Alan McGee has insisted he feels nothing but sympathy for those whose lives have been affected by the recent fire at the Sony PIAS warehouse, but has stood by his earlier remarks in which he said the fire itself was ‘funny’.
Speaking exclusively to the Live4ever Ezine after causing a bit of a stir this week when telling the BigSound music industry conference in Australia that he had ‘…read that the Sony PIAS building burnt down, I’m probably the only person who thought that was funny,’ McGee said he ‘feels for the people who have lost their jobs’, but re-iterated his dislike for the Sony company itself.
“I don’t retract any of the statement, and there isn’t going to be any retraction or apology, if people don’t like it they can go **** themselves,” he told us. “Of course I feel for the people who have lost their jobs because everyone has to feed their family, but I hate Sony and I’m glad the building burnt down.”
“I think people thought I was having a go at the ‘indies’, but it’s got nothing to do with anything but the fact it was Sony. At the end of the day it was the Sony warehouse that burnt down and I’m glad, I wont be apologising.”
Instead, McGee has said he has other priorities currently occupying his mind, including a scheduled appearance at the forthcoming TEDx conference at Oxford University.
“Right now for me all I’m looking to is my speaking engagement at the TEDx conference at Oxford University,” he explained.
“This is my focus now and as I’ve said I’m not in the music business anymore, I’m just not interested in new music and only really rate The Libertines and Glasvegas as far as new music goes. It’s projects like the TEDx conference that I’m interested in, and as I said I’m gutted for anyone losing their job at small labels, but I don’t like any of their records and don’t feel bad about it, that’s how I honestly feel.”
The TEDx conference aims to inspire a passion for learning amongst young people, and McGee will be joining the likes of Vidal Sassoon, technology innovator Bright Simons and CEO Kelly Cutrone at the special event.