Interview: Scroobius Pip

Scroobius Pip brings his club night We.Are.Lizards to Manchester's 2022NQ on November 3rd. We caught up with the master lyricist to talk about the impact of illegal downloads, flying solo, and running out of ideas.

Jayne Robinson

Last updated: 10th Oct 2012

Hi SP! Where do we find you today?
Sitting in my living room, working away!

Your club night We.Are.Lizards makes its Manchester debut on November 3rd. The night's been going for quite a while in London now, but for those of us Up North who've never experienced it, can you tell us a bit about it?
It's basically my excuse to play all the songs I love on a loud system. And to get to hear some of my favourite DJs do the same! We have no music policy as such, but the more I drink the more I tend to drift to banging Hip Hop. Always variation though!

You'll be DJing at the night - are you a vinyl or digital man?
CDs all the way. So is that somewhere between the two? I'm not sure really...

How did you get into beat poetry? Did school have any part to play in your love for the spoken word, or did it come from another place?
My school wasn't REALLY a good enough school to deal with poetry or anything like that. I got into spoken word through necessity really. I had no producers or anything where I lived, so spoken word was something I could do off my own back.

If you could challenge anyone, living or dead to a lyrical duel, who would it be and why?
Ha! I don't think I would! I'd rather sit back and enjoy their lyrics, whomever they may be. I'm not really the competitive type so I wouldn't feel the need to "duel" them.

Your name is inspired by the Edward Lear poem 'The Scrooobius Pip'. Did this poem have any special significance for you, or did you just like the name?
I liked the meaning of the poem. Great story, I felt. Readers should check it out and see if they agree.

Were The Beatles really just a band?
Yes they literally were. Four lads with instruments and lovely voices. Drums, bass and guitar if I remember rightly.

Lyrical content is so important to your work - do you ever feel the pressure to keep that content challenging and inspiring? Do you ever find yourself running out of ideas, or will you always have points to make?
I am constantly out of ideas! But then new ones always seem to pop up when needed, so it's working so far. I find the need to write about things I find interesting, rather than to appease any pressure to do so.

You recorded an altered version of your album Distraction Pieