as anxious for me to announce as I am) would be stretching into its seventh month, and be occupying every inch of space and ounce of oxygen in my life. It sure feels like we are approaching the end, however. Mind you, I begin working on The Follow-Up Book five minutes after I turn this in….

Which is a roundabout way of saying the time to promote Galen & Paul’s wonderful chill-out record Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day? has come and gone. But this interview was pretty cool, and it’s still a good record. So….

Obviously, if you’re offered an interview with Paul Gustave Simonon, born 67 years ago in Croydon, South London, UK, and a very large dent was put in your head watching him sling a Fender Precision around in The Clash when you were 14? Yeah, you’re gonna jump on it. Sure, I wanted to be Mick Jones. But simultaneously, I wanted to be as cool and stylish as Paul – that night at Armadillo World HQ, he looked like Alain Delon portraying Eddie Cochran in a Truffaut-directed ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll exploitation film.

It doesn’t hurt that the Galen & Paul album is supremely listenable. No, it’s not The Clash in any of their myriad stylistic shifts, nor does it plumb Galen Ayers’ expected legacy, once you discover her father was English psychedelicist Kevin Ayers. Rather, Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day? resembles nothing less than a 21st Century Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood record, with strong lashings of the reggae Simonon grew up with in Brixton and Ladbroke Grove, as well as various Spanish strains. It harms nothing that amongst the sympathetic musicians playing on the record are some of Simonon’s cohorts in Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad and The Queen, including Damon Albarn and Simon Tong. And Simonon sings a lot more than he did in The Clash, which is not a bad thing, even if he’s hardly as mellifluous as Ayers. It results in one of the more enjoyable albums all year.

Ayers & Simonon were interviewed via Zoom on May 3, 2023. You could not find two more charming interview subjects. And yes, Simonon is still the best-dressed cat in the room, even when the room has a several thousand mile gap that includes half the American continent and the Atlantic ocean.

By the way, only paying subscribers can access this interview. Monthly subscriptions are only five dollars – less than you pay daily for lunch or a Starbucks latte. If you don’t like monthly renewable subscriptions, an annual sub is only $50. You pay more than that each week for groceries. And if you have a free sub already and want to read this, upgrading is a simple process, as well. Just punch this button immediately below. It’s the best way to support my work, and I thank you. Please consider these options, and hopefully a new interview with the coolest member of The Clash is convincing.

If not, then know that paying subscribers get to hear Galen & Paul play a Clash classic, as a bonus!