You’re only 28, but you’ve got a 10th anniversary deluxe edition reissue out. Are you a veteran now?
There’s a long way to go for that yet. But, having done this for a while, I’m seeing newer artists coming through who say they grew up listening to my music. That’s when you realise you’re not the new guy anymore.
How did you feel going through your schoolboy demos for the extra tracks?
I’d completely forgotten some songs, so it was interesting hearing things I wrote at 15, seeing what I was writing about. I sometimes thought: “I’ve gone backwards since these!” Songs like Devil Song and Man On The Moon are from the darker regions, which are my own preference. I enjoy them more than some of the album’s big songs.
Did looking back make you realise how much you achieved at such a young age?
I think about it more and more, because of the way the industry has evolved. It’s become harder for new artists to break through, so I wonder if I’d have the same opportunities if I started out now. It’s hard to say how I’d fare now, but 10 years ago people were still buying CDs, which definitely helped me.
How do you reflect on the controversies around some of the anti-pop comments you made then?
The press were asking an 18-year-old from a council estate what he thinks about boy bands and pop music. What did they think I was going to say? I grew up with that music and I disliked it very much, so what did people expect? Part of the drive to do what I do was hating what was on the radio. The way I said things was really bad. But the sentiment – that there should be more opportunity for more organic artists’ music to be played on radio – still stands.
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Esta historia es de la edición January 2023 de Record Collector.
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Paperback Blighters - The books every record collector should read.
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