Patti Smith is a singer songwriter, poet, author, and visual artist who was at the forefront of the New York city punk movement. Her 1975 debut album ‘Horses’ announced her arrival, and since then she has carved out a career that allows her to speak truth to power in and outside of her work, and is cited by many artists including Michael Stipe, Johnny Marr and Shirley Manson as an important influence on their own work. In this wide ranging conversation with Nic, Patti talks about getting back out on the road and connecting with audiences after the seclusion of pandemic lockdown, why climate change is the issue of our time, and her upcoming “Evidence” exhibition with ‘Soundwalk Collective’ at Center Pompidou in Paris. Patti also shares her first live music experience, attending the Motown Revue bus tour with Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and “Little” Stevie Wonder in Philadelphia in 1963, her stairwell conversation with Jimi Hendrix at the opening of his Electric Lady Studios just three weeks before his tragic death and her love of Opera, orchestral movie soundtracks, and many different styles of popular music.
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