Paul Weller thinks taking drugs can be creative.
The ‘That Dangerous Age’ rocker points out there are a number of musicians who managed to keep up great work rates while simultaneously having drug habits.
He said: ”Some people are happy just to sit around getting s***ted, but then there are other people like Ray Charles and Billie Holliday who had raging habits and still worked. So drugs can be creative, I’ve see that plenty of times.
”But I’ve also seen them crush creativity too. I saw that plenty of times in the 90s.”
Paul, 53, admits he had tried in drugs himself, but has never been a big fan since he had a bad acid trip as a teenager.
He added to Q Magazine: ”I tried ecstasy later, but it was too trippy for me. I go like that after a few beers anyway, so it wasn’t for me. I did acid when I was 16 and got scared, I had the horrors and everything. Never again.”
Paul has just released the 23rd studio album of his career, ‘Sonik Kicks’ and said how it was influenced by a lot of dance music, which he had been listening before he went into the studio.
He said: ”Before we made it I was listening to a lot of electronic music and I wanted to try and get a thing where electronic music would marry with pop music with melody, and I think we got that, in my mind anyway, but I think it’s experimental in pop terms.”