You may remember him from his time fronting the politically aggravated punk group, The King Blues, but he’s riding solo now as Itch, and if you’re worried about his talents being lost in the solo game, then take one listen to his latest single ‘Homeless Romantic’ to have any negative preconceived notions abruptly shot down.
Ahead of his performance at the Vans Warped Tour in London on the 16th of next month, Hit The Floor caught up with the phenomenal solo entity were we spoke about how he got into hip hop and his thoughts on the celebrities, or rather celebrity, he most despises!
HTF: How are you this evening?
Itch: Yeah I’m great thanks!
HTF: Your latest single ‘Homeless Romantic’ dropped in September. Does the song title and its lyrics relate to any personal experiences of yours?
Itch: Ehm, yes and no. I believe everyone on the street has their own story and there’s a million stories out there, but generally I think people kind of overlook the humanity issues behind it and that people who are out on the street are generally there because unfortunate things have happened to them and I think there’s kind of a false assumption that people are there because they’re bad with money or because they’ve developed a drug habit out of nowhere, and I think often it’s a place were normal people can end up under normal situatons and that was one of the influences for the song.
HTF: Theres a real hip hop influence to your solo stuff. When did you buy your first ever proper hip hop record and who was it?
Itch: I had a party when I was really young and someone left around this hip hop CD by a UK hip hop group from Yorkshire and I think that was the first time that kind of music really spoke to me. I mean before I’d just heard really commercial hip hop and I think after that point as well, UK hip hop was very much trying to just copy what American poeple were doing but then UK hip hop really started coming into it’s own and telling it’s own stories and that’s when it really started to appeal to me.
HTF: There is however also a punk angst in your songs. Was this an influence to your music which you felt was imporant to carry on from your work with The King Blues?
Itch: To me, I kind of see hip hop and punk rock as the same thing. They’re both just kind of rebel street music that kind of comes organically to people on the streets and working class kids and so it’s important to me and I’ve always wanted it to have that kind of edge, I always wanted it to have the energy and the excitement of punk rock. I wasn’t about the anger, and at the same time I wanted it to be lyrical and speak in the way hip hop speaks.
HTF: Your on the bill for this years Warped Tour in London next month. Is this a festival you’ve always wanted to be a part of and have you got any surprises in store for your live show?
Itch: It’s a real honour to be asked to play it in London. I saw it the first time it ever came over to the UK and I think in a way it sort of brought together all kinds of music like hip hop, ska and punk rock and it sort of put it all under one umbrella and all of those bands were the bands I was listneing to when I was growing up, so to be asked to represent it when it comes to London, my hometown, is a great honour.
HTF: If you had to sum up the message you try to get across in your music in one single word, what would it be?
Itch: One word. Fucking hell haha. A lot of people would consider my music to be real angry and I think it is in a way, but I think that it’s also caring and giving a shit and wanting to change things for the better. You know, I love life, and what I want with my music is for it to have something in it for people who feel that they are never going amount to anything and never going to be anything, to pull them through it to show them that they can seize the world.
HTF: Talk us through an Itch styled party. Who would be the top three people on you guestlist, and why?
Itch: It all depends really as to were I’m at. I mean when it comes to London it’s really hard because everyone wants on the guestlist, and I’ve been fortunate enough to kind of be doing this for the last ten years and manage to make friends from around the country and around the world so I always just do it on a first come first served basis. A lot of bands know that eventually when you start putting people on the guestlist, you get people calling you up and going ‘Oh were do I go’, and ‘what time should I get there’, and so I mostly just do it on a first come first served basis.
HTF: Who would you definitely not invite, and why?
Itch: Ehm, who do I really despise at the minute. I would say Jeremy Clarkson number 1 because I think he’s a piece of shit in a suit and trainers and I find his brand of nationalism distasteful and I really just think he’s a horrible person, and then I would go with the other two Top Gear presenters just because they are associated with him.
HTF: Whats a tour with Itch like? Are you all about the classic rock n roll lifestlye of cocaine and hookers?
Itch: Well I think I’ve kind of come to a circle were I’ve given the whole rock n’ roll lifestyle thing a go, because it gets to a point where you can’t keep it up anymore, and that really is the case. I party hard. I definitely still party hard and go at it, but at the same time now I’m more foccussed and I kind of know why I’m here. When you first get into it, it’s natural to want to do it, but you see people who have been doing cocaine for so many years who are still on the road and they look like their seventy years old with like leather skin, and it’s like that kind of shits cool when your young and then it starts taking it’s toll and you have to go, ‘okay I need to just buck my ideas up’. I mean now-a-days I’ve noticed more than ever, there’s so many bands that are like up at the crack of dawn and working out, pumping iron and drinking 8 pints of water a day and it’s like we’ve all kind of come to a circle. So a part of me has to keep up with that, and the other half of me kind of wants to bring it back to the oldschool, so I like to find a balance.
Interviewer: Alister Ross
