Billy Childish
Billy Childish
Billy Childishis an English painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, Childish has been prolific in creating music, writing and visual art. He has led and played in bands including the Pop Rivets, Thee Milkshakes, Thee Headcoats, and the Musicians of the British Empire, primarily working in the genres of garage rock, punk and surf...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth1 December 1959
art book drawing
I liked drawing and painting, because the only failure would be to listen to the doubters who wanted me to stop drawing and painting because 'you aren't going to make a living doing that.' I liked looking in art books at the work of painters.
new-york play towns
I've always liked New York, as I like towns with an edge and New York has a European feel, so when I came to play music here in the '80s it was a surprise to me.
rocks blue years
I've not been an admirer of contemporary music since punk rock went off the boil in 1977, but once a year I'll listen to 'Spiral Scratch' by the Buzzcocks, or 'Hippy Hippy Shake' by the Swinging Blue Jeans. Otherwise, I can put up with Chopin or shakuhachi flute in the background.
artist saws ends
It is an artist's duty to be on the wrong end of the see-saw.
yoga drinking health
I gave up drinking lots of whiskey and began to practice yoga and meditation. As a result I am not dead.
artist paint
Artists who don't paint aren't artists.
way fantastic i-can
Failure is fantastic, because you meet yourself and get to know your limitations. This is how I express myself, and I can't do it any other way.
exhibitions want firsts
Before 1999, Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas offered to get me exhibitions, but joining the Stuckists put a kaibosh on all that - because I wasn't prepared to be controlled. I agreed to co-found the Stuckists to be allowed to say what I wanted, and I left the Stuckists because I didn't really want to be in them in the first place.
war moustache vans
I loved moustaches. I used to draw myself with one. When I was 14, I was really into war and Van Gogh.
believe mad people
We believe in a society in delusion, and if you're awake and not deluded people tell you you're mad. That's why I'm a freak and they're not. But I'm actually not.
lying inability problem
One of my biggest problems in life has been my inability to lie.
squares unemployment towns
We had the same kind of unemployment here as they had in the worst hit places in the North and you're meant to be on a cushy wicket in the South. If you go up to Newcastle, you can tell that the town's really had money, or Liverpool, you know, the northern towns have got grandeur, whereas Medway, being just a sort of garrison town and dockyard town, you don't have anything like Earl Grey Square or anything like that.
school levels tests
I did not like prizes at school. I didn't like tests or exams, or the 11+, or O-levels. Later I hated B.A.s and M.A.s. The reason I hated them is that I don't like being tested, failed or falsely praised by anyone.
feelings favourite comfortable
My favourite things are jokes, friendliness and feeling comfortable.