Why haven’t you gone on tour and performed A Grand Don’t Come for Free to celebrate its 20-year anniversary? Turangaleela2
I don’t tend to look back. I’ve only ever really done what was in front of me at the time. It’s great to sing the old stuff, but as a musician your old songs pay for you to write new ones, even if no one wants them. I know people like Liam [Gallagher] and Dizzee [Rascal] have done the anniversary thing, but I don’t really need the money and I think for your own sanity you have to at least pretend that you’re doing things that are important right now.
I read in your memoir, The Story of the Streets, that you read books by Hollywood screenwriters while you were writing A Grand Don’t Come for Free. Did they come in handy for your film debut [The Darker the Shadow, the Brighter the Light]? JJethwa
I actually went to see [the screenwriting consultant] Robert McKee, who’s Hollywood in every way – a sort of very aggressive, no-nonsense American. There’s a hell of a lot to take in, but ultimately it comes down to the basics: show, don’t tell; start with an idea and finish with the same one; have the characters act out your ideas in a very physical way.
