I had some really early recordings when I was 16 or 17. I was rapping over jungle beats with my friends. We used to do pirate radio stations in my area, down near Brighton. They were pretty terrible. Rag'n'Bone Man More Quotes by Rag'n'Bone Man More Quotes From Rag'n'Bone Man I used to go round to my granddad's house on a Saturday morning, and we'd sit and eat our porridge and watch re-runs of 'Steptoe and Son' on BBC Two. I thought it was hilarious - and Rag 'N' Bone Man sounded like a blues name to me. It reminded me of people like Sonny Boy Williamson and Big Mama Thornton. Rag'n'Bone Man me man morning son Close to my heart is Muddy Waters. I love the way he sang. It was almost like a bark. It was like the bark of a dog: it's not fancy. Sometimes it's not like singing; it's like shouting. Rag'n'Bone Man singing dog heart love I used to sing as a kid, but it was quite squeaky. I think I was about 19 or 20, and we used to go to these jam sessions and open mics. I just got the courage to sing one day. I don't think anyone expected it to sound like that. Rag'n'Bone Man day think one-day courage Hip-hop was the music that actually got me excited about it and the actual prospect of performing. I think I loved music from an early age because my parents wanted me to love it as much as they did. It was constantly there. Rag'n'Bone Man me music age love When you get to your teenage years, you want to find something that you identify with. It's almost a slight rebellion; you don't want to listen to what your parents listen to anymore; you want to find your own music. That, for me, was hearing the Fugees for the first time. Rag'n'Bone Man me you music time The insomnia just perpetuates. I have one bad night, then I get it in my head that I can't sleep. I've been trying these meditation tapes - there are a couple on Spotify - and they're meant to calm you. But they don't seem to work. Rag'n'Bone Man you work sleep night It's a weird thing, beards now. I'll be in east London, and lads come up to me: 'Yo man, what beard oil do you use?' I'm like, 'I don't know what you're talking about.' It's just laziness. Rag'n'Bone Man me you man beard I've got 99 problems, and most of them are height-related. Rag'n'Bone Man them got problems most Me and my dad used to go to these jam sessions and open mic nights, but I was always scared of singing on stage. It felt different to rapping - more pressured. Rag'n'Bone Man go me singing dad My mum always wanted to send me to a music school, but we didn't really have the money. So even now, I'm not a technically good singer. If you asked me to sing a particular harmony, I wouldn't know how. Rag'n'Bone Man good me music money I grew up in a little town called Uckfield, and there's not much to do - so we used to fight a lot. I was never in serious trouble, but we used to have the local bobby round the house saying, 'Rory's been up to this again.' Rag'n'Bone Man saying fight never serious I'm new to a lot of people, and I don't think anyone wants to listen to 16 tracks of a new artist. Rag'n'Bone Man new think artist people People have got no attention span these days with music - I come from the time where I bought the whole album and listened to it back to back. Rag'n'Bone Man music time attention people I like the dirty venues better - Brixton Jams is like home. Rag'n'Bone Man better like home dirty I've been writing a lot more folky, country type stuff. One of the reasons I wanted to write in the first place was because of Darrell Scott. Rag'n'Bone Man more place writing country When I was 15, I wanted to be a jungle MC. Everybody I knew wanted to be Stevie Hyper D or Skibadee or whatever. Rag'n'Bone Man whatever everybody jungle hyper At first, I didn't focus that much on the Internet. I was more, 'I'm going to write songs,' and I'd have sung that song out in a club, pub, or a jam session or whatever 10 times before I recorded it. We live in an Internet age, and if you don't embrace it, you get left behind a bit. Rag'n'Bone Man you focus age song I think there's an attitude these days that you can go straight from a studio to the stage, and it isn't really like that. But playing live was the most important thing for me at the start because whenever I recorded something, it didn't sound right; I didn't like how my voice sounded. It was just raw. Rag'n'Bone Man think me you attitude Nobody told me how to sing, so I just thought I'd try and sing like Howlin' Wolf. It was like a bark; there was melody to it - but I would go off a bit and I wouldn't stick AutoTune on it or anything to make it in key. Even now, I couldn't tell you about harmonies. I couldn't tell about what notes I'm singing because nobody taught me to sing. Rag'n'Bone Man nobody me you singing I don't really like being recognised, to be honest. People say nice things and stuff, but I'm not really in it for that side of things. I just want to play music. Rag'n'Bone Man people-say music nice people
