AJT: Sure, were there a lot of people who wanted to contribute to Sniffin’ Glue and be part of it?
MP: The only people who actually helped me on the magazine were friends, I mean, initially I had a school mate called Steve Micalef and then Danny Baker, who I went to school with too, he helped. As we got more famous and the magazine was featured in NME and Sounds, we had lots of people asking if they could write for the magazine, but what I used to tell them was, “No, go out and start your own fanzine,” which is what happened. After Sniffin’ Glue – in around six months – there were hundreds of different zines. So that’s what I’d encourage people to do, for example the second UK punk fanzine was called Ripped & Torn and was written by a bloke called Tony from Glasgow and he said that he initially asked to write for Sniffin’ Glue but I told him to go start his own magazine, and he did.

AJT: And that DIY, ‘anyone can do it’ approach was the blueprint of punk. You must feel proud looking back and knowing you influenced a whole scene of independent publishing.
MP: At the time when you’re involved in something like that you don’t really realise, I didn’t think that in 40 years time I’d be talking about it still [laughs]. I just thought it’d be over in a year or something, looking back I’m very proud that I had the idea but I was just in the right place at the right time and punk rock was so exciting that I just wanted to get involved so much, that was my aim. I wasn’t content with just being in the audience, I wanted to give it a go.

AJT: Do you still own the past issues?
MP: No, I don’t own one issue [laughs]. A few years ago we did this book that collected them all together and I’ve got a copy of that so I can quickly grab it if I need to look anything up. If I owned them I’d probably sell them, you know what I mean? Because they sell for a lot of money now.

AJT: I bet your teenage self would laugh at how much they’re worth now.
MP: I did an event a month ago at the Barbican and there they had the issues in glass cases, and they are in the British Library, and someone said to me that I must think it’s awful, but I don’t, I actually think it’s a good thing. The fact it’s become part of British cultural history and it’s in a museum, I think it’s pretty cool.

Kingsman Turnbull & Asser Polka Dot Silk Pyjamas £895

Read Next