"From day one, we've always been shrouded in controversy," Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones tells Exclaim! The pioneering punk band were only around for two and a half years, but in that time, they swore on TV, mocked the monarchy, got into countless fights and flamed out following a disastrous US tour.
Flash forward 45 years and little has changed: "It continues now, with John and the lawsuit," says Jones wearily. He's referring to John Lydon, a.k.a. singer Johnny Rotten, who has been raging against his former bandmates in the press while trying (and failing) to stop them from licensing the group's music for the new biographical series Pistol (coming to Disney+ in Canada on May 31).
"When we were 20, I would say it was fun," Jones says of the band's proclivity for public battles. "But now, I'm not interested. I ain't got the energy for that. I don't want to be in the limelight, to be honest with you."
Rather than bask in the limelight himself, Jones is now letting others tell his story. Pistol is adapted from his 2016 memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, with Oscar-winner Danny Boyle directing a cast that includes Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams and Love Actually's Thomas Brodie-Sangster.
"This TV show is good for the Sex Pistols' brand," Jones reflects. "I hate that word, but that seems like the word everyone uses now. There's nothing wrong with that: keeping your legacy alive. I'm all for it. I was all for Danny Boyle to do six episodes based on my book. It's a thrill, and it's an honour for that to happen."
Boyle was born in England in 1956 — meaning that he was around 20 years old when the Sex Pistols rose to infamy in the second half of the '70s. "That was his period, when he was growing up," Jones reflects. "It means something to him, more than getting someone else who had no idea what punk rock was from the Sex Pistols' point of view. So he's actually the perfect person [to tell our story]."
Pistol captures the band's brief run, with the grainy, period-appropriate film quality making the miniseries almost resemble a documentary. Jones is played by Toby Wallace, an Australian actor who nicely embodies the illiterate, kleptomaniacal guitarist's cockney coarseness. Even when Jones cracks sexist jokes and steals David Bowie's equipment right off the stage, Wallace carries himself with a sense of wounded innocence.
Wallace honed his impression of Jones by spending a couple of weeks with the musician in Los Angeles, taking notes and trading stories. Jones even gave Wallace some guitar lessons — a crash course that mirrored Jones's own hasty learning of the instrument in 1975. These lessons allowed Wallace and his costars to perfect their imitation of the band's gritty sound.
"They're the ones playing in the show, too," Jones reveals of the actors. "It's not like they're miming to the Sex Pistols. And Danny was very adamant that he wanted to do that. I was a bit nervous at first, but I think it paid off. I think it really makes it better that they're not miming to the Sex Pistols. That would have been corny."
Jones may have initially been skeptical about some of Boyle's decisions, but he says he ultimately learned to stop micromanaging and, just like he was hoping to, step out of the limelight.
"You don't want too many cooks in the pot," Jones offers. "In some of the early stages, there was some stuff I didn't agree with. I got my way sometimes, but not all the way. And then, in hindsight, I just stopped. I'm like, 'I'm just gonna let this guy get on with it. He knows what he's doing.'"
Jones pauses and, in a classic moment of Sex Pistols confrontation, suddenly turns on me: "If you was directing it, I'd be nervous."
Flash forward 45 years and little has changed: "It continues now, with John and the lawsuit," says Jones wearily. He's referring to John Lydon, a.k.a. singer Johnny Rotten, who has been raging against his former bandmates in the press while trying (and failing) to stop them from licensing the group's music for the new biographical series Pistol (coming to Disney+ in Canada on May 31).
"When we were 20, I would say it was fun," Jones says of the band's proclivity for public battles. "But now, I'm not interested. I ain't got the energy for that. I don't want to be in the limelight, to be honest with you."
Rather than bask in the limelight himself, Jones is now letting others tell his story. Pistol is adapted from his 2016 memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, with Oscar-winner Danny Boyle directing a cast that includes Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams and Love Actually's Thomas Brodie-Sangster.
"This TV show is good for the Sex Pistols' brand," Jones reflects. "I hate that word, but that seems like the word everyone uses now. There's nothing wrong with that: keeping your legacy alive. I'm all for it. I was all for Danny Boyle to do six episodes based on my book. It's a thrill, and it's an honour for that to happen."
Boyle was born in England in 1956 — meaning that he was around 20 years old when the Sex Pistols rose to infamy in the second half of the '70s. "That was his period, when he was growing up," Jones reflects. "It means something to him, more than getting someone else who had no idea what punk rock was from the Sex Pistols' point of view. So he's actually the perfect person [to tell our story]."
Pistol captures the band's brief run, with the grainy, period-appropriate film quality making the miniseries almost resemble a documentary. Jones is played by Toby Wallace, an Australian actor who nicely embodies the illiterate, kleptomaniacal guitarist's cockney coarseness. Even when Jones cracks sexist jokes and steals David Bowie's equipment right off the stage, Wallace carries himself with a sense of wounded innocence.
Wallace honed his impression of Jones by spending a couple of weeks with the musician in Los Angeles, taking notes and trading stories. Jones even gave Wallace some guitar lessons — a crash course that mirrored Jones's own hasty learning of the instrument in 1975. These lessons allowed Wallace and his costars to perfect their imitation of the band's gritty sound.
"They're the ones playing in the show, too," Jones reveals of the actors. "It's not like they're miming to the Sex Pistols. And Danny was very adamant that he wanted to do that. I was a bit nervous at first, but I think it paid off. I think it really makes it better that they're not miming to the Sex Pistols. That would have been corny."
Jones may have initially been skeptical about some of Boyle's decisions, but he says he ultimately learned to stop micromanaging and, just like he was hoping to, step out of the limelight.
"You don't want too many cooks in the pot," Jones offers. "In some of the early stages, there was some stuff I didn't agree with. I got my way sometimes, but not all the way. And then, in hindsight, I just stopped. I'm like, 'I'm just gonna let this guy get on with it. He knows what he's doing.'"
Jones pauses and, in a classic moment of Sex Pistols confrontation, suddenly turns on me: "If you was directing it, I'd be nervous."
