Matt Healy is trying to have his cake and eat it too.
Who can blame him? Cake is delicious. I ate cake nigh five minutes ago. In Healy’s case, it's fronting his band, The 1975, and dealing with the fierce PR identity crisis that popularity has bestowed upon him that he wrestles with. Matt is obsessed with the nature and meaning of identity; how it has evolved, how it has blurred and, inevitably, how he and his outfit are perceived. Brief moments aside, the entire interview with Matt focuses on society's perceptions of his band, and his own perceptions of society. It's lucky that he's wordly enough to convincingly carry his points home, and well-spoken enough to avoid pitfalls of condescension.
"It annoys me a little bit when people think that because of how popular we are or because there is a nice correlation between our imagery and everything like that they think that we're trying to be fucking popstars. We're not, we're just a bedroom band.
"I think it's fair enough, I can't sit in a room with everyone and explain to them the situation. But I think that if I could then everybody would understand. People are bored, we live in a world where our only necessities are totally unnecessary. I know it sounds a bit pretentious, but art is one of the only things we've got left that's unifying people on a human level. But I think people are so cynical about that now because it's in the hands of people that don't really understand it. The only thing you need to ask yourself, whether it's fucking Justin Bieber or Jesus And Mary Chain or whatever you're into, is whether it's a genuine form of creative expression. If it is, then it's fine to like it, it's fine to love it."
There are two points to be raised here. Sure, maybe The 1975 are a bedroom band, but then the Brixton Academy must be a pretty big bedroom. Secondly, and more importantly, is it possible to be a genuine fan of the likes of Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, whose music is largely void of any creative merit?
"I think you've caught me being slightly idealistic and philosophical. When you put it like that, of course me and you can't be genuine fans because we understand what goes into it, and what doesn't go into it. But I'm so tired of being so cynical... it seems like Katy Perry is the lesser of all evils, and I try not to be so upset with mainstream music."
Perhaps a good way of measuring how long a band has been on tour for is by asking how much money they've invested in property. It sounds silly, but think about it. To purchase a new pad, you have to have raked in enough cash to afford it, and be homesick enough to want it. The 1975 have been on tour for roughly 18 months now and Matt's already dipped into his pockets for a new London apartment. Why? So that he doesn't have to sleep in a hotel room when the touring comes to a close.
"At the moment we're enjoying playing 'So Far (It's Alright)' which is off the EP and 'Talk!'. I think it's partially because they're quite new in the set that we've been playing for a year. When we did festival season we had a 40-minute set, and then in September we started doing our first proper big headline shows. So there are additions to the set like "Talk!" that are still really fun. It's really fresh. I don't have to play guitar in those songs as well, I'm freed up. I like that. It means I can move around, I can take the mic off the stand. We played southern California recently and there was this amphitheatre that was almost like a walkway, so when you've not got a guitar you can just go into the crowd."
I ask Matt if he has ever felt nervous about stepping out from behind the guitar, as if he subconsciously views his instrument as a shield. After all, if you were a really bad singer your instrument would turn into an actual shield, right? Luckily I don't think Matt has to worry about objects being thrown at him, given that The 1975's debut album has generated enough royalties to purchase Walt Disney's frozen corpse.
"I used to, but I don't really have that anymore. I feel very comfortable. I think that whole thing is spread by the obvious duality with certain people where if you took the guitar away maybe they wouldn't be so good just as a singer. Bob Dylan, for example. If he didn't have his brilliant guitar parts, maybe he wouldn't be so brilliant."
Written by James Pearson
The 1975 play the Big Day Out
Sun Jan 19 — Metricon Stadium (Gold Coast)Fri Jan 24 — Flemington Racecourse (Melbourne)
Sun Jan 26 — Sydney Showgrounds
Fri Jan 31 — Bonython Park (Adelaide)
Sun Feb 02 — Claremont Showgrounds (Perth)
