RAG'N'BONE MAN: THE ONLY OTHER JOB I'VE LOVED WAS BEING A CARER

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2:08Hello, everyone. My name is Jamie Lang, and this is Great Company.

2:16Well, hello, Jemima. Hello, Jamie. Producer Jemima, everyone. Round of applause. The crowd goes wild. I thought that was static. No, how rude. How rude. That was an applause. I get it. Very good. producer Jemima producer Jemima she is the person on the show who makes everything sound, feel look amazing you really do and Jamie Lang Jamie Lang he's the one who presents it is the host of Great Company the hostess with the mostest that's it Jemima and I have just been away shooting another thing in Sweden and we went to be in Sweden for less than 24 hours and it took us nearly 48 hours to get home because flights cancelled and those type of things so we're a little discombobulated.

2:59We're a little bit de lulu today. A little bit de lulu. Hey, by the way, I was in the BBC building and someone came up to me and said how much they love the podcast. And they, as they walked away, I said, thank you so much. And as they walked away, they said, by the way, we're fellow owls. Hoot, hoot. Did they hoot at you? They hooted. And I sort of, I can't. For any of you owls, which are our wonderful listeners, our wonderful listeners, Jemima has coined you listeners this term. Don't hoot. Do hoot. Okay, you can hoot if you want to, but it was very kind. It made my day, to be honest. Today is very exciting because we have Ragan Bone Man, a.k.a.

3:43Rory. Rory. I think you should call him Rory, not Ragan Bone Man. Okay, I can call him Rory. Ragan Bone Man is a Brit award-winning, incredible music artist who has had such songs as Human. I may be human after all. Is he here? I'm only human after all. Anyway, incredible, husky, rustic voice. Yeah, so, so recognisable his voice is. Recognisable, I would say, you know, just in his appearance as well as his music in so many ways. He's an incredible person. I actually met Rory, a.k.a. Rag and Bone Man, on a boat once after the Brits, and I was such a big fan of his. I went up and shook his hand and I'm wondering if he will remember that.

4:27Did you go up and shake his hand like a normal human being? I was a little drunk. Okay, there we go. Did you shake his hand or did you just yell at him? I shook his hand. I seem to remember. Anyway, we're going to find out, I hope. And, you know, his life has been incredible in so many ways. You know, I think he's quite a shy guy. Yes. And so I'm interested to find out how he opens up in this interview you because I imagine he's one of these artists who just loves singing and his art and that kind of stuff and he doesn't particularly want everyone to know about his personal life yeah very very passionate about music and also he had a really quick kind of like skyrocketed into into all of our worlds but he'd been working in music for a really really long time it wasn't like an overnight ping up into being very famous but he'd also been like grafting for a really really long time so I think there's some interesting like so many of these incredible artists they have been doing this for years and years and years and now we see the success of them but actually they've been doing it for so long most of the successful people have been grafting for years and years before they get their success absolutely right are you ready for this i'm really really excited for this one okay here we go enjoy the episode of great company with rag and bone man Hi, I'm Rag and Bowman and I'm Great Company.

5:47Favourite lyric you've ever written? Oh my God. I'm going to get this wrong now. Every hill I didn't die on was a mountain that I climbed. I thought it was quite cool. Yes. It sounds like a quote that my mum would post on Facebook or something.

6:09have you now because you've you know you're in the industry and you're so successful in that place have you now met some of your heroes what what happens when that yeah because you because you've done things you you've toured with shana twain you've done things with pink you know like this is wild right yeah it's wild so how do you react when you see these people um um i usually say something really stupid uh you'll be like i really like you yeah so i probably told this story before but i met not a musical hero but i went on i know it's the first time maybe the second that i was on graham norton and it was denzel washington oh yeah and whoopie goldberg Huge.

6:53And I'm the biggest fan of Denzel Washington. I've seen everything he's ever made. So that was like, hello, Mr. Washington. I was very, very nervous. But then I was outside Whoopi Goldberg's dressing room and her security came out and said, she'd really like to say hello to you, if that's all right. And I was like, yeah, of course. So I opened the door and she was like, hey, can I get a hug? And I was like, oh, yeah, I like hugs. and in my mind i'm like you dickhead you just said i like hugs to where we go

7:35you idiot so yeah usually something stupid also i love the fact that you're just standing outside her room yeah just waiting just waiting for her to come out it's funny though because you because you you obviously had this confidence as well as even though you're having a tricky time at school and that was going on and maybe home life i don't know if it feels like if you whatever i'm parents love and things that you're still going through a divorce right so there's things like that going on yeah um and your your sister and you this is amazing of you your sister has down syndrome yes and you talk about how you went and you went into a care home where you looked after people with down syndrome which i want to get on that which is amazing but you still had this confidence that you were going to be a musician that never left you and normally when you are introverted or you're having a tricky time that confidence isn't there but you were like no i'm going to do this yeah but how do you keep that confidence going how someone listening right now who maybe wants to be an actor or they want to be a musician or they want to go into the arts and their parents are maybe telling they can't do it or maybe they're having a tricky time at school how do you keep that confidence wow that's interesting question i never really thought about it like that i i think you just have to remember why you love that particular thing, whether it's music or acting or whatever, remember the reason you want to do it.

