Badly Drawn Boy

Damon Gough aka Badly Drawn Boy’s classic indie album The Hour of Bewilderbeast came out a whole 15 years ago. It won the Mercury Prize back in 2000 and is an album that is still held dear in many peoples hearts. To celebrate this anniversary, Damon will be playing the whole album in full at Latitude this weekend at Latitude. I spoke to him about a LOT of stuff…

So you’re playing Bewilderbeast in full at Latitude. What do you think it was about that album that made people love it so?

It was my decision to re-release it as it’s the 15 year anniversary. I broke up with my long term partner, the mother of my children three years ago. We’re still on good terms and stuff. My daughter Edith was born the same year that Bewilderbeast came out so she’s 14 now and I have a son, Oscar, who’s 13. So the last three years I’ve been writing songs…I wouldn’t say I’ve lost my way a bit but this album in particular was written about the relationship I had with Clare, their mum. So it’s a bit weird that this album’s now coming back out now we’re no longer together. I think people might have liked that it was different to what else was happening at the time. There’s a naivety to it; it’s a very personal album. I think now that I’m replaying it in rehearsals with a new band, it’s reminded me how good it is in terms of variety, and it’s kind of lo fi in its production. I think it just captured a moment, a once in a lifetime moment and I may never achieve that again. When Beck came along in the 90’s he inspired me massively in that he was a guy working on a four track in his bedroom as I was doing at the time. I never really thought I had a chance to make it as a recording artist, but when he released Mellow Gold he just inspired me. I met him and thanked him and gave him a big hug! I’ll never do anything as honest as that album although I try to be honest in everything I do. It’s a cliché to say an artist or band’s first album encapsulated their life up to that point but in some ways that’s what I was trying to do. I’m still amazed now that people have taken it into their hearts; I put my heart into it and they have taken that on board. When I finished recording the album I didn’t like it; I was really upset and felt I could have done a better job, but you have to sign off on it, like before an exam; I’d done as much as I could. After it was mastered I was really disappointed. But slowly the reviews started to come through and people liked it. But it was a shock to both me and the record label, to be honest. I think it’s like it was made yesterday; I pride myself on making music that’s relevant now and hopefully will be relevant in the future. I’m not trying to predict the future or big myself up but I want everything I do to be relevant in 100 years time like Beethoven and Mozart and all the rest of those guys. Something that somebody might take value from in 100 years.

The album won the Mercury Prize in 2000, beating Doves and Coldplay. What did it mean to you to win?

 It’s astonishing that it won the Mercury Prize. It wasn’t the sort of album that would normally reach that many people or do so well. The day I got to London for the ceremony I had a pint round the corner from where it was held and everyone kept telling me I was going to win it; there was even some random guy running around with a flag saying Badly Drawn Boy. Throughout the day I kept thinking that the more people keep saying this the more it won’t happen. To be fair, I would’ve taken it on the chin if I hadn’t won. People say oh awards don’t matter, but for me, with everything that I’d been through up to that point in my life…and Clare was pregnant with Edie, so we needed the money! If you look at the Mercury, there were people like my friends Doves and Coldplay nominated that year I won. Chris Martin was dead nice at the end of the night; we sat up at the piano at the end and played together. I sat with Doves and they all jumped up and cheered when they announced the winner so I though they’d won it. I didn’t really hear Jools Holland announce it.  But they were cheering for me. So it was great. Even though I threw the cheque away by accident! Apparently Karl Pilkington picked it up. I’ve never met him to confirm that though. 

How does it feel to be playing these songs live again after 15 years with a new band?

I’ve been playing with these new guys in the band and some of them knew the album and some of them are too young to have known it at the time. The drummer’s from Swansea and he said “I’m only gonna tell you this once, but I’m a big fan and it’s a pleasure to play with you.” Over the years I’ve had several bands and most of the time they’ve been friends. I was tempted to go down that route this time. I live in Chorlton near Manchester which is a tightly connected place like a little village, and I know a lot of musicians around that area. I talked with my management and we decided this time to hire some people that would give me a bit more freedom not to worry. It was a bit of a gamble. We only started rehearsing a few weeks ago. They’re just brilliant. I’ve never been so happy about my music…I feel like I’ve met four new friends.

How do you find the experience of playing with a band rather than solo on stage?

I’m gonna do the album from straight to finish without talking or anything. Then there’ll be a little break and I’ll do 20 minutes on my own and thank everyone. In the past, even when I’ve played with bands I have a rough set list and if I have a 2 hour set I’ll shout a song out randomly out of about 40 songs…I never stick to a particular list of songs. But this time, the discipline of playing the album from start to finish will be good. I think it’ll work pretty well.