Interview with Mick Hucknall "I never had a mother

2015

Photo: Andreas Hornoff / actionpress for Bauer Stars & Stories

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The "Simply Red" singer answers our questions

After wild parties and lots of women, Mick Hucknall seems to have calmed down. On the occasion of the 30-year band existence and the new album "Big Love" (VÖ: 29.5.2015) we met the musician for an honest interview in Hamburg.

Mick, we celebrate 30 years of "Simply Red". Do you remember the moment you first heard a song from you on the radio? Yes! That was a really gripping moment in my life. It was the song "Money's too tight to mention". I was ecstatic! I could not believe what was happening. That the song became a hit was incredible for me. I always wanted to succeed as a musician. When it actually happened, it felt like a dream.

30 years is a long time - how do you feel about the sum of the years? It's strange: I did not really notice how the years went by. For example, I completely missed the 25th anniversary of the band. Last year, my manager came to me and said, "Do you know that you are celebrating your 30th anniversary in 2015? How do you want to celebrate it?" So came the idea to organize a new tour to celebrate a party with the fans. If you do not celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries, what else do you have of life?

"My father's funeral was a day of joy"

So you like to party? If there is a reason, yes. Birthdays, the wedding day - these are occasions for joy. Even when my father died, we celebrated. An Irish death watch is about celebrating the deceased's life. Of course there were tears as well - but together we remembered the good times with him. My father's funeral was a day of joy for all of us. Is not that a beautiful way to say goodbye to a loved one?

You had a very close relationship with your father: he raised you alone because your mother abandoned the family when you were three years old. What did you think of him for her own fatherhood ? He created a kind of autopilot for me. Instinctively, I immediately knew how to behave as a father. When my daughter was born, all I wanted was to finish my career and be nothing more than my father. I wanted to devote myself completely to the family. My father worked six days a week, two of them only half-days. He cooked for me every day, cleaned the apartment, did the laundry. He alone raised me. There was never any other woman than my mother, no girlfriends. I had no grandparents - my father's parents had already died, contact with my mother's parents broke off when she left us. In my life there was only my father and me. When my dad died, my whole world collapsed. He was everything I had - my entire family. Suddenly there was nothing left. It might sound like a contradiction, but that's why it was so easy for me to be there for the family. Without my wife and daughter I would have been completely lost when my father left. They saved me. With the current CD, I celebrate the family so to speak: It's about the beautiful moments, the sad, the happiness and the difficulties. These are experiences that every person makes and knows.

That's true. You get the impression that they are very personal songs, in which you tell a lot about yourself ... With the album I build on the hit "Holding back the years". If you write a very personal song, the listener can automatically identify with it. It becomes your song because you interpret it into your own world. When someone hears the song "Dad", I hope he thinks about his own father. That's the wonder of music - no other art can do that! The melody hits you directly in the heart. Words can not express that. I am so proud to be a musician and songwriter. That was always my dream.

How would you express your feelings if you did not have the talent for songwriting? I do not want to imagine that! The first thing that comes to my mind when remembering this question is that, at the age of 17, I see myself in my father's house. I had just learned to play the guitar and wrote the song "Holding back the years". Also this song is very personal and is about me and my dad. We all know the feeling of leaving home. There is something that drives you away - and at the same time you can not or do not want to let go of what you have and know. That's what the song is about.

When you became a pop star your wild years began - many women, parties, alcohol. Did you need these excesses to get where you are today? I was a seeker. I was looking for something that filled the emotional hole in my world.

"I had to learn to love"

They were with many, sometimes famous women, such as Catherine Zeta Jones, Steffi Graf or Brigitte Nielsen together. Have you ever really fallen in love during this time? Yes, I was certainly in love too. But at the time, I did not know how to return love. I could not handle love. I was always afraid the women would leave me. Before they could do it, I did it. I did not know it any other way: My own mother finally let me down.

"I never had a mother"

Have you ever searched for your mother and tried to get back in touch? No. If you've never had a mother, you can not imagine what it would be like when she's there. If you grew up with both parents, you have no idea what it's like to have only your dad. I never had a mother. I had a lot of experiences to realize what it means to have a real family.

As a musician, you travel around the world. Do you take the family with you? When I go back on tour in the fall, my wife and daughter will be with me for the most part. We have a nanny who works part-time with us and who is actually a teacher. She teaches our daughter. Luckily, she visits a school that supports children traveling with their parents around the world. She is especially looking forward to Australia - only in front of the spiders there she is afraid. But I quite the same (laughs).

Does your daughter like your music? Her favorite song on the current CD is "The ghost of love". She also likes "Shine on" - nickname is "shiny eyes".