8:57Because if you want to become rich, if money's your goal, then do something else because it will take you a long time to get to that point. Do you know what I mean? If you're trying to make a quick buck, then music's probably not for you. But if you really, really love it and it's in you to do it and you know you always hear people say this it kind of sounds a bit corny but like i i write music and make music because i have to what do you mean well i i write lyrics because i have to they just like i have to write that that's that's how i get out what's in my head onto onto paper and then they become songs so it's like vomiting out of you it's like therapy in a way yeah yeah yeah absolutely so and if you didn't do that what would happen do you think i don't know I have no idea.

9:49I'm glad that I am doing it. Really? Yeah, yeah. It's funny. I think the only other job that I've ever had, other than music, that I've really loved is being a carer. Really, Roy? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know how amazing that is? I remember 2013, 14, when I'd just got a publishing deal, but I was still doing care work at the same time because I was like, I don't know whether this is going to kick off or not or I'm going to be able to carry this on that much longer. I remember thinking to myself, if this doesn't get to that point, then I'm still quite happy doing this and doing the pub gigs and stuff on the side because that's kind of where I was at at the time.

10:35I was doing smallish pub gigs here and there, the odd slightly bigger gig, and I had some hip-hop stuff going on with an independent label. and so between the care work and that it was all right but i just remember that i wouldn't be that pissed off if i still had to do this do you know what i mean wow that's amazing what what is it about the care home that was so special well i ended up um i ended up looking after some some friends of my mum's had a son and daughter who were both down syndrome and they didn't have a carer at the time i think they'd been through having different carers and stuff and it didn't really work out um and then i think they just approached me and said would you would you you know if you ever thought about doing that job um because they knew lucy was my sister and they knew each other um so that's basically how i started doing it i started working for the parents looking after their two children.

11:42And then from there, I kind of got, I looked after another lad who had Asperger's syndrome and another guy who's Down syndrome who was a bit older. So I kind of had different people that I was looking after on different days of the week, you know. And it was just a really fun job. Really? Yeah, super, super fun. Like challenging at times. Teach me, what do you learn and what is the challenging times? I grew up with a lot of people with Down syndrome, and that part of it was not difficult for me. Because, I'll be honest, my job most of the time was driving with them in the car listening to Disney songs.

12:23Amazing. Most of the time, that was my job. I mean, getting ready to go to their clubs or college or stuff like that, whatever they were doing. But, yeah, the majority of my time was, like, singing Disney songs with them in the car. it's not that difficult but it's fun um and then i looked after people with asperger syndrome and that's a bit more tricky um because like socially it's totally different and it's and it's basically just about learning someone else's completely different way of thinking so i used to go to work sometimes and um the lad that i was looking after wouldn't be particularly nice to me that day but you have to understand that that's just you know they don't they don't mean it that's just the way their way of thinking and you know i come in one day and i remember the lad that i looked after me you put on weight and i was like thanks cheers mate do you want a cup of tea and i'd go make him a cup of tea and you know and you just you can't be offended at those kinds of things really that's amazing yeah yeah yeah but it's a great job they always say that there are there are two levels of happiness okay the lower level and the high level yeah the lower level is uh fame wealth power all the things you would think you want to achieve and when you get to the top of that mountain it doesn't make you happy and that's the other mountain is about love respect looking after people doing something with real purpose yeah and you've actually had that almost before you reach the other success.

14:01Yeah, yeah. Which that makes you realise that actually I'm completely content in this space. Well, it is, what you say is true because I love my job and I love travelling the world and stuff and being on stage is amazing. But the happiest I am is when I'm at home kicking a football around with my kids. It's amazing. And look, forgive my naivety, when someone has Down syndrome, um I'm my a great friend at my school his sister had down syndrome yeah and I had the pleasure of meeting her twice and my experiences with her was just the kindness oh yeah it was unbelievable yeah I mean beyond kind it was unbelievable the kindness and I think that's what's so amazing is that you must experience so much love.

14:55Yeah, absolutely. I FaceTime Lucy quite a lot. So she lives in an assisted living place now with other people with Down syndrome and, you know, different disabilities. But she's got like a couple of best friends in there now. And it's usually like the funniest part of my day is when I'm on FaceTime to them because they're the best audience. Because I can say anything, even if it's not funny and they'll just find it hilarious. That's amazing. yeah it's pretty great you know we talk about or i'll be like i'm in um this really cool place and they just don't give a shit i was just i i was on like lake geneva in this hotel the other day and um i was trying to show lucy where i was and i was like look at this it's really cool and she was sitting there with her friend and then uh i turned the camera and she was like we sung grease songs today and that's like okay brilliant that's sick she didn't give a shit where i was so you know it's a do you know what's so funny really i sit with you here right and i talk and i i mentioned the success you've had and the albums that you've done the people that you sung with and you and maybe because you're introverted you slightly close up and normally that's when people open up because they're just like oh my god i want to you close up the the moment you open up is when I talk about your sister or your family.

