Elbow's Guy Garvey

Until the Elbow boom of the last 12 months when you've won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize as well as Brit and NME Awards and the hearts of millions, you've not really had much in way of what might be called "success". Which for your die-hard fans, made you even more cool. You're not going to lose that cool, now, are you? [Laughs] We might spend a horrendous amount of money on really over-the-top, horrible clothing. And then hang around where we know there'll be paparazzi and try to convince everybody we've changed. I was thinking something about a huge, fuzzy, felt fedora and a pair of ridiculous sunglasses.

The latest album, The Seldom Seen Kid, has gone stratospheric. The album before, Leaders of the Free World – which to my mind is better – flopped because your record label went bust and they couldn't release it properly. Is that right? We downed tools and demanded that they let us go. Once we made that decision, we had to get used to the idea that whatever we had put into that record... we just had to let it go. I felt like throwing the fucking towel in but our recent success with The Seldom Seen Kid has led to people buying Leaders of the Free World again. So that takes the sting out of the fact that we considered it our lost album. It's picked up again now.

You were first nominated for both the Mercury and the Brits in 2001. What do you think would've happened if you won them both then? It's hard to say but I'm glad that this is happening now and that we've had people getting into the music, and there's four albums that we're proud of. Also we were younger and less settled and it might have gone to our heads a bit. It might all be over by now. It's a strange feeling. It's a good feeling, but it's a strange feeling to suddenly have a lot of success.

Does having to wait eight years make it feel all the sweeter now? Yes, I think it does. The last year has just been mental. About a year ago, we signed our new record deal. And we were looking forward to the album release and really nervous about how it was going to be received. You leak it to journalists that you know and radio people you know - we've always had such great reviews, we've never really had any bad reviews. And it got rave reviews across the board, the lead review in nearly all the magazines and broadsheets. And then the tour started and the first real big jolt was when we played in Glastonbury in the summer. We were just lucky. We got the right atmosphere, the right slot, the right weather, and we had what came to be termed a "Glastonbury Moment." It was twilight, everybody was up for it, and we played our hearts out. And that really put us on the map.  From then on, the album went back up in the charts, which had never happened to us.  The path had always been the same. You release the record, it charts, and its chart position slowly dwindles over that month. But this time, it yo-yoed back in the charts, and then we went touring, and then we started winning awards and that hasn't stopped really. We won the Mercury Award, which was just mind-blowing and then we had the Brits and then an NME award as well. It's like all our Christmases. We are all absolutely buzzing.

You've had more than your fair share of bad luck and heartache. Do you think all that has made you the songwriter and the lyricist you are? Yeah, I'm sure of it. It's something I really enjoy doing now, and I found it quite a struggle for a long time. I was fairly self-conscious. It's just something I love now. I love words.  I'm really bad at spelling them, actually. But Emma, my missus, is a machine when it comes to spelling. She's incredible.

She's a writer as well, isn't she? That's right. She's just putting the finishing touches to a novel at the moment.

Have you read any of it yet? Yeah, I read the first couple of chapters. It's full of her voice. It's very warm and it's very funny, in a kind of northern way. She's got quite a dark sense of humour. But she writes beautifully. She writes really beautiful stuff.

You're coming out to Australia for V Festival. What are your impressions of Sydney having been here a couple of times? It's a grand city.  It's really beautiful. I had a very lovely day. I sat by the bay last time with several large stouts. We always try to tour Australia at a gentlemanly pace and leave a little bit of time everyday to have a look at where we are.
OK, quick-fire round. What was your nickname at school? Big Ears. I had them pinned back when I was 12.
Did it stop after that? No, they started singing 'Holdin' Back The Ears'. Kids are cruel geniuses.
If you could make one apology, what would it be and to whom? At the Brit Awards, I invited David Hasselhoff who presented our award for a drink on-camera, not knowing he was a recovering alcoholic. I would apologise for that.

When was the last time you laughed until you cried? Last night I got a text from my niece Jessica. I had been by the sea all day and Jessica sent me a message which said: "Wind in your hair; lead in your pencil." It's obviously some bizarre Cumbrian walking phrase but I couldn't get sleep for giggling; I thought it was so funny.

Sounds like one of your lyrics actually. When did you last just cry? When Barack Obama was elected.  I cried like a baby.

What's your chief characteristic? My enormous jaw.


What's your idea of happiness? Watching Columbo with a cheddar cheese sandwich and a brew.


What's your favourite skill? I have a way with big cats particularly the puma. Should Manchester ever be plunged into a Jumangi style zoo escape situation I'm the man to be with.

Your biggest flaw? I'm not very good with authority. Not in a James Dean style; I just get sulky and disobedient.

What was your worst ever job, and why? Cleaning toilets in a private golf club for this caretaker who thought I believed everything he said because I nodded quietly when he was talking because it was generally between 5 and 6 in the morning when I had to look at his stupid fat face. He was called Ian, and had a long-suffering wife called Jean who did all his jobs for him while he strode around the place chatting up the lady golfers and using ridiculous nautical terms for everything and everyone on account of his years in Her Majesty's navy. He once casually mentioned that he and Jean were invited to Princess Di's funeral but couldn't make it on account of a charity golf match. Jean told me that far from being an officer in the navy he was a steward on a Sealink ferry for six months. I hope she left him. Fat bastard.


Which musicians do you hate most? I hate the Eagles on account of 'Hotel California'. Rednecks trying to play reggae. I hate it.

What are your favourite qualities in a band or musician? I like brave and honest music and I love a lyric that makes you think or applies to a feeling you have hitherto not been able to identify. Honesty above all though. And no hairspray under any circumstances ever.


Your pet hate? I hate being in a car. I'm waiting to die all the time.


What do you love most in life and hate most in life? People and people.

Elbow play Wed 1 Apr at The Metro with Leader Cheetah.

Guy Garvey used to write for Time Out Manchester. Here is one of his columns, in which muses on the humanity of people in the north of England

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