About to embark on a 30th anniversary tour celebrating the seminal 1990s album ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight’, Andrew McFetrich sat down with Shaun Ryder to discuss touring, creativity, ADHD, and plenty more.
Are you looking forward to getting back out with Black Grape?
Yeah, I can’t wait, to be honest. We’re out on the road with the Happy Mondays at the moment, doing a load of festivals, but it’s always a massive pleasure to get back with Black Grape. It’s a real breeze and just feels natural.
How does touring with Black Grape compare to touring with the Mondays?
It’s a lot happier with Black Grape, you know. I mean, it’s better now with the Mondays too, now that everyone has a smile on their face, but they’re both good in their own way. We love performing live, so it’s all good.
It’s been 30 years since ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight’ came out. Oasis have reformed and Pulp are back on tour. What is it about ‘90s music that makes it last so well into today?
I haven’t really got a clue about that, except that it was just really good music. The Happy Mondays were technically an ‘80s band, and Black Grape was more ‘90s, I suppose. But to be honest, it was all a bit of a blur for me back then. These days, though, when we’re on tour or doing a Q&A, we’ll have a ‘90s radio station playing in the background, and you suddenly realise just how many great bands and great tunes we had.
Do you keep up with the new acts as well?
I’ll tell you what, me and Bez did the European MTV Awards last year, and the only acts we recognised were the Pet Shop Boys and Busta Rhymes! Everyone else, we didn’t have a clue. I keep asking my kids: “Who’s she? What’s she done? Who’s he?” I leave it to them now. I’ve always had trouble remembering names anyway.
You’ve got an excuse with the life you’ve led…
Well, yeah, but I had an excuse from day one, which I only found out recently. I’ve got six kids and five of them have either ADHD, ADD or autism. I got dragged into it because the doctors wanted to know where it came from. My older kids are in their 30s now and weren’t diagnosed until later, but the younger ones were picked up much earlier. I didn’t know my alphabet until I was in my 20s. If I was in a classroom and a pigeon flew past, or a dog was shagging in the playground, that was it — I just couldn’t concentrate. As soon as I walked out of the room, I’d forget everything we’d been taught. So when I finally got the diagnosis, it made sense of everything — the drinking, the drugs, the lot. It didn’t do me much good at O-levels, but it’s all right for a pub quiz.
How does touring now compare to touring back in the day?
I keep saying the sex and drugs are gone – it’s all rock ‘n’ roll now. It’s better these days. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time back then, but it’s a real privilege to still be making music and working in the entertainment world. I love it more than ever. It’s less complicated, more chilled out, and we know exactly who we are.
How does the creative process work these days?
Me and Kermit? We’re still the same. It’s a bit like an ‘Alas Smith and Jones’ sketch – just the two of us at a table, head to head. We’ll get a few pints in and away we go. We get wacky, we get weird, and we have a great time with it. But honestly, being on tour is what we love most of all.
Black Grape play Newcastle’s NX on Saturday 29th November. Tickets, priced at £32.50 in advance, are available at nxnewcastle.com.
