Loyle Carner: ‘Glastonbury is a big deal for us’

On the new album you’ve switched from rapping to singing. Was that scary?

Yeah. I sing to my kids to put them to bed, but I’m under no illusion that I’m good at it. I reached out to a lot of people who can sing, and they were all busy, so I did it myself – as a placeholder. Then I said, “Let’s scrap this song because we can’t find anyone to sing it” and my friends were like, “This song’s done. Use it.” So here we are.

Your four-year-old son’s presence can be felt throughout the album – he even scribbled on the cover. Why were you keen to include him?

Well, he was always there in the studio, because childcare is so expensive, I guess [laughs]. But also, I want to be around him, and I’m lucky enough in my job that he can be around me without it being a problem. And, you know, kids, they’re so present. They don’t think about the future or the past. They’re just living right now and that approach to life is infectious in the studio.

You’ve always had a strong connection to young men through your music. Is it getting harder to reach them with so much hate flying around online?

No, it’s not. It’s more about trying to find conversation in the real world; I try to avoid online as much as I can because it makes me anxious. But, yeah, times are divisive. My partner and my mum, they’re both teachers, and it’s scary how many kids, for a while, were really attached to Andrew Tate and thought that he was a genius. But what’s clear is that these young men – like I was – are desperate for someone to tell them how to think. I run a cooking school for kids with ADHD. It’s about giving them an alternative space, and not just going, “That’s wrong and you’re so stupid for believing that,” but instead going, “That’s wrong, and here’s why it’s wrong, and here’s why this thing might actually be more meaningful.”

Was there a cultural figure who lit the way for you when you were younger?

I think it was more people who were imperfect and who wanted you to do better than they did, like Gil Scott-Heron – he put out a song later in his life about how it’s never too late to turn around. It’s absolutely bonkers to say this now, but when I first heard Kanye West, I thought he was revolutionary because he was speaking out against homophobia in rap music. It’s crazy to think that someone who was so unifying could become so divisive.

You sampled a speech by Benjamin Zephaniah on the album. Why?

Well, one reason was just to say thank you. He had passed away, and I owe a lot to him. There was a big poster of him at my school that said, “Benjamin Zephaniah, eclectic dyslexic”, and he was the first black man I’d seen in the sphere of education that was celebrated as a writer, not a rapper; someone who was hopeful and positive and had literary respect. He was a big hero of mine. I’m actually named after him.

Glastonbury’s coming up and you’re headlining the Other stage. Are you excited?

Oh, yeah. Excited and nervous, because there’s extra pressure of [being on] TV and it’s hard to communicate [with the audience at home]. It’s a big deal for us. And it’s on the Friday, thankfully, so I can enjoy the rest of the weekend and not be nervous. I’m looking forward to seeing Turnstile on Sunday with my son. He wants to stage-dive already. I had to explain that it probably won’t be possible.

What’s the most exhilarating gig you’ve ever played?

I like shows when something goes wrong. We played at a festival in Lisbon and all of our stuff got lost at the airport. The gear we borrowed was kind of janky. Things were just not happening, things were on fire. It’s a nice reminder for the crowd that we’re human, because sometimes you can look up at the stage and feel like the people up there are more than human. So it was nice to be on that level with everyone.

You’re a famously food-loving musician. How well do you eat when you’re touring?

Badly. Though I’ve just found these sachets of fisherman’s stew [marmitako] by Ortiz, who make the really nice cans of tuna. It’s like, no processed bullshit, and you can microwave them – because all we have on tour is a fucking microwave.

Can you imagine loving a track made by AI?

I can imagine loving one, for sure, if I didn’t know it was made by AI. That’s the danger, isn’t it? I want AI to wash my dishes for me, so I can make art, not to make art so I can wash my dishes. It’s the wrong way round – though I want to wash my dishes as well. I just don’t want AI.

Tell me about Mint, the TV series you’ve been shooting.

It’s about a crime family, but you don’t see the crime, you just see the ramifications. It follows some of the storylines we’ve come to expect of someone who looks like me, but what sets it apart is that [my character] is human and sensitive, and is finding the stereotype and expectation of him too much to take. Shooting it was truly one of the most joyous experiences of my life.

Hopefully! (EMI) is out now. Loyle Carner headlines the Other stage at Glastonbury on 27 June and tours the UK and Ireland in November

Photograph by PR