16:13That totally shows where your priorities are. Yeah. You don't, it feels like... They are where they should be. Yes, I know. But what, I suppose my point is this, is that when you reach, when you get fame and you get money and you get success, it's very hard to keep a good head and shoulders. Yeah. Because you're given everything and you're taken everywhere. And I definitely... I got mine a bit later though. Yeah, but... I think maybe it would be a different story if I did it when I was 19. Really? Why? Because... Well, I don't know, because you're still a kid, basically. And I didn't sign my deal until I was like 28.

16:52Really? Yeah. So, yeah, I think it would have been different. I'm kind of thankful that I got into it a little bit later. Do you think that because you signed your deal at 28, because also what happens is there's this whole sort of idea in the music industry that you've got to be young. And you've got to be young and, I don't know, sexy for the audience and all these different things. And when you get to 28, it's funny, this world of entertainment is you wouldn't say to a dentist who is like 60 or 50, hey, buddy of time is getting up with you. But in our industry, oh, you're a little bit old. So 28 is that almost feels pushing that point.

17:33Yeah, I think like 30 is kind of like a dirty word in the music industry. Why though? it's it's it's only in this country though because it's not like that everywhere else really we're quite ageist here with everything but explain that more would it because well i don't know why it is i don't know why why it's you know like certain radio stations won't play if you're if you're a certain age yeah or whatever but like oh well you know i don't know if i don't if it matters that much but it's when you go to other places it doesn't feel the same so and i don't know why that is i have no answer for it but have you experienced ageism no not really like i've i've maybe a little bit here and there but i i kind of like i hear my music on the radio and i think i'm not i'm not far off 40 so i feel quite lucky to be played on those radio stations and i shouldn't really feel like oh i'm lucky to be on there because i'm this age but being English I think you do a little bit

18:41When you first started performing I heard that you went to an open mic night Yes And again I'm going to go back to the word introverted and then you suddenly get on stage and you start doing it Get out of here man How on earth did you bring yourself to go and do that? Well I think the answer is probably three or four beers

19:04um and i think i just uh well it was so the the talk me through the whole story i want to hear it so so the parents of the two um kids that i looked after i say kids they were teenagers with dance syndrome um laura and andy they were their names and they we used to go to open mic with them quite a lot because they were musicians as well and they played a lot of rootsy kind of country music and blues and stuff and um they knew that i sung um my mum and dad were there i think maybe just my mom i'm not sure and because i grew up on that music i knew the words to all of the songs pretty much and they they used to have it was an open mic but there was like a house band and they used to play songs by like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker and stuff like that and they were just like just go and sing just go and sing and I was like maybe I'll do it in a little while in a little while but I think maybe three or four pints later I was like fuck it I'm gonna do it and that the first time that I got a reaction from people I remember a couple of these old guys coming up to me and being like fucking hell that sounds really great I was like oh this is nice compliments and I just you know that the feeling of being on stage the first time just gave me that buzz I was like I'll do that again so went back the two weeks later when it was on on a Sunday and let's do it again and then gradually I just I used to go to a lot of different open mics and go and play everywhere really yeah yeah yeah and was this rapping or was this singing this was singing this was like singing blues and and a kind of country and rock and roll and stuff like that um i did i did used to go to an open mic in brighton that was different it was like it was more focused on rap and hip-hop music and i did that one as well um because I had some friends that were rappers in Brighton and I used to go up and do a little bit of freestyling, but then also when I sung on stage there, everyone was like, rah, didn't know that you sounded like that.

21:25So, you know, that's just, it was like... Because it was a surprise because you would rap and then you would sing at the same time. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I still think that my rap that I've created is one of the best lyrics. You want to hear it? Come on. All right. It's freestyle. Are you ready for this? I won't do the beginning. All right, maybe I will. Okay. I was on stage and I did it. Are you ready for this? Yeah. Everybody. Oh, God. Fuck. Oh, God. Good start. Good start. Oh, God. Just suddenly got a wave of embarrassment. All right, here we go. Front of you is this is all. Okay. Everybody just looking at me thinking, is it that bloke from SW3?

22:05Yes, it is. And I'm here trying to freestyle rap. And all you're thinking is made in Chelsea twat. Biscuit boy is what they shout at me in the streets. And I'm British, which means I'm shit between the sheets. I'm five foot nine, never been to Compton. All I can say, I'm straight out of West Brompton. Oh, Compton and West Brompton, Ryan. There you go, baby. I'm going to stop that.

22:31Bye-bye.

22:36Shit. What was your... Compton and West Brompton. what was uh have you got a response i couldn't i couldn't possibly follow that okay so that make i does that so i win all right what was your when you went on stage and you freestyle what would you freestyle about um i don't know it was it i was not really that good as a rapper to be honest especially at that time but it's confidence again man But yeah, it was all about, and to be honest, at that time, it was more about just going and having a few beers and messing about. But then that's when it changed for me because I never saw the rap part as like, I saw that as just a bit of fun.

23:24Yeah. But then there was this guy, Tom Hines, he ran Slip Jam, which is like the hip hop open mic. And I remember him approaching me and was like, he's like, Rory, I didn't, like, when you were rapping and that, everyone didn't really take any notice of you because everyone was just doing the same thing. And he was like, but when you started singing, everyone came up to me and just said, who the fuck is that? And then that was stuck in my mind. And I was like, okay, well, I should probably just give up the rapping part and then just to focus on that. did you know you had a good voice uh yeah i only from people's reaction and i i knew that i could sing because i was you know in key and i could sing you know my i had quite a lot of power in my voice but i didn't realize that it was like recognizable so recognizable man when i first signed with Columbia and Alison Donald said to me that it didn't matter what she was like don't worry about what genre your your music you're making because it really that's not the part of it that is going to make people love you she was like you can sing on whatever genre you want but people will always recognize your voice and that was a really important bit of advice because like I've, throughout the last like 10 years, I've done loads of different genres and, you know, drummer, bass, house music, hip hop, whatever.

25:02And like, I've not been afraid to discover those new things. So, you know. That's amazing because normally what happens, you get sort of pigeonholed into a certain genre. Yeah. And if you're a country and western singer, that's what you've got to always sing. But actually, because your voice is so recognizable, it means you can have the range to do whatever you want. it's definitely a freer kind of industry now you can go you can go and do different genres now because you know look at like what Post Malone's doing at the moment man he's like suddenly gone I'm going to be a country artist and he is a country artist yeah yeah yeah yeah you know it's cool like that yeah that is that is true but you've got to have the confidence to do that right yeah yeah yeah do you know what's funny I'm going to say this again is that coming from an introvert and all these different things this sort of confidence sort of follows you throughout your life I just I don't I don't necessarily have like, I'm not a confident person, but I do have confidence in my own abilities, if you know what I'm saying.

26:00Like, I feel like as a songwriter, I'm quite confident now. As a recording artist, I'm confident. As a performer, I'm confident. It's just, I guess in everyday life, I'm a bit more quiet. Do your parents instill that within you, that confidence? um no i think i had to gain my confidence as i grew up um i was definitely was not a confident child no but you said you were always surrounded with love oh man 100 yeah my mom was a was a very very um loving mother yeah yeah she's like she was a proper hippie so really yeah yeah yeah um speaking of your mum i i heard that she passed away yeah i'm sorry rory it's okay i've listened i've i this place is a place for crying as well i've done it many times so never be afraid to do that and let it out man we can stop if you want to stop that's fine do you know grief hits us it's surprising it's surprising because we think we've got a lock hold of everything right yeah yeah especially like sorry being a being a parent now and and stuff i yeah that it does hit you different yeah 100 here we got some i didn't expect any tissues

27:33i imagine she must be so proud of you oh man she was the proudest really oh yeah for sure I would go to places in my hometown. Yeah. We lived in this quite small town. It was like, I don't know, 20 ,000 people in this little East Sussex town. And I would go to certain places and they didn't know me, but they were like, your mum's been in today. And it was like, oh, yeah, she basically would try to get freebies out of me. and I was like I found out she'd been into like the butchers and she's like oh yeah I'm Ragnar Boneman's mum and they would give her a discount so I'm like oh yeah it's really sweet but yeah she's basically just trying to get a freebie which yeah bless her do you know what it makes me emotional because you have such a big heart yeah and you have all this love to give and family is so important to you and now that you're a dad, you under, man, it's just, I've always been, for so long, scared about having kids.

28:43I still have that. I'd like to not worry about them sometimes. Yeah. Because it's, the world's a scary place for them to grow up. But at the same time, you'll never experience the same love as you do when you have children. Is it amazing? Yeah, bruv. Don't be scared. I can see it in your eyes. Yeah, can you see it? So how bad were you in school? Yeah, terrible. I heard you got expelled. I got expelled from my first school. Okay. I got bullied really badly in year seven, and then one day I'd had enough, and someone poked the bear too much, and I got a bit physical, and then I said, you're not allowed back at the school.

29:31So then my mum said, you've got to go and live with your dad. I went to live with my dad and I went to school where he lived to apparently teach me a lesson, but I think it just made me worse. And then I came back to live with my mum. I went to another secondary school. Was that hard, jumping between the two? Not really. I just don't think I was ever really interested in school, to be honest. There was nothing there that really sparked my imagination, not much. it's funny though with school though especially with kids kids can be tough yeah and it's hard and when you're in the thick of it and kids can be mean you sometimes feel like there's just no escape yeah and that's really hard well I looked very different to everybody else at school I was like that much taller than everybody else you know I was a big lad and it's you know quite I was the butt of a lot of people's jokes but then i sort of gained quite a thick skin and then basically befriended the two really tough kids at school and then i was all right because although i was a massive lad at school i wasn't very tough i was quite sensitive i think we're all kind of sensitive underneath it all man and i spent i think with guys it like like it takes it takes much longer for us to let our vulnerability out that's definitely with me I realized that for so long.

