‘I thought everyone in music had a really glamorous life. So I tried to make normality feel glamorous’ … Mike Skinner of the Streets.‘I thought everyone in music had a really glamorous life. So I tried to make normality feel glamorous’ … Mike Skinner of the Streets.I don’t tend to look back. I’ve only ever really done what was in front of me at the time. It’s great to sing the old stuff, but as a musician your old songs pay for you to write new ones, even if no one wants them.
He says a story is about how and why people change. I like that. I’m not sure it’s true, but it certainly sums up Hollywood from the 80s onwards, from Star Wars to Pretty Woman. The main character has some kind of flaw. I think you start off by finding the rules really interesting and then you find ways of surprising people by not following them. My film is about a DJ. We did a tour of Everyman cinemas with it last year. There’s a few bits that need fixing, but it’ll be out properly soon.
‘I thought: how hard can it be?’ Mike Skinner on making a film – and the first Streets album in a decadeOriginal Pirate Material, because it took courage and nobody expected it to happen. I’ve had a similar feeling making the film – feeling really embarrassed all the time because everyone thinks you’re mad for stepping out of the normal. At the time, some people thought that first album was a joke, but it’s been a great friend to me.