Louis Ferrara - I do some comedy, I do some music journalism, I’m not the…

Badly Drawn Boy - I do some comedy as well. (laughs)

LF - Do you do stand up comedy ever?

BDB - Not really. Tend to end up doing what I think is funny...it’s been something that has dogged me over the years, really, in terms of people misunderstanding my music ‘cause I do juxtapose it with a bit of tomfoolery.

LF - Are you ever embarrassed or humiliated by a performance?

BDB – Usually always, yeah. (laughter)

LF - Why is improvisation important in your performances?

BDB - I think it is part of who I am . I’m not as adept as say a great jazz player where true improvisation, virtually creative, like Jon Brion does every time he plays Largo, creating, what he calls an “ice sculpture” that will only be there once and then fades away. That’s Jon’s ethos. It’s not quite like that but within any structure of the song that I play there is always room for new things to happen... and in between (a set) you’ve got peaks and troughs to try and achieve...you need to keep it open...so the natural highs and lows can occur.

LF -You mentioned Jon Brion, who is a very big LA musician. What about Elliot Smith?

BDB - Yeah, Elliott tragically, still don’t know what really went on there, still hard to believe he’s gone. I’ve thouroghly admired him and his work. I got to know him quite well. I met him before on a few occasions and then when I was in LA working with Tom Rothrock. At Sunset Junction, he wasn’t all that together. We went to say hello to him. He was a lovely person and a great musician, a lot of circumstances and a troubled mind, such a shame obviously he had a lot more music left to give. That is one of the horrible things. He was so young, as well, multi talented, someone that was very tuned into what he was good at, very focused. I’m not really like that. My music is more all over the place. I’m still learning what it is I’m good at. Elliott seemed to be good at what he was doing and he focused on that purely, something to aspire to, really.

LF - You spend a lot of time in LA. Tell me about America.

BDB - It’s kind of like the land of fun. Weirdly, LA has become my second home. The view from the Standard Hotel, while I was waiting for a cab everyday, became as familiar as my own front doorstep.

LF - I heard the song 40 Days, 40 Fights is about your trip to the Standard.

BDB - Loosely based, the title. It was, literally, forty nights in the same hotel room. Getting in to scrapes, whether it was down at the Shortstop or the Coach and Horse or any bar with a smoking area.

LF - Do you fight?

BDB - No, I’d like to think I could but I’d probably talk my way out of things rather than fight my way out. I’m a lover, not a fighter, as they say…it’s strange as well because you bring up the LA thing. Currently this new album, that’s ready to come out, people, I think, in a lazy way…(child shouting in the background) hold on Louis, the kids are shouting…seems to be amiss…I’ll tell you what. Can you call me back in five minutes?

LF - No problem.

BDB - Claire is not here at the minute so I’m just in distress.

LF -Absolutely Damon, no problem.

BDB - I think he needs the toilet.

LF - No problem.

BDB - Cheers Louis. Speak to you in about five.

(five minutes later)

LF - What’s it like being a rock star dad?

BDB - (laughs) I suppose it’s a good combo really...it’s the best grounding thing you could possibly do. When you are all over the place, it’s hard, it’s difficult, which brings me to the making of Have You Fed The Fish in LA. Because I was away, that was the main subject matter of the album was about home. How are the kids doing? Have you fed the fish? Songs like, You Were Right were about my anxieties, about trying to reconcile my reasoning,, why I should be away from home so much. It’s not the easiest thing to do when, especially, when you’ve got kids.

LF - Did the difference between where you recorded the new album change how you felt about it? (Have You Fed The Fish recorded in LA, One Plus One Is One recorded in Stockport, UK)

BDB - Inevitably, if you do what I do, you are laying your cards on the table. When you write songs, you are showing a little bit of who you are. Inevitably, your surroundings creep into that but I tend to write with a guitar. That’s the room I’m in. It’s the guitar and me, whether I’m in LA or Stockport or Manchester. Working with Tom (Rothrock) really stretched me as a musician and brought a lot out of me. I’ve learned to be more controlled and the new album is more focused from my point of view. I write on a continuous basis. I chose to be nearer to home this time ‘cause I didn’t want to travel away.