Pete Doherty posed as a fan on a Libertines fansite

15 October 2022, 13:00

Pete Doherty posed as a fan on a Libertines fansite

The Libertines rocker has recalled how he took to the internet during the band's infancy to connect with their budding fanbase.

Pete Doherty has recalled how he connected with The Libertines fans on the internet during the band's early days.

In their sit down interview with Sunta Templeton as part of Radio X's exclusive Global Player podcast, Up The Bracket - 20 Years of The Libertines, the rocker - alongside bandmates Carl Barât, John Hassall and Gary Powell - reminisced on their time in the band.

Listen to Up The Bracket - 20 Years of the Libertines exclusively on Global Player now

Going back to their early days, the rocker revealed how he hated the internet and thought it should only be used for "academic research," but visiting Libertines.org incognito changed his mind.

"There was this girl who was trying to explain to us the idea of a fansite and what it was and I didn't really understand it, I wasn't really that [into it]."

"Remember (addressing Carl), I always said there was two things I wouldn't try, incest and the internet?"

"The internet, I don't know why... I was completely against the idea," he continued. "[I thought] The internet should only be used for academic research.

"And then I went down the internet cafe and went on Libertines.org and basically it was just a message board for people that liked The Libertines.

"There was about seven people logged in or something like that and so I thought I'd pretend to be just a fan saying, 'Yeah, this band are really great. I saw that guitarist Peter the other day on a wall in Bethnal Green. He's good looking,' and things like that."

READ MORE: How did The Libertines come up with their name?

However, after chatting to their small fanbase, Pete then began logging in as himself as a means to advertise their last minute gigs, many of which took place in the flat he shared with bandmate Carl.

"Then I just logged in as myself," the Time For Heroes rocker explained. "And then I just thought f*** it, we'll do an acoustic gig one afternoon and see what the reach is and what sort of people were out there and who they are.

"I wanted to see them face to face and it was amazing about 15 people turned up. I couldn't believe it and they were all really young. You know, 15, 16, 17 and they just wanted to see us playing acoustic."

"There was a palpable excitement," added Carl. "It was like the Wild West. It was such an exciting time and that really ties in with the birth of [Up The Bracket] really".

Soon enough, the band amassed somewhat of a cult following, which saw young kids and fellow aspiring rockers turn up in their droves to see them play.

Pete revealed: "By the time we done the next one, obviously we planned it a bit earlier that time, so we gave people two hours notice and by that time people were kind of on standby.

"And then two months later the word got out that the message could go out at any time and there was a lot more people checking it regularly. So we gave them a day's notice and then it got really interesting...:"

Listen to Up The Bracket - 20 Years of the Libertines exclusively on Global Player

To celebrate 20 years of The Libertines’ debut album, Up The Bracket, Global Player has launched a brand new podcast featuring exclusive interviews with the band: Up The Bracket - 20 Years of The Libertines.

The seven episode podcast, hosted by Radio X’s Sunta Templeton, will lift the lid on the recording process of the era-defining debut album through interviews with Carl, Peter, John and Gary, plus James Endeacott (the A&R who discovered the band) and Anthony Thornton (the band’s biographer).

Listeners will hear stories from before the sell-out shows, before the world tours, before the massive singles, before the headlines, before the highs and before the fall outs.

From the first gig to the moment they felt like they’d ‘made it’; the inspirations behind the songs and the stories never heard before, told by the band themselves.

All seven episodes of Up The Bracket - 20 Years of The Libertines are available now, exclusively on Global Player.

Listen to Up The Bracket - 20 Years of the Libertines exclusively on Global Player