:: CONGRATULATIONS on the success of Spare Ribs. Were you pleased with it getting to Number 4 in the album chart (and Number 1 in the vinyl chart)?
Thank you, yeah we were. To me, anything in the Top 5 is like a Number 1 anyway – if you're getting into the Top 5 you're doing really well.
I'm a little bit concerned about whether or not we'll top [the album], but who knows? You've just got to keep going haven't you? I think Spare Ribs is the beginning of a new era for us.
:: Was it always the plan to release a record in 2021 even with all that was going on with Covid?
Yeah, we were demoing early 2020 and I was writing from late 2019, so it was definitely on the cards. We were very concious that it needed to be something a bit different this time and that it needed to have 'something else', and so the collaboration route I think really paid off for us.
:: How did you end up working with Billy Nomates and Amy from Amyl and The Sniffers on the singles Mork n Mindy and Nudge It?
We were big fans of Billy Nomates so we wanted to work with her. I had something in mind and I approached her and asked her and she said yeah, so that was recorded pretty much straight away.
The first edit of it didn't quite work so we needed to go back to it, but other than that it was done pretty quickly.
With Amy's, it took a while longer simply because she was so far away, and she had to do a couple of attempts at recording her contribution. The first time around it didn't quite work, we really had to concentrate and think about it.
It's been a learning curve in the sense of how to cultivate 'pop songs', because the collaborations are basically pop songs. It was a real nerve-wracking time: I didn't particularly enjoy it initially, it was something I was quite nervous about and I didn't want it to fall on its face.
It's important to represent ourselves in the light that we want to – I don't want to be dragged down no alley just for the sake of longevity. So it was important that it was something we liked and it worked out in the end, they really did hold the album up as the main poles in the tent.
:: Both tunes are immediately recognisable as Sleaford Mods, even with the guest vocals. It's not like you went for a massive change of sound to try and get a 'hit'...
No, I think I'm just a bit too hard on myself. Y'know, I live in fear of turning into something that is just boring – although a lot of people would probably say I already have – but it's just important to me that it's good. So I beat myself up unnecessarily sometimes about it, y'know what I mean?
:: The band do get a lot of positive press: does 'believing your own hype' ever pose a threat?
Well, this is another problem: I read every review, I read every interview and it does seep in sometimes. You have to be careful with it, or else you can fall into a massive trap of delusion. And I certainly don't want to do that.
:: Spare Ribs finds you back on Rough Trade and 'under new management' following the departure of long time gaffer, Steve. Can you talk about why you wanted to change things up in that department?
It had just run its course really. It became quite clear that things needed to change in the sense that we needed to broaden our horizons. That just wasn't something that was suited to our old manager, so we parted ways.
My wife Claire came on-board, who had been close to the operation anyway. She'd been helping our old manager out quite a lot towards the last two or three years of it, so she came on temporarily – but then we all decided it would be good if she stayed. And she's just turned it around, really.
There's a lot of business acumen attached to [management] and if you've not got that it can be a struggle, especially as you get bigger. There has to be that sensibility about it and, if there's not, the chances are you'll run into trouble. This industry changes so fast, it's important to keep your head above water – but at the same time not sell yourself short. It's a real balancing act, y'know what I mean?
So it's hard work: Claire has to deal with egos and then we have to maintain a marital relationship as well. But she's the best person for the job and knows what she's doing with it. I don't think at this point I'd be comfortable passing that on to anyone else.
:: How did the loss of live shows due to Covid affect you over the past 18 months?
Although I've just been at home, not doing a lot – which is a very privileged position to be in – it still really f***ed with me. Your voice kind of changes, it shrinks almost. I've tried to keep it in action a little bit but you just can't help it, you feel like your voice box shrinks a little with it.
You also feel out of step with the music, because the live think propped up your consciousness about the music you made, you know? Without a consistent run of live shows, it doesn't lose its meaning but it becomes quite 'distant'. So it's been hard dealing with that.
:: The pandemic and its political backdrop seems to have filtered into Spare Ribs. Do you think that will continue to filter into the next stuff you write?
I think so and I think that will be ongoing. Lockdown culture and post-lockdown culture, politically speaking as well, I think you can't help but notice it and be partly influenced by it – the many divisions it's created with anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists and God-knows what else. All of that is ongoing and I find it completely motivational, it's really interesting stuff. So of course I think they'll be in there.
[With Spare Ribs], it did help the lyrics, but at the it also at the same time it completely misplaced me. I still really don't quite know where I am. I'm just trying to get through it and grab on to subject matters or thoughts that I can turn into lyrics.
:: The press often zero in on any political reference in your lyrics and ask you to comment on topical issues like you're a pundit rather than a musician – how do you cope with that?
Sometimes it kills me, because I'm not even that au fait with [a lot of] it. I'm just OK verbalising some stuff: if you've got any awareness about you, I think it's important to try and verbalise those beliefs, to try and work out what and where the corruption is coming from. But sometimes you can feel a little insecure about it.
Also, it's like, how long can you keep talking about this stuff? We're just going around and around in circles and there's no way through it – we're just having to endure this set of b******s and it is what it is, y'know?
:: Sleaford Mods, November 21, Olympia, Dublin (sold out) / November 22, The Empire, Belfast as part of the Open House Festival (sold out). Spare Ribs is out now.
