After years as a sideman, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is taking centre stage with his debut solo album The Messenger. He tells Andy Welch why the time was finally right, and why it’s all about philosophy...

It’s been a long time coming, but some things really are worth the wait.

After leaving The Smiths in 1987, Johnny Marr has been something of a wanderer, a roaming guitar-slinger for hire. Now, at the grand old age of 49, he’s ready to release his debut solo album, The Messenger.

“It’s late in the day to be making my debut album,” he admits. “But it feels like early days again, which people might be surprised to hear. That’s one of the advantages of making your first record under your own name after having made so many with other people, it’s all fresh again.”

After leaving The Smiths — his departure led to the band’s break-up weeks later — Marr seemed intent on working with as many artists as he could. He briefly joined Pretenders and The The, and formed Electronic with New Order’s Bernard Sumner. Subsequent years would see him turn producer with the likes of early Noughties hopefuls Haven, form his band Johnny Marr + The Healers, team up with Crowded House’s Neil Finn on his 7 Worlds Collide project, and become a fully-fledged member of American indie stars Modest Mouse and The Cribs.

“I just reached a point where I didn’t want to be in another band — or someone else’s band — anymore,” he says. “The ideas for the record started to haunt me, in a good way. I’m always led by my musical hunches, that then become strong ideas and concepts that sometimes lead to being in someone else’s band, but this time led to my own songs.”

He says he never had the inclination to make a solo album before, and the timing wouldn’t have been right. The Messenger is a result of working with so many others and drawing different things from each set up. Marr also realised over the years that he had his own fans.

“I’’d say that’s been 80 per cent of the motivation for making this album, to play music to people who like what I do. It sounds like such an obvious thing, but it was an incredible revelation to me,” he says.

That a former member of The Smiths, a band with one of the most devoted and obsessive fan bases, would be surprised people were prepared to attend gigs especially to see him, says something about Marr. He’s unlike most rock stars, seemingly devoid of ego and uninterested in the trappings of his work environment.

The Messenger, written and recorded in a Salford barn, is a melodic, guitar-centric album that manages to pull from each facet of Marr’s career.

He said: “It’s not been easy being a fan of mine, with me going in different directions. This record is for the fans.

“It’s most definitely time to get into a venue and for us all to just enjoy ourselves and have fun.”

  • Johnny Marr, 53 Degrees, Preston, Friday, March 8.