30:59I just, you know, like I, my parents divorced when they were younger as well. And I, and I just, just kept everything in for so long and I just never spoke about anything. And then as I got older, I could feel like cracks and something. And I was like, well, what's this? Because I'd masked it for so long. And actually when you release it all, it becomes much better, I think. I, I, I. That's what we've got to teach. Yeah. The next generation of kids. A hundred percent, man. Yeah. Yeah. Did you keep everything in as well? Yeah, absolutely. But, you know, I'm an 80s kid and we're still a knock-on effect from our parents, you know, and the way that they were brought up.

31:39So I think gradually it's getting better, every generation. And, you know, I tell my kids all the time, like, there's nothing that you can't talk about with us. Again, I hope I'm not getting too busy. How bad was the bullying at some points? I mean, it was for the first couple of years at school, I think, until I got a little bit of confidence. Do you know what I mean? Those first couple of years at secondary school were a bit tough. Yeah. Because, like I said, I'm not very extrovert. I'm a bit, you know, and I think the more you are like that, the more people poke at you a little bit. But then I had this great mate at school, yeah.

32:21his name was Damien Clark everyone was scared of him everyone he just had these proper mean eyes and he just like don't fuck with me kind of kid and he became my best mate Damien Clark so basically after about year 9 I was good really? yeah yeah are you still friends with Damien? yeah I seen him a little while ago Did you really? Yeah, yeah. When you're having that tough time at school and then you come back and you start playing music, is that your escape? Is that the place where you can come to and you can kind of forget what the world's going around you? Yeah, absolutely. I think that when we're younger and you can't escape from things and you're finding it tough, when you find that outlet, whatever it is, whether it's music or sport or something like that, that's just the best thing in the entire world that can save us from stuff.

33:15Mine was always just, yeah, I mean, my favourite album on my cassette player, headphones on. That was me, do you know what I mean? What were you listening to? At school, I think the Fugees, the Score album, Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction. A weird mix of music, actually, because I don't know what it's like now for kids, But when I was at school, it was like the sort of townie kids, the chavvy kids, which was us. The kind of skater kids that were into kind of metal and grunge and stuff like that. And then I guess the kind of studious types, which I don't know what music they were into. I kind of liked everything.

34:03I was mates with everyone. Do you know what I mean? So I liked a bit of metal and I liked Nirvana and stuff like that. And then also, I really liked pop music as well. So I was kind of like, on the sly, I'll be at home going, actually, I quite like Backstreet Boys. Do you know what I mean? And then my mates who love hip hop. I want it that way, still the greatest. Mate. It's amazing. It's amazing. Hands up. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's hilarious. When I interviewed Ryland, he said that the music that we listen to in our teens is the one that we always remember and always love and that always stays with us forever yeah like avril lavigne yeah will stay with me forever yeah unbelievable i want to hear about your new album because we were listening to the the tracks upstairs yeah man it feels good it's it feels good if do you know what it's the us i didn't set out to make like i'm gonna make a happy album them but i knew that i wanted to make something that made uplifted people you should have seen us all upset yeah and then we look outside and then we saw you outside it was quite weird like it was an experience i was just standing outside in the rain smoking a roll up so

35:26yeah do you know what i thought i back to the britishness i do i feel i do actually feel very proud of this album there we go yeah i do feel very proud why because well i don't i don't know why i'm like this but i when i've made records before i've made it and then i sort of i obviously play it live but i don't i never listen back to it once it's done it's done and i put it out there and it's and it's like it becomes everybody else's that listens to it but I know this record just feels different and for some reason I've been alright with hearing it back and I hear the songs and I'm like I actually wouldn't do anything different this time because I've been very critical of myself in the past and I listen to it back and I think fuck I would have sung that different or I would have done this or that lyric doesn't make that much sense but this time I didn't feel that so and i don't know why i don't but um but yeah i i do really love this album and i do think it's really good why did you want to make a happy album it wasn't like a happy album but it came from this uh i think i've been on stage a few times and had this feeling of like fucking hell i write some really really depressing songs and um and i i i sing in this song skin and and looking out to the audience and there's like three or four women at the front all just crying and i was like oh fucking hell that's depressing and like this and and and then um i had this one song called the right way that i'd written um when i went out to nashville and i worked with this guy jamie liddell he's a great producer and um we we've written this one song and it didn't make it on my last record because the way it sounded it's very like sample based sounds kind of 90s hip-hop kind of neo soul sounding and it wouldn't have made sense on the last record at all because it was like it was like a guitar record kind of thing um but it got around to me thinking about this making this new record and i played the song and i was like this is the sound that i would like the record to be you know this kind of very like sunshiny kind of uplifting feeling record have you been able to perform any of it yet to people i played like two songs that's it i put two songs in my set for this summer yeah um reaction yeah great so we got we got this new song coming out called russia blood which is like it's the one song that everybody collectively like my family um people that work on my crew you know even like the roadies that are like they're into like rock music yeah have everyone's loved it you know in in our sound checks and in rehearsals and stuff they've been like this one's the one and i was like we have to kind of like take a little bit of that and um so we're like we're gonna make this one the next record that comes out um and it's been really fun to play live because it's it's for me very upbeat i don't do like up tempo songs that much but this one is particularly fun to play do you think there's a correlation between the time in your life at the moment and the fact your album is happy as well do you feel like i'm very content like me and zoe are very happy the children are very happy we're we're in we're in this like yeah we have a very happy home life and stuff and you know i guess i'm one of those writers that's like all the songs that i write are very much on the plate they're not i'm not trying to make you work for the subject yeah it's like it's right there so and i think my music's always represented how i feel at the time i again i like if i'm prying too much tell me but but you know like you said with the last album yeah you know you were going through a really shitty time and and a lot of that maybe was due to some heartbreak and things like yeah a little bit how do you deal with heartbreak?

39:46tequila usually

39:51and then you have to have a word with yourself and that's how it goes for me what's the word? and then out of that you meet someone out of when you least expect it when you least expect it I pulled into a petrol station one day with my old man yeah and um so he came up to me with a little boy jesse who's now my little boy uh and was like oh it's nice to meet you blah blah and then and then and then it's like four years later we're getting married so you know sorry how charming were you in this petrol station what did you say i was quite charming what the hell did you say in order to make that work it's like a meet cute yeah that's unbelievable yeah yeah man oh man

40:50hi this is nox from the podcast with nox and jamie and maybe like us at the podcast you also know people who have been smokers or vapors and zen is the one product it seems like everyone is talking about because there are many good reasons to make a change to zen nicotine pouches reasons like zen nicotine pouches are still america's number one choice for smoke-free hands-free nicotine satisfaction. And you can choose between 10 varieties, each variety available in either 3 or 6 milligrams. Check out zen.com slash find to find Zen at a store near you. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

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42:04Saints and sinners. unexpected laughs and unspoken truths good times hard times and of course family always family so pull up a chair and join us at fremont avenue a world premiere play only at arena stage performances start october 8th tickets at arenastage.org

42:30I said to you before that I was super excited about this because we saw each other recently at Ready One's Big Weekend. Yes. And I didn't know if you were going to remember me. And I said we met on a boat. We did meet on a boat at the Brits in, I want to say, like 2017, maybe 18. It was just when the album would just come out. Your album Human. I don't think the conversation was much more than like,

43:07there was a lot of alcohol consumed that evening. Dude, I was wasted. And I just went, Raggin' Boon Man! Raggin' Boon Man! Just shouting at you. And you were like, who is this little prick? Why is he on this boat with me? dude it was but that was I mean that was also just I feel like that was when you just you had just exploded onto the scene that year was just insane right yeah it's madness was it insane because we were speaking of this before what's so funny about um especially musicians and success is that people see like a moment let's take it like 2016 2017 right for some people that's go oh my god like that was just you came onto the scene then people forget how much you grafted yeah before that i can't when i first started becoming successful when the the song human sort of blew up um there was a part of me when people were like so you've just become recent i was like in my mind i'm like i wasn't annoyed but a part of me was like yeah but i've been doing this for ages before but that's not people's fault because i was very much like an underground artist before then you know play i was playing festivals for years and stuff and uh and i did i had a fan base but it wasn't as big what it is now but but does that is that was that sort of could you talk about that sort of frustration because you had this fan base and you were playing festivals and you doing those things was it frustrating because you you knew that you you had this talent you knew you should be bigger but like for some reason it was just you were still this kind of underground artist did that frustrate you no i don't think that really did frustrate me i think i was actually at the time quite happy with where i was because it was a career you know that was my job um you know i may not have been earning like great money but i was living on it but then at different points in my career I've had like these sort of stepping stones and you know I remember my first sort of big biggish gig in London and playing like Brixton Electric or Scala or somewhere like that which is which is like you know maybe like just over a thousand people and thinking that that was like that I'm there now you know and then fast forward to like 2016 17 and hearing my music all over the world and then going to play like the zenith in paris which is like 12 000 people and it's like wow this is different do you know what i mean this is a bit this is a bit different to scarla i love how you picture like that you get there this is a bit different yeah also that transition is so quick you're suddenly You're suddenly performing in front of a thousand people and then suddenly performing in front of 12 ,000 people.

46:06And, you know, before you even sat down here, we were speaking about radio and things like that. And you said you were you're more of an introvert. Yes. So how do you that's challenging, right? That you have to suddenly go on stage in front of 12 ,000 people. And if you're a bit introverted, how do you do you become a character? What happens? I think that's sort of why I chose a name that wasn't my own. because I got I say comfortable but comfortable is not the right word with being on stage now to me is like second nature and I don't get nervous um I have like a tiny bit of jitters the 10 seconds before I go on but like I feel very comfortable on stage now but with the rest of my life that's the bit where I feel uncomfortable with uh recognition and stuff like that and and being out in crowds of people where people actually know who you are and our kind of selfie culture nowadays where it's really hard to get away from and having a family and children and dealing with that when you're from a day-to-day kind of thing, that's the bit that's difficult.

