not give interviews; not in a rude manner, I just didn’t want to discuss my personal life. I wanted to wait until I had music to discuss. Tell me about your new single Lullaby; why did you choose this song for your first single? It was a majority decision really. I love it. Tere’s a few songs I would’ve been happy to have as the first single, but this felt like the right one coming out of summer and it definitely is an explanation of where I was prior to now. It touches on depression and anxiety as opposed to previous songs, which didn’t really go into that in any depth. Although the song is about depression, it’s nor depressing. It’s about coming out the other side of it. Even in my darkest times I’ve always held onto something that got me through. You’ve said in the past that you suffer from insomnia and also from depression. I just wondered if and how you have found a way to get through the dark times? I tried a few different things. I tried cognitive therapy, which didn’t really work for me. Talking to people is always a great help but you need to totally trust the person you talk to. Sometimes when there’s so much going around you and you’re so caught up in everything, the best thing to do is to stand still and let things go on around you and see things how they really are. Perspective, when you lose it, is dangerous, and very small issues become very large when you keep it all inside. You’ve collaborated with many other musicians, Emile Sande, Lily Allen, etc. Who else would you like to work with? I worked with Emile when she was relatively new on my first album. She’s someone I’d love to work with again. It normally works that when you see someone cool you think it would be good to work together, or you bump into someone when you’re out and you have a giggle together and even if your music is completely miles away, sometimes it’s worth going into the studio to try something. I bumped into Marcus
Mumford after the Ivors and we had a great night out together. Who knows, there might be a Mumford & Sons and Professor Green record! I Need Church is quite a rocky song from the new album about the fight between good and evil and how you decide on your lifestyle. You are also portrayed on your website with a halo and wings. Do your consider yourself a spiritual person? It’s that desperation when you wake up and you’ve done god knows what the night before and church seems like the only avenue! I’m definitely more spiritual than religious. I think religion is dangerous. Te cover from my album with the halo and wings was done by an amazing neon artist and the whole idea was me walking onto a set and I’m standing sheepishly in front of the wings and halo as if to say “Yeah, right!” How has your songwriting process changed since you started making music? I like to pace a lot. I tend to start with choruses now and then work backwards. It’s good to have a concept and an idea of where you’re going. People tend to think I start with the rapping, which I do sometimes, but now more often than not I start with the chorus. I don’t tend to put too much on paper which is a pain in the arse now that I’ve got very little time left to hand in all the lyrics to the label! I’ve got to spend a few hours trying to remember the lyrics and then get them down on paper. In a song there are only a few words so you have to be very careful with what you say, but with a rap you still want to say something poignant but you don’t want to fill it out with crap. You have more time so you have to spread it out a lot more. Have you been to Norwich before? I’ve played Norwich a few times. We always get a wicked crowd. I’ll be playing a good mixture of old and new tracks. Te fortunate thing is that the way it’s worked out, people will have bought the new album and will know the songs ahead of the gigs. We’re going to freshen
“Apparently Meatloaf makes everyone call him Meat.”
14 / December 2014/
outlineonline.co.uk
up some of the old stuff and we’ll be playing some of the new stuff as well. I wanted this album to be quite ‘up’, and it is very much an energetic album. Te last album was much darker. I reckon we could perform every song from the new album, which will make it quite hard to put a set list together. Have you fully healed from your car accident last year? I had to do a lot of rehab. I did some warm up shows before Glastonbury, which I shouldn’t really have done. Tere were pictures of my knee after the show and people saw it; all the fluid had seeped back into it. It was one step forward and ten steps back but I had to perform, I was getting sick on cancelling stuff. It took me a long time in rehab, having physio and going to the gym because there was so much wastage as I hadn’t used my leg in months so all my leg muscles had disappeared. It was really frustrating. Are you tempted to use your real name as your sound matures? People say to me, what shall we call you, Prof? Professor? and I say Steven! Maybe I should have had everyone call me Professor…apparently Meatloaf makes everyone call him Meat.
MORE INFORMATION
Professor Green plays at UEA on 7th December. Tickets available from
www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk
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