Congratulations on your five MTV VMA nominations for Uptown Funk
Thank you. It’s unbelievable. A really good video to me is one that takes a song that you sort of like and then you like it even more, or you get it more. And I feel like [Bruno Mars and Cameron Duddy] did such a great job. I remember being on the set, watching the screens when they were doing all the choreographed dances and I was like, this is so much fun. It was like I wasn’t even in it, I was just watching it.
Which of the awards would you really like to win?
One where I got to take home a statue as well, definitely. Any of them. Honestly to get a Moonman would be quite insane, so I would be happy for Best Male Video or collaboration.
Who else should win one?
I hate to say it but I haven’t seen a lot of the other videos that have been nominated. I haven’t seen the video yet for Kendrick Alright, but it’s one of my favourite songs from the past year, and I know that it has a lot of nominations.
You’ve been on tour for a while now. What’s the key to maintaining sanity?
When I was a bit younger, we’d go pretty crazy on the tours and there were a lot of very late nights. Now I guess it’s just because I’m a little more grown up [but] it’s been more sane for sure.
Have you seen Asif Kapadia’s documentary Amy?
I have, I’ve seen it twice. I think it’s a very well made film. I knew when I saw [Kapadia’s early documentary] Senna, I was like, its going to be respectful and well done. It’s obviously hard, its very emotional watching 80% of the movie, but I loved seeing all the footage of her when she was younger. You see the lyrics on the screen, you remember how amazing they were, even the lyrics from before I worked with her, like Stronger than Me. I’m like, she really was one of the best lyricists of this entire generation. So it’s a bit like hanging out with an old friend again, seeing the movie, that’s the nice part.
The footage of you recording Winehouse’s vocals for the song Back to Black is very moving. Was that hard for you to watch?
No, that was one of the fun things. I remember that day [although] I didn’t remember that there was anyone in the studio filming it, so I first saw that in the movie, I was like oh shoot. It was just fun, at the end when she goes ‘Oh that’s a bit sad, isn’t it’. She would always crack a joke at the end. I remember that day, it just seemed so normal, we’d just gone to the Starbucks on the corner and we were in the studio in the West Village. You’re not ever thinking like, ‘Oh I’m recording one of the great, great vocals of this generation on this song that’s going to mean so much to everyone’.” You are just like ‘Let’s go do vocals on Back to Black today’. I just had so much fun with it. We made that record pretty quick, it was maybe 10 days all in all that we were together in the studio. I wish it was more time because I’d have more memories of it, but it was really wonderful, meeting someone, hitting it off right away and just being partners in crime. It was great.
We spoke to Johnny Marr earlier. You’re a fan?
Yeah of course, we covered The Smiths song, Stop Me. He’s one of the greatest guitar players ever, the sounds of guitars on Strangeways and those Smiths records. I’m a massive fan.
Marr said recently of The Who, “There’s always been a passion, and a conviction that what they were doing is art, and should be high art”. Do you see your music as art?
No I don’t see myself as high art at all. I don’t know who makes art music. There is not a lot of conceptualizing when we go in the studio and make music. I know that maybe sounds like BS, but I go in with people that I love and people that inspire me. We start writing and maybe there is a little bit of an idea behind the record or what I’m striving for but I don’t really consider what I do art, I think it’s just music.
How important was it to you to have Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and Kirin J Callinan playing with you tonight?
That was a big part, I wouldn’t have come and done these shows at Splendour if Kevin wasn’t able to do it. Then having Kirin is amazing because he plays on the album also. It’s an honour to have the dude who’s in the most exciting band in this country, maybe the biggest, to get him to come and play three songs with us. I know it’s quite a privilege.
Have you discovered any other new Australian talent while you’ve been here?
MNDR sings on Bang Bang and she’s suddenly getting married this weekend, so she couldn’t come. So I emailed my friend Nina Las Vegas and asked her to recommend some great singers who might fill in on Bang Bang. She sent me a link of 20 different singers. I found Ella Thompson who sings with Dorsal Fin and Bamboos and she’s singing here with her own band on Sunday. She’s someone with a great voice who I just discovered . There is tons of people. We’ve got Pond and Tkay [Maizda] supporting us. Australia has such a good thing going on right now.
Who else are you looking forward to seeing at Splendour this weekend?
I’m excited to see Tame Impala, Jamie T, and Pond are on Saturday. There’s a bunch of people I’m excited to see.
Which is the best music festival in the world for food?
So far the fish tacos I had here are as good as anything I’ve had, but the French festivals are pretty proud of their food. It’s like the only place where there will be a section of red wines and a cheese plate. Not that I’m big into cheese but it’s impressive.
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