47:18The stage bit isn't difficult because that's like... Job, that's work. Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm here to do. and that's the bit that I love the most but all the rest of it is the difficult part for me That's really interesting you say that because I would say you're really recognisable as well People feel like they really connect with you in certain ways so I'm listening to your music or Sarah's listening to your music or Fred's listening to your music when they're going through heartbreak or they're going through excitement or they're going through these different emotions and you're the one who's helped them and so it's so personal to them so when they see you they run up to you and they want to take photos and they want to do that, right?

47:59Yeah, and do you know what? It is nice when people tell you those things but the kind of like the other side of it is people rush over and don't say anything and just shove a phone in your face. Did a bloke at the Brits on a boat do that to you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you think you've only looked like that?

48:26I'm pretty good with it. Like, I don't very often say no to people unless I'm with my kids. Really? Because then if I'm with my kids, just don't fight with me. Because then I'm very protective. Really? Yeah. Yeah, there's not been many... I'm not an angry person at all, but there's been a couple of instances where I think someone put a... Without saying anything, I think I was watching Simple Minds at a festival and we were just standing there watching and a guy just did that with his phone without saying anything, put it right in front of my face and my instinct was to just smack it out of his hand.

49:08And afterwards I thought, I really hope I haven't broken his phone. Because although that's a real arsehole thing to do, at the same time, I don't want you to have a broken phone. Oh, no, I'm with you, man. I think there's a certain space that you need to have. You're fine because you're in the industry and you're on stage and you're performing. And then so when it steps in front of family, that's when it's really quite tricky. How are you? So we're kind of like a joint family. So I've got a son, Ruben, who's six. He's about to be seven. And then when I met my missus, we're getting married later on this year.

49:50Come on. there we go and um so she had three boys already when I met her yeah so we're four four boys at home at the moment uh six eight twelve and fourteen but the older two have become very protective of me wow when we're out so Bear will be like Ross um there's a guy there trying to video you he's like do you want me to say something I was like no just leave it it's fine but like they're very aware of it which is kind of nice can i ask a can i ask a personal question when because you obviously have your your kid ruben and then you have the other kids who aren't yours and you come into a space a family space like that how how easy is it to sort of become that father figure for other kids uh really easy to be honest they see me as their dad and it's only been like we've only lived together what three three years ish something like that um but they're yeah they they know that i've got their back and you know they i do everything for them like you know so that's just the way it is that must be so special yeah isn't that insane that you can come into someone's lives and have that impact on them and then you have that influence and that connection with them that's amazing how and how important is family to you uh it's everything especially now like especially with the way that work life is fucking mad like it is mad uh you know i think just the travel the schedule when you're in like album campaign mode kind of thing and then you know everything that comes with that and then having somewhere where you could just close the doors and it's not that anymore that's why we live where we live where we have this like really nice place right out in the country where no one is you know it's it's it's great and like i need that to go back to when everything else is mental why because otherwise it becomes too much yeah Yeah.

52:11Like I could never live in London. Really? No. I come here for work all the time, but then I love that I get to go back to somewhere really quiet. What I find, especially going back to family and kids, right? Because you have your kid who you said was seven? Yeah. Seven. And when you become a father, not that I'm a father, but this is what I imagine, right? You're learning as you're going, right? Oh, yeah. So you basically, first time they shit on you, you're just like, what the hell do I do here? You're basically learning throughout the way. But then suddenly when you become a sort of new dad of teens, how do you even understand that?

52:50Because you haven't learned that, so you have to learn a whole new thing. Yeah, but let's be honest. Up until, as men, we're about 25, we're basically teenagers anyway. So it wasn't really that long ago. if you think about it like that dude i'm 35 i still think exactly can you could you're a tiny bit older than you not much yeah do we do you ever get to a point where you go yeah i've got to figure it out no okay that's not i still look at when i go to like gatwick or heathrow to go onto a flight no matter how many flights i i go on i still look around look around for like the appropriate adult what what what time's up what time's our flight where's the lounge do you know why do we do that yeah yeah yeah i can't be and that's my tour manager and he's the same age as me which is weird

53:50man i want to say that i have uh had an absolute ball with you dude this has been insane it really has it's been really great i really thank you so much for having me are you are you kidding me it's been it's been amazing the new album i just put on the radio voice yeah it did i went like an octave lower rory we have um our last eight questions are you ready for this quick fire yeah okay what's a saying a phrase that always makes you smile or cheers you up? I like the Australian phrase, we didn't come to fuck spiders. That's a good one. It's so good, isn't it? Best compliment anyone's ever given you?

