Two pop
groups, 12 solo albums, seven children with four women, and one hell of an
attitude. At 55, Paul Weller shows no signs of slowing down, says Craig McLean
He might be
releasing a ‘best of’ album — another one — but don’t go thinking that Paul
Weller, a new father for the sixth and seventh time (twins John Paul and Bowie
were born in January 2012), is winding down. It’s knocking on 40 years since he
formed The Jam, but Weller, 56 this month, has his 12th solo album on the go, a
clothing range coming out and still he finds time to go to the gym.
It seems this new lease of life has coincided
with his giving up alcohol. When I ask the lean, tanned Weller why he gave up,
he replies, ‘Just because I needed to.’ He acknowledges that he was
‘definitely’ an alcoholic. ‘It was just time for me to quit, simple as that. I
was getting to the stage where it wasn’t working for me any more. And I
couldn’t handle the hangovers. It was taking me two, three days to get over it.
And you get dark and depressed and all that shite. I’ve done it before with one
kid, and that was hard enough. But with twins…’
It was the
wellbeing of his youngest boys that recently caused Weller to forswear his
normal media reluctance. He took Mail Online to court after it ran paparazzi
pictures of the twins and his teenage daughter Dylan and failed to blur their
faces. He won the case, with the newspaper group ordered to pay £10,000 in
damages.
‘I don’t
give a f*** about the money. Just don’t print photos of my kids — and if you
do, pixellate their faces. It’s quite simple. I can’t say too much about it,’
he adds with a slight grimace, alert to ongoing legal ramifications. ‘But
listen, man: in any other walk of life, if you’re down the park with your kids
and you saw some c*** taking a photograph of them, let alone publishing it,
you’d have a f***ing word. So what’s the difference? Because they’re “celebrity
children”?’ he says, spitting out the phrase. ‘They’re just children. I’m not a
celebrity. I’m not a part of your f***ing culture,’ he says as we park ourselves
on benches outside his Black Barn studios in Surrey, down the road from where
he grew up in Woking.
Weller has
weathered some tabloid heat in the past on account of his love life. He left
his partner of 13 years for Hannah Andrews, a backing singer on his 22 Dreams
album, who is almost 30 years his junior — they married in 2010 — and he has
seven children by four different mothers. That said, does he think female
celebrities have a harder time from the media? ‘Yeah, it’s just bonkers — she’s
too thin, she’s too fat. Make your mind up! I don’t know,’ he frowns, reaching
for fag number five (or is it six?). ‘Isn’t it all just about filling up
people’s heads with shit? It’s like Saturday-night TV — it’s just a way doping
the masses. Keep us drugged with religion and sex and TV.’
And
speaking of the more cynical side of popular culture, Weller is famously firm
in his refusal to countenance reuniting The Jam, even as heritage rock and the
comeback carousel have proved hugely lucrative. What, then, does he think about
his pals The Libertines getting back together (again) for a sold-out Hyde Park
show this summer? He screws up his face. ‘Listen, I love The Libertines. But
you know my feelings on people getting back together. I’m arsed,’ he says,
meaning he’s not arsed. ‘But at least it’s all the original members. I suppose
that’s something.’
Does he
think Noel Gallagher will hold the line and not yield to the increasing clamour
for an Oasis reunion? ‘I would have thought so, wouldn’t you? He’s in a great
place now. I love that High Flying Birds record,’ he enthuses of the elder
Gallagher’s solo project. ‘I don’t want to speak out of turn, but he’s played
me a couple of things from the next record and they’re f***ing great as well.
He’s in a good creative place, so why would he do it? Well,’ he adds with a
snort, ‘I know why people would do it — for money. That’s the bottom line.’
Last month
marked 20 years since the explosion of the Britpop scene over which the
Modfather, who led The Jam and The Style Council before becoming a Brit
award-winning solo artist, was anointed godfather by Gallagher. ‘Eh?’ says
Weller. ‘I didn’t even notice it had been that long. What ha Weller grew up in
a working-class household in London’s commuter belt, and music was always his
passion. He formed The Jam while still at school and in 1977 the upstart band
supported The Clash. Weller hasn’t stopped since. And as his 15-year
retrospective album More Modern Classics attests, he has hit a remarkable
mid-life purple patch. His last three albums — 22 Dreams (2008), Wake Up the
Nation (2010) and Sonik Kicks (2012) — have contained some of the most
energetic, adventurous music of his career. And that’s saying something. It’s
only four years since he gave up the booze, which means Sonik Kicks ‘was the first
record I ever made sober’.
He’s all
about the here and now, and has most recently been loudly berating music-biz
initiative Record Store Day (an annual celebration of vinyl intended to boost
vinyl sales for independent store owners) after he discovered that his
limited-edition contribution, the single ‘Brand New Toy’, was immediately being
reflogged on eBay. ‘It’s such a shame because I’m a big supporter of
independent record stores, but the greedy touts making a fast buck off genuine
fans is disgusting and goes against its whole philosophy. There were copies of
my single on eBay the day before Record Store Day and I’ve heard stories of
people queuing outside their local record shop only to be told there were none
left at opening time.’
Talking of
unfair dealings, what about Lily Allen’s complaint this month that she’d only
earned £8,000 from her John Lewis Christmas advert? ‘I’ve no idea and I’m not
interested, mate. I don’t know what this Christmas song is. What was it called?
So Marks & Spencer has got a record label now?’ he says, the picture of
puzzlement. ‘I’m out of touch with the kids!’ he laughs. ‘I’ve either been
stuck in here in the studio in a bubble, or I’ve been changing nappies. I’ve
been running about like a f***ing nutter! On a totally different subject, do
you like that Villagers record, ‘Occupy Your Mind’? It’s f***ing great, man. It
sounds like a glam rock tune.’
This,
refreshingly, is typical Weller. Still argy-bargy in all the right places.
Always sweary. Still blithely unconcerned with trends and the topics he’s
‘supposed’ to entertain, forever hungry for new bands, new tunes, new vibes. He
likes rough-hewn Irish R&B teens The Strypes, a ‘good little band’ for whom
he produced a single. He loves Edinburgh hip-hop outfit Young Fathers: ‘That
track ‘Get Up’: f***ing wicked. New-sounding, really discordant.’ And he still
champions Jake Bugg, the talented young singer/songwriter who comes closest to
inheriting the Weller mantle (haircut, grump, stone-faced pout). ‘I like what
he does but the second record sounds the same as the first one.’ But this elder
statesman approves of Bugg’s always-grafting work ethic. ‘Which is right as
well — keep doing it until you get better at it.’
Weller
still lives by this philosophy. I’ve interviewed him several times over the
years and his instincts remain as working-class-hero sharp as his cheekbones.
He asks as many questions as me: Do I like this song? Why am I asking him this
ridiculous question? It’s confrontational, but in an enquiring, (mostly) cheerful
way rather than a grumpy old rock-star manner. During my visit to Black Barn,
he hustles around in his suede loafers, chain-smoking, preferring to stand
rather than sit, his cagoule-style parka firmly about his shoulders, even when
he’s indoors at the mixing desk playing me songs from his work-in-progress solo
album.And in the middle of everything he is rehearsing for a summer of gigs, including three small London shows next week. July also sees the ‘e-tail’ launch of his first clothing line, Real Stars Are Rare. ‘It’s obviously Mod-centric, quite smart, sort of classic things really. Not fashion. Double-breasted jackets, couple of mohair suits, some nice strides, really lovely knitwear. It’s not gonna be cheap, but it’s good materials, good cut. Go for quality rather than just the usual.’ Sounds like the story of his life. ES
More Modern Classics is out on 2 June
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