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X-clusive: Carl Barat On Pete And The Future

added 18 February 2005 at 14.19

Pete Doherty quite sensibly avoided the NME Awards but his former Libertines bandmate Carl Barat found time to speak exclusively to Xfm about his musical plans for the future, his recent operation and his message for Pete.

Barat turned up at the ceremony last night (February 17) to accept the award for Best British Band, having been conspicuously out of the spotlight after a stint in hospital following the removal of a tumour from behind his ear.

“What have I been up to? Convalescence,” he explained, “I’ve just had an operation, had something nasty removed from my head so I’ve lost a bit of hearing so it’s my first day out really. Well they had to cut in there, pull out some bones there’s some corrosive bacteria thing eating its way around, it’s pretty nasty. But yeah they stitched it up and I’m good to go.”

Since the effective dissolution of The Libertines late last year, Barat has been a far less public figure than Doherty, only emerging to co-write Client’s recent single ‘Pornography’. But it seems he’s preparing a musical return.

“I’ve started writing,” he explained, “I mean, it’s been good to have this forced break really, just to get grounded. Naturally I’ve just picked up a guitar, been locked up with a piano and a guitar getting ideas together. But the rest of it’s yet to see. I doubt I’ll be going in a ‘Client’-ey direction, it was just one of those things you do with your mates really. We’ve got some plans but I don’t want to spill the beans just yet.

When asked if he had spoken to Doherty (who is due to in court to face charges of suspected robbery and bribery on Monday February 21), Carl confessed that he had tried to make contact just prior to the awards,

“Well, I tried to half an hour ago,” he explained, “But no not yet. Its funny, it’s a funny time. It’s hard to know what to think really. It’s just with all this stuff spinning around you and you’re in the middle of it all, it makes it a lot harder really. I think this wouldn’t have been the ideal place to meet up for the first time, but my heart’s still with him and I hope to see him. But preferably not like this if you know what I mean.

When asked if he had a message to give to his troubled former bandmate, Barat simply replied, “I’ll give it to him myself. We’ve got a lot to talk about. And of course I wish him well, in and out of court y’know. He knows.”

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