Iggy Pop, shown here in 2007 at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, says he got tired of hearing 'idiot thugs with guitars.' (Jack Plunkett/Associated Press)

Iggy Pop, known as the godfather of punk, is exhibiting a milder side with his jazz-influenced album inspired by Jelly Roll Morton and a book by French writer Michel Houellebecq.

In an interview first posted on the website iggypop.org, the 61-year-old rowdy rocker — born James Newell Osterberg — says he was ready for a change.

"I just got sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music, and I was starting to listen to a lot of New Orleans-era Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton type of jazz," says the singer, whose previous hits include Lust for Life, I'm Bored and Real Wild Child.

The new album, called Préliminaires, is also partly influenced by Houellebecq's The Possibility of an Island.

The science fiction novel tells of a standup comedian, a cult and the comedian's cloned descendants.

In the end, Iggy Pop says, the music did not enter new age territory — despite the influences of Houellebecq's work — but is a "quieter album with some jazz overtones."

'I've always loved quieter ballads," he says in his video.

The Guardian reports that in one song, Les Feuilles Mortes, Iggy Pop sings in French.

"I've made it really especially for France and people who speak French," said the Michigan-born singer.

Préliminaires will be released in April or May by EMI France.

Pop released an album in 2007 with his old Stooges band formed in 1967. They toured North America and Europe backing the release, The Weirdness.