54:30I played Montreux Jazz Festival the other day and Sting watched my whole set. And then when I came off stage, he like shook my hand and said, that was amazing. So. Leave that shit there. Yeah, yeah. yeah yeah yeah that's enough for me i'm okay now what scares you most about yourself i tend to spend a bit too much time by myself when i'm on tour and then when i get home uh i find it a bit hard to like integrate back into social situations when was the last time you cried and why uh oh just now um when do it oh so my two older step sons said that when Zoe and I get married they're going to change their names to mine and I was on tour and I was very sleep depraved and I had done back to back shows and I was like you can't tell me this information now because I feel too vulnerable when you say it but yeah it's beautiful Man that's amazing what's something you can't let go of you grew up in the 80s right no 90s well 88 okay so not far off when i was a kid there was an advert on tv for a he-man sword right and he in the advert he did by the power of grace got on the sword like grew right and let's say it was like a toy and when I got the toy it was so fucking disappointing because it was like in the advert it blew up it glowed in the dark and this thing didn't and it also was just you had to do that to it and it just went a little bit longer I remember that's the most disappointment I'd had as a kid is receiving that as a toy Rory I had this game, which you would it was a motorbike, and you would click it into two handlebars I know exactly what you're talking about Mate, the fucking advert when you let it go, it would do a wheelie and it would crash through little logs Yep, that's right It was the shittest thing It didn't do that, never forgotten it Do you know what, I'm going to talk about my things Do you know what, I went and had a haircut when I was four years old and they said, you're so well behaved you can have a Kit Kat the next time went back the next time, didn't get a kick don't forget that shit what's something that you'd be embarrassed for people to know you like or want do you know what i've really got into recently is project runway

57:18what it's good i'm sure i've seen it it's just so just so unexpected that was so unexpected it's so clever what do you like about it i don't sleep very good and sometimes when i go downstairs there's a limited amount of things on tv and sometimes when i switch on it's like the first thing that i see i'll start and i started watching it i was like it's really fucking good it's really fucking good i like it jim heimer just wrote it's really good yeah isn't it yeah so what turns you off fucking rudeness just when you spend a lot of time on flights you come across a lot of rude people and I experience this a lot where just people are talking to like flight attendants and stuff like that and the way people get spoken to I don't think there's no reason to be rude to somebody i love that man i'm with you i'm with you yeah just be polite yeah it's easy to be nice to people it's much harder to be a dickhead i completely agree with you that i'd be nice to everyone on the way up you never know who you meet on the way down 100 yes sir what turns you on i don't think i'm allowed to say project runway way whatever we can just leave it there good food yeah there you go good restaurants what do you like most about yourself um i think i think i want the best for everybody that i that i love and you know that's in my family you know whether it's like work family or friends and stuff or everybody i just i always try to do the best by people i love that man and bonus one favorite swear word oh i i know it's not really a swear but i really like twat

59:33do you know what i mean it's just you twat it just sounds really good doesn't it it's also the aggression when you say it yeah twat rory i was super excited for this thank you i want everyone to go and listen to your album i want you to listen to all of your music i want to see you i've seen i had the pleasure of seeing you live it is one of the greatest experiences ever go and see everything that you do because not only are you just an incredibly musician you're a wonderful person thank you so much man thank you so much for coming great company i appreciate it thanks buddy

1:00:11Wow, what a powerful episode. What a powerful episode. That was really beautiful. No, you were right. He got very emotional. He did. And very quickly. Yeah, very quickly. Very quickly. I could feel that there was so much kept up energy around that, that it was almost, hopefully in a good way, it was a bit of a release maybe for him. Yeah, definitely. What a great guy, an amazing artist. Just an incredible interview. He's got a brand new album coming out. Oh, of course. And we're going to leave his link to his latest album in our show description as well. Yeah, we had a little listen before he arrived and it was spectacular.

1:00:47And guys, if you enjoyed that, please get in touch with us on our Instagram at greatcompanypodcast. You can slide into our DMs, let us know what you think. And if you haven't subscribed to the show or followed it, all you can do is click follow or subscribe. It helps us beyond your wildest dreams, how much I hope so. So if you can possibly do that for us, it would be absolutely amazing. and I can't wait for next week. Me neither. See you next week for another episode of Great Company! Great Company.

1:01:34Hi, this is Nox from the podcast with Nox and Jamie. And maybe like us at the Popcast, you also know people who have been smokers or vapors. And Zen is the one product it seems like everyone is talking about. Because there are many good reasons to make a change to Zen nicotine pouches. Reasons like Zen nicotine pouches are still America's number one choice for smoke-free, hands-free nicotine satisfaction. And you can choose between 10 varieties, each variety available in either 3 or 6 milligrams. Check out zen.com slash find to find Zen at a store near you. Warning, this product contains nicotine.

1:02:05Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Hello, I'm Katherine Ryan, and this is Write Me Dirty, the podcast where two comedians write steamy, ridiculous erotica about each other. I give them a bizarre prompt, think apocalypse must include a zombie, and they read their spicy stories aloud while I judge them on sexiness, funniness, and sheer chaos. It's hilarious, awkward, and occasionally kind of hot. Write Me Dirty. Thursdays just got thirstier. Write me dirty.

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