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Life is good for Elbow's Guy Garvey. After a 20-year slog, the Manchester fivesome have finally won the world over with their evocative, melodic rock, and their frontman is getting hotter by the minute. But don't think fame is going to his head. Ahead of the band's M.E.N Arena concert this month, Garvey explains to All About Manchester why he'll never be too big for his hometown.
What keeps you, Mark, Craig, Richard and Pete together after nearly 20 years?
We can find each other funny when we're quite sleep deprived, which is really lucky. So probably that. And an immense respect for each other's musical talents, of course.
You've recently performed two sold-out shows with the Halle at the Bridgewater Hall as part of Manchester International Festival. What was that like for you?
The most moving experience in my life. The most flattering experience of all of the band's lives. Unbelievable really, especially the link up with Castlefield, when we saw all those people sitting in the sun enjoying it on the big screen; it was something else.
You've said that the Halle is one of the reasons why you're proud to be from Manchester. What's another reason?
The John Rylands Library is another reason; it's quite an amazing thing. John Rylands was a cotton millionaire, made all his money out of cotton. After he died, his wife took all his millions and employed the best architects around, got the best materials around, and bought the best collections of books and pamphlets and scripts, bits of the bible, and she made the first free public library in Manchester. It still stands there today. You can go into a room and be on your own with a portrait of Shakespeare, if you want.
Joe Duddell, who conducted your Bridgewater Hall concerts, has recently described Elbow as 'so Mancunian'. What are some of the telltale characteristics of a Mancunian band, in your opinion?
We've all got good winter coats and we can't disappear up our own rectum. When you're in a Manchester band you've got to keep your feet on the ground. And also there's a huge pressure never to move out of Manchester, which is something I don't think I'll do. I mean, I might move somewhere for a few months at a time, but I'll always have a home in Manchester.
Keeping your feet on the ground must be easier said than done these days. How do you manage it?
I'm in a band with my four best mates since I was a kid, and none of us has the option to have our feet leave the ground.
What gives you (personally) away as a Mancunian more than anything?
Good manners and bad teeth.
Which historic building in Manchester would you love to have performed in?
The Free Trade Hall, just to say we could, before they turned it into a hotel.
Describe a beautiful day out in Manchester.
Walk to the Koffee Pot in Stevenson Square, have some breakfast there, say hello to Chris, the guy who runs the place, for me. Wander to Afflecks Palace, have a look around there, if that's your thing. If not, there is a really nice art and craft centre just off Tib Street - get something to eat in there and buy some nice, locally made artisan stuff. Go to the John Rylands Library, go to the Central Library perhaps. And then find one of the many splendid pubs to sit in. Go for The Britons Protection. There's no jukebox, the fags are cheap and it's got a great smoking area out back. And the staff are very friendly and it's got 250 different kinds of whiskeys and it's been there since the 1400s. Stay there until it closes. Grab a black cab down the road to Big Hands and continue getting drunk in the company of the very handsome owner of that establishment, Mr Scott Alexander, and any of his very attractive staff. And sweet dreams.
We hear you're an unrepentant birdwatcher. What's the appeal of bird watching to you?
They are abundant, they are different wherever you go and they're beautiful. They're fascinating creatures.
Which bird do you most associate with home?
Probably a crow because I was obsessed with the idea that a crow followed me round for many years. And we even wrote a song called The Crow about that very thing. The crow is the drunken choir. It's not got a very nice song, it's not very beautifully coloured, but it's a fascinating creature nonetheless.
You don't write bubblegum pop tunes, which is probably why it took Elbow so long to find fame. If you're not driven by commercial success, what is it that drives you?
I am driven by commercial success but excellence, also. I don't like the idea of doing anything badly.
If we are to believe the media hype, you are a humble, sensitive, decent sort of person - an all-round great guy, then. Does this about sum you up or do you find it wildly inaccurate?
No, I'm pretty brilliant. And humble too, of course.
Elbow play the M.E.N Arena on Sept 18. Tickets cost £25 and you can book by calling 0844 847 8000.
The CV
Born in 1974 to a working-class family in Bury, Greater Manchester, Garvey has been in a band since he was 16. He first joined school friend Mark Potter (guitarist), Pete Turner (bassist) and Richard Jupp (drummer) as lead singer and lyricist in a band called Mr Soft (later changed to Soft). Mark's brother Craig Potter (keyboardist) joined the foursome soon after. In 1997, the band was renamed Elbow.
Elbow has enjoyed vast critical success and respect among peers from the start, with industry heavyweights lining up to praise the band's innovative sound and heart-felt lyrics. However, commercial success remained stubbornly elusive until they won the 2008 Mercury Music Prize for their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid. The band went on to win a Brit Award this February, followed by two Ivor Novello prizes in May.
In July this year, Manchester International Festival announced a unique collaboration between Elbow and the Halle at the Bridgewater Hall. Tickets for both shows, which received rave reviews in the national press, sold out in just three hours.
In addition to his work with Elbow, Garvey also hosts a radio show on BBC called Guy Garvey's Finest Hour, and helps run Manchester-based record label Skinny Dog Records.