Harry Styles appears onRolling Stones September cover. Writer Rob Sheffield traversed Los Angeles and London with the former One Direction member for an in-depth interview about sex, drugs and rock & roll. Heres a few highlights from the story that shouldnt be missed.
Hes putting the finishing touches on his second solo album.
Styles made his mark as a solo artist over two years ago with his rootsy, rock-leaning self-titled debut album. After nearly a year of touring theaters, then arenas, and a few deserved months off, he holed up in Malibu for six weeks to record his sophomore LP at Rick Rubins Shangri-La studios with producers Jeff Bhasker and Tyler Johnson as well as friends and collaborators like guitarist Mitch Rowland, drummer Sarah Jones and Kid Harpoon (a.k.a. Tom Hull). In Styles own words, his new album is all about having sex and feeling sad.
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While recording, it seems like he has unleashed his inner rock geek. In the studio, he gleans inspiration from T. Rexs Cosmic Dancer for the string section on an unnamed song. He has also become obsessed with Paul McCartneys work as a solo artist and member of Wings. Styles also cites a rare David Bowie interview from the Nineties as his biggest emotional motivator for the type of work hes doing.
If you feel safe in the area that youre working in, youre not working in the right area, Bowie says in the clip Styles played for Sheffield. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you are capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you dont feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, youre just about in the right place to do something exciting.
Psychedelics were a huge part of his writing and recording process.
Like many of the artists who inspired Styles, the singer-songwriter found himself getting really into psychedelics. Wed do mushrooms, lie down on the grass, and listen to Paul McCartneysRam in the sunshine, he said. Wed just turn the speakers into the yard. At one point, while recording, Styles bit off the tip off his tongue while on shrooms and sang while blood gushed out of his mouth. He even jokes about naming the albumMushrooms & Blood.
Styles and Kid Harpoon tracked down the woman who made Joni Mitchells dulcimers in the Sixties.
Styles cites Joni MitchellsBlue and Van MorrisonsAstral Weeks as lyrical inspirations. He became so infatuated withBlue in particular that he tracked down the woman who built Mitchells dulcimers in the Sixties. She said, Come and see me, collaborator Kid Harpoon recalled. The had located her in Culver City. We turn up at her house and he said, How do you even play a dulcimer? She gave us a lesson. Then she got a bongo and we were all jamming with these big Cheshire Cat grins.
He tickled Van Morrison.
Styles had the chance to meet Van Morrison in February. Their backstage hang was documented with a photo that proves that few people are immune from the Styles Charm: He elicits a rare smile from the often somber Irish singer-songwriter. I was tickling him behind his back, Harry revealed. Somebody sent me that photo I think his tour manager took it. When I saw it, I felt like John Travolta in Pulp Fictionopening the case with the gold light shining. I was like, Fuck, maybe I shouldnt show this to anyone.
Full picture of Harry recently. pic.twitter.com/mPoUh3oxR6
Harry Styles Updates (@thestylespics) February 9, 2019
Styles is engaging critically with his own masculinity and vulnerability through his music and his friendships.
Currently, the 25-year-old feels looser and is learning how to be vulnerable with his friends and family. I feel pretty lucky to have a group of friends who are guys who would talk about their emotions and be really open, he said of how him and his peers are engaging with their own masculinities, sexualities and identities. My friends dad said to me, You guys are so much better at it than we are. I never had friends I could really talk to. Its good that you guys have each other because you talk about real shit. We just didnt.
Those conversations in his life are helping his songwriting. For me, it doesnt mean Ill sit down and be like, This is what I have for dinner, and this is where I eat every day, and this is what I do before I go to bed. But I will tell you that I can be really pathetic when Im jealous. Feeling happier than Ive ever been, sadder than Ive ever been, feeling sorry for myself, being mad at myself, being petty and pitiful it feels really different to share that.
He publicly supports Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights and feminism in order to make his fans feel seen.
During his tour, Styles would often bring LGBTQ pride flags on stage, while his guitar bore stickers in support of Black Lives Matter and ending gun violence. He is aware that as a cis white male, life is easier for him than it is for his friends and his fans. Its not about me trying to champion the cause, because Im not the person to do that, he said. Its just about not ignoring it, I guess. I was a little nervous to do that because the last thing I wanted was for it to feel like I was saying, Look at me! Im the good guy! I didnt want anyone who was really involved in the movement to think, What the fuck do you know? But then when I did it, I realized people got it. Everyone in that room is on the same page and everyone knows what I stand for. Im not saying I understand how it feels. Im just trying to say, I see you.
As a male artist whose core fandom has long been majority female and young, Styles also knows how important it is to publicly identify as a feminist. I think ultimately feminism is thinking that men and women should be equal, right? People think that if you say Im a feminist, it means you think men should burn in hell and women should trample on their necks. No, you think women should be equal. That doesnt feel like a crazy thing to me. I grew up with my mum and my sister when you grow up around women, your female influence is just bigger. Of course men and women should be equal. I dont want a lot of credit for being a feminist. Its pretty simple. I think the ideals of feminism are pretty straightforward.
He also shows strong admiration for the women and femmes who support him. Theyre the most honest especially if youre talking about teenage girls, but older as well, he said. They have that bullshit detector. You wanthonest people as your audience. Were so past that dumb outdated narrative of Oh, these people are girls, so they dont know what theyre talking about. Theyre the ones whoknowwhat theyre talking about. Theyre the people who listen obsessively. They fucking own this shit. Theyre running it.
If you recommend a book to Harry Styles, he will definitely read it.
Styles admitted that reading wasnt really his thing until an ex-girlfriend gave him some books. I felt like I had to read them because shed think I was a dummy if I didnt read them.
He now devours any recommended novels thrown at him, including Haruki MurakamisNorwegian Wood. Harrys the only man Ive given it to who actually read it, his creative director Molly Hawkins said. Styles sang Murakamis praises throughout the interview.
He spent his 25th birthday in Japan.
Styles spent several months unwinding and living anonymously in Japan. During that time he started listening to more jazz and reveled in his solitude. For his 25th birthday, he spent five hours drinking tea and reading MurakamisThe Wind-Up Bird Chroniclein a cafe in Tokyo. He also shared music recommendations with the bartender at a vinyl bar he became a regular at. In Tokyo I used to go to a vinyl bar, but the bartender didnt have Wings records, he recalled. So I brought him Back to the Egg. Arrow Through Me, that was the song I had to hear every day when I was in Japan.
His break-up with French model Camille Rowe had a huge effect on his new album.
Styles dated Rowe for a year, and they broke up last summer. He never referred to her by name, but admitted to being fairly broken up over the end of their relationship. Kid Harpoon noted how much of an impact the relationship had on him, with Styles even getting upset when he saw his friend wearing slippers Rowe had given him for Christmas the previous year.
Styles has chosen discretion when it comes to speaking about his romantic relationships, but he sees his music as fair game. Its not like Ive ever sat and done an interview and said, So I was in a relationship, and this is what happened, he said. Because, for me, music is where I let that cross over. Its the onlyplace, strangely, where it feels right to let that cross over.
He would reunite with One Direction for the right reasons.
Harry Styles loved being in One Direction. He also doesnt understand artists who used to be in boy bands who hate their former groups. If I didnt enjoy it, I wouldnt have done it, he admitted. On tour, Styles even covered several One Direction songs. Its not like I was tied to a radiator.
The boy band went on hiatus in 2015, but dont count them out just yet. He wouldnt say never to a reunion, but hes aware that every member is doing something unique musically. If a reunion happened, it would have to be for the right reasons, noting that if they found themselves together again it wouldnt be the same.