Speaking with NME on the red carpet, Young Fathers shared how working together for 20 years has shaped their music, and how they would celebrate if they became the second ever artist to win two Mercury Prizes.
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00:00 - Okay, hi, welcome, how are you doing?
00:02 - Not bad at all, how are you?
00:04 - I'm doing very well, thanks.
00:05 What's it like being here a second time round?
00:07 - It feels good.
00:08 It feels, for the outside world, reassuring
00:12 that there's something magical happening here within us.
00:15 - I feel like it's something very, very exciting
00:17 that not many people get to say
00:19 that they've been here twice now.
00:20 What's it like for you?
00:21 How's it different now compared to maybe
00:22 the first time that you were here?
00:24 - Seems more organized this time.
00:25 This room seems much more organized.
00:29 The last time it felt, I don't know if that was just
00:30 'cause that was really our first experience
00:33 of something like that, but this time
00:36 feels less manic, stressful.
00:40 - How do we feel as a trio?
00:41 How are we doing in terms of the band?
00:42 Do you feel like you've evolved since then?
00:44 How would you say it's changed?
00:46 - For me, personally, I celebrate the guys
00:49 10 times more than I've ever done when I was younger
00:51 because you're so much into the mix,
00:54 you forget the little parts that are very special
00:58 within them.
00:59 So yeah, so for me, it's just been an amazing experience
01:04 to actually realize that what they can do,
01:08 I can never imagine doing.
01:10 - It's been a good few months now
01:11 since we put out Heavy Heavy.
01:13 What's the response been like for you?
01:14 Have you noticed it's resonated with fans
01:16 maybe differently to before?
01:18 - I think it's been well received.
01:21 I think we don't get top 10 in the charts,
01:25 and that's the first time for us.
01:26 So that was a surprise.
01:28 So I think it's just climbed from strength to strength
01:31 after our departure not being around
01:34 for the last four or five years,
01:35 and then to put something out,
01:36 and we've had such a busy year
01:38 with all the festivals and things like that,
01:40 so it's been really good.
01:41 So yeah, I think those are sort of signifiers,
01:44 and then to be nominated as well for this award
01:46 is another signifier to that.
01:48 - It's good seeing people at the shows.
01:50 This record was probably the fastest turnaround.
01:56 Usually when you go on tour with your new songs,
01:59 you can kind of feel that people are still
02:01 not used to them yet or whatever,
02:03 but this record felt like the fastest turnaround
02:06 where we went on tour pretty much straight
02:08 after the album came out,
02:09 and people were already getting into the songs.
02:14 So it was a quite quick kind of reaction,
02:16 which was great.
02:17 It was great.
02:18 That's kind of what we intended with the record,
02:21 the sense of togetherness and people coming together,
02:24 communality and all that.
02:25 So, no, that's it.
02:27 Perfectly said.
02:28 - I feel like you've won over so many fans,
02:31 especially with your live performances.
02:33 What have you noticed to change
02:34 since maybe you first started in your live shows
02:37 and people are coming out to see you?
02:38 Is it a different demographic?
02:39 Has it widened?
02:40 - I think we've been fortunate that all the people
02:44 that come to see us live have always been diverse
02:47 from when we first started gigging.
02:49 Different ages and whatnot.
02:53 Yeah, it's just always been diverse.
02:55 So it's just more people now.
02:57 That's it, more diverse people.
02:59 When you normally go to a show,
03:02 you see people dressed in uniform or whatever,
03:04 but when you go to a Young Father show,
03:07 there's no uniform.
03:08 - So I feel like you wrote this album
03:11 in a lot more of an intimate setting than usual.
03:14 I feel like it was more or less just the three of you.
03:17 What was that like?
03:18 Was it a different dynamic?
03:19 How did you find that you were bouncing ideas
03:21 off each other differently?
03:22 - We keep it simple.
03:23 We're still in a basement with no windows.
03:25 So I think you kind of get more intimate than that.
03:28 I think it was just the departure from, for us,
03:33 everyone living their lives and then coming together
03:36 and then all the experiences, good or bad,
03:40 and then you just put them in a pot and you mix it
03:41 and then see what happens.
03:42 And I think that's what we always try and get to.
03:45 I want to be excited by what Graham does.
03:48 He wants to be excited by me.
03:49 And we both want to be excited by Kez
03:51 and he wants to be excited by us.
03:52 So I think it's that.
03:54 That's what spurs us on to keep doing what we do.
03:58 - You guys have been working together for,
04:01 I think, 21 years now.
04:03 - 21 years, yeah, 20 years.
04:05 - What's that like?
04:06 Like to have that kind of long running friendship as well,
04:09 as well as being in the band together.
04:11 How would you say that you bounce off each other?
04:13 Would you say that is something that makes your music
04:15 stand out and gets you to the Mercury Prize twice?
04:18 - It has a huge part to play.
04:22 I can be extremely cheesy and say
04:25 there's a brotherhood that's been formed.
04:27 But just like with a brotherhood or with family,
04:30 there's fights, there's disagreements,
04:33 there's great times, there's all these human experiences
04:37 that you go through with working with people
04:38 who you care about.
04:39 So to me, it's, yeah.
04:44 So yeah, so that's pretty much what it is.
04:46 The record was just kind of birthed with us
04:48 having time to actually be with our individual families
04:52 and then coming together and realising
04:53 that we can do it again
04:55 and that we can celebrate each other's individuality.
04:58 And that's a huge thing,
04:59 like being extremely different from other folk
05:01 and still feeling like you have a common ground
05:03 to treat the song as the most important thing
05:07 and care about that.
05:08 - I feel like that must make a difference
05:11 if you were to PJ Harvey it and be only the second act ever
05:14 to win the Mercury Award twice.
05:17 What would that look like for you?
05:18 How would we celebrate?
05:19 - That would be incredible if that happens.
05:23 I think we'd be part of that club, you know,
05:26 and I think we'd spice things up in that club, so yeah.
05:29 - How would we celebrate?
05:32 What would we do?
05:32 - What would we do?
05:35 I just met you.
05:35 - The three of you.
05:39 You can invite me if you want.
05:41 I'd be down to go.
05:43 - I haven't thought about it yet.
05:44 - Thank you so much, guys.
05:45 Best of luck for tonight.
05:46 Congratulations again.
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