“DO you fancy a cup of tea?” asks Paul Weller. “I’m just about to make one.”
In his dressing room before the final show of a five-night run at London’s
Roundhouse, the Modfather is getting the drinks in.
A few years ago, celebrating a No1 album or backstage at one of his gigs would
mean a full-on party. But today, a teetotal Weller doesn’t touch anything
stronger than a cup of Tetley’s.
“I haven’t had a hangover in 18 months and I feel great,” says Weller, who
admits that he was an alcoholic.
“Life is good and I’ve even been driving home after these shows. That would
never have happened before.”
Sonik Kicks, Weller’s 11th solo album, is not only a winner in sales, topping
the album charts on the first week of release, it’s also one of the
most critically acclaimed of his 35-year career.
And it is remarkable that in the past few years the ex-Jam and Style Council
singer, now 53, has given us his three most experimental albums with Sonik
Kicks, 2010’s Wake Up The Nation and 2008 double 22 Dreams.
He says: “It’s been a great creative time for me and I’ve lived and worked
long enough to know you have times in life where you’re very, very on it and
others when you’re not. This is something I want to keep going with.”
And it’s not only his music that is experiencing change but his personal
life too.
His
new wife Hannah, 25, gave birth to twin boys, Bowie and John Paul, in January.
Dressed in a stripy shirt, Paul looks as dapper as always but since quitting
booze, he looks fresher-faced than in the past and his new lifestyle clearly
suits him.
Sipping his tea, he says: “My lovely mother-in-law has been up to help us out
so we’ve slept more this week than we normally do.”
Proudly showing me pictures of his sons on his phone, he says: “Look at them.
They sleep facing each other but they don’t acknowledge each other yet.
“They’re doing well. Both of them have doubled their bodyweight already, which
is not normal apparently. Twins only do that at six months. Here’s another
photo. One of my other sons has been taking millions of pictures of his
skateboard, I see,” he laughs.
The birth of Bowie and John Paul takes the Weller brood up to seven, ranging
from 23 to two months and Dad is intensely proud of all of them.
His eldest, Nat, 23, and Leah, 21, are from his marriage to Style Council
singer Dee C Lee.
Then there’s Dylan, 16, who was born out of a short relationship with her
make-up artist mother Lucy, then Jesamine, 12, and Stevie Mac, six, from his
long relationship with ex-partner Samantha Stock, who Paul left when he met
Hannah Andrews who sang on his album 22 Dreams.
They married in September 2010 on the Italian island of Capri.
“Life throws things at you and you never know what’s going to happen next,” he
says.
“You might have all the plans in the world but that doesn’t mean anything.
Life holds its own secrets and you have to go with them. Sometimes change is
painful but ultimately it’s good.”
Sonik
Kicks is also a family affair. The psychedelic Dragonfly is adapted
from a poem by Jesamine.
Hannah duets with Weller on the jazzy Study In Blue and Leah and Mac sing on
the album’s closer piano ballad Be Happy Children, a tribute to Weller’s
beloved dad and manager John who died in 2009 after a long illness.
Weller says: “Not all my kids are musical. My two eldest ones are and Mac’s
going to follow in my footsteps, I think. He’s just started to play guitar.
He just asked me to show him one day and he’s only six.
“And I hope I have the same relationship with my kids as I did with my dad. He
was a brilliant dad and we were great mates. And we got to spend so much
time together which is pretty unheard of in life.
I still miss him at times but I’ve got more of a philosophical view as I think
he’s with me in whatever form you want to think of it. I can see that
carried through to me and to my kids and hopefully to their kids too.
We don’t entirely die as part of us is carried on and continued in the next
generation.
“As for singing with Hannah, Study In Blue is a great song. I really love it.
We wanted the right song to do a duet, without it being too slushy.
“Hannah sings with me but she’s not a professional singer and she hasn’t got
any aspirations to be that.
“She was brilliant when the twins were born. A proper little trooper. And they
were big for twins. One was 5lb 10oz and the other one was 6lb 3oz.”
Latest single That Dangerous Age is based around a riff similar to The Kinks’
All Day And All Of The Night and David Bowie-style vocals. He says: “Yes,
there is some Bowie in there. I like a lot of his stuff and Hannah is a
massive fan.
“I suppose the song’s theme is born out of when me and Hannah first got
together. Because of our age difference, people really took an interest in
it, saying I must be having a mid-life crisis. But we just fell in love and
that’s it.
“I’m of the opinion, once you’ve been touched by music then age doesn’t
matter. What are you supposed to do, put away your records and clothes when
you get to a certain age?
“My mum is 71 and she still listens to the records she’s always listened to.
“That Dangerous Age is a character study about a guy who’s in mid-life, who’s
got a good job and is dissatisfied and regrets all the things he’s never
done.
“But it’s certainly not about me. I had my mid-life crisis when I was in my
thirties.”
Dragonfly and The Attic feature Blur’s Graham Coxon. He’s not the only mate
Weller’s got in on the album either.
Noel Gallagher plays on three tracks The Attic, Around The Lake and When
Your Garden Is Overgrown and long-term friend and Ocean Colour Scene
guitarist Steve Cradock appears on a number of songs.
“Yep the extended family features on the record as well as the family,” he
smiles. “It was a fun album to make.”
One relationship that has suffered, though, in recent times is that of
co-songwriter and producer Simon Dine, who has been credited as helping with
Weller’s rebirth. The pair fell out over money, and went their separate
ways.
Paul says: “Yes, we both worked on this record together but we fell out
towards the end. I don’t really want to go into it but it was over money.
“I know there’s been mention of him being the reason behind my rebirth,” he
smirks. “But for the past 35 years I’ve put out pretty good records without
him too.”
Listening to electronic music, Weller thinks, has really shaped his new sound
on Kling I Klang and album opener Green, a psychedelic mindbender that might
even surprise some of his die-hard fans.
“It’s certainly one to make people sit up straight away and realise we’re in
for a different ride,” he says. “It’s bold, with a Kraftwerk thing going on.
There are about two or three tracks on the album that they have influenced.
“Electronic music is something I’d never heard before but I checked some out a
couple of years ago.”
On Paul’s five nights at London’s Roundhouse last week, he played Sonik Kicks
in its entirety. And he says this year will all be about selective shows so
he can spend time with his family.
He explains: “We’re just going to do some one-off shows and make them as
special as we can.
“A few dates in Europe and we’ve got a couple of gigs in New York then other
stuff later in the year, like the Latitude festival. It’s all about picking
and choosing really.
“You just get to a certain age and you can’t really do it anymore.
“It’s the same with smoking. I quit for nine months then started again in the
last month it must be stress but after tonight I’m stopping again.
“The changes have been good for me, so has my new family.
“It’s all about looking ahead and there’s plenty of that to come.”
Sonik Kicks is out now.
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Article source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/sftw/4228750/Paul-Weller-interview-as-Sonik-Kicks-goes-to-No1.html