Are you a strict father? No not at all. We have a very positive relationship with each other. There is no reason to be strict, because there is no such tension, in which prohibitions would be necessary. My goal is that she can best develop her own personality. So I give her as much love as possible - and promote her in what is important to her.

Does she already show musical talent? At the moment she always says that she wants to become a scientist later on. She reads a lot and likes to paint. She can become whatever she wants. I will support her in any case. But I will not drive you to do anything. My dad never forced me into anything. I could do and leave what I want.

Was that good or bad? Both. Mostly bad (laughs). Especially in my teenage years, things ran partly off track ...

So you would have wished that your father had been stricter? He could not restrain me. I was a wild boy. I could easily have been on the wrong track. Especially at puberty, I missed a mother. My dad did not talk much. I knew nothing about life. I lacked any social skills. My dad and I have always gotten stuck because he never showed me enough limits and I was completely disoriented. At 16, I became a punk rocker. I was full of rebellion and constantly angry.

At some point the turning point came in your life and they left the wild times behind. How did your wife Gabriella manage to tame you? She did not really have to tame me. I had just arrived at the point where I wanted to have a family. I wanted something that I had never had before. I needed a stop. My life was so empty. I had nothing. It was all a single illusion. Inwardly, I languished slowly.

You were looking for peace? Maybe. But my life today does not really have to do with rest. I would like to rest more (laughs). My life today is just very different than the years before. I was ready for a change. Everything in life can change again and again. I thought I would never record a Simply Red record again - and now I have! Because I realized that people still like me and I imagined in my head what Simply Red might sound like in 2015. I just wanted to write two or three songs for a greatest hits CD - but then there were more and more. It was a kind of competition with myself. I said to myself, "You can do all the writing yourself, do it!" Between making breakfast for my daughter or taking a walk with the dog, I sat down and wrote. That's why the record revolves around the family - it was born in this environment.

Do you think that you have found a love with Gabriella that will last until the end of life? I can only hope that this love will last. You never know what happens. Life is so precious. I could fall down the stairs and break my neck. It can be over any second. You can only live - and enjoy every moment!

Is it always easy for you to enjoy every moment or are you sometimes frustrated and exhausted from life? I hardly have any more moments when I'm really frustrated. Maybe that's why I do not drink six bottles of champagne every night, as I used to do often. At most, I treat myself to half a bottle of wine from time to time. It is such a pleasure to watch a child grow up. That's such a wonderful thing! We are all getting older and changing - everything is constantly moving. I find these developments tremendously exciting.

Do you regret not having had this experience before? I had to have the experience to be ready for what I have today. I am now 54 years old. Most men my age are already in their second marriage, have several children - maybe one from their first marriage, another from the second. That brings a lot of problems. I think that this life would not have suited me. I think if I had become a father before, I would have wanted to take care of the child as well. Then I would have given up the music much earlier.

That's exactly what happened in 2007: they broke the band for the first time. I knew I would become a father - and suddenly I did not want to live as a pop star anymore. I never wanted to work in my life. I was tired of being under constant pressure from my manager - "We should record a new album"; "We should go on tour again." I did not care. I have no mood anymore. I had earned enough money. I was happy to be allowed to stay at home. I still love being able to be at my house today. I love my kitchen and enjoy cooking. Nothing changed about that. It's just the anniversary that inspired me to go outside again. That was the biggest surprise for me.

"Everything gets better with age"

We are all very happy that you have finished your early retirement! When I am in my kitchen, it is anything but pension! I am very active! (laughs) But I do not need the stress and excitement that show business brings.

"Better to be old than dead"

What are the benefits of getting older? Actually everything gets better with age. Someone once said to me, "Being old is better than being dead!" Yes it is! Survive! Go on! Maybe your legs hurt sometimes or something else. Maybe in the mirror you discover wrinkles that you wish you did not have. And yet, everything is better than being dead!

Would you let inject Botox, so that the wrinkles disappear? I have my moisturizer! That must be enough, right? (Laughing). I do not see any sense in doing more. I am the one I am. This is what I look like when I get out of bed in the morning.

How do you feel about the upcoming concerts? Do you think that you have the necessary fitness for a two-hour show? We will see how fit I am. In recent years I also occasionally gave individual concerts. I'm not completely out of practice (laughs).

Your recipe for happiness? There is a line in the song "Nature Boy" that I like a lot and that actually says everything: "The greatest thing that can happen to you in life is to love and be loved back." That's all it's about! I had to learn to love and to be loved - that's why it means so much more to me!

Who wants to see "Simply Red" live: The band is on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the band on a major tour of Germany. The new album "Big Love" is available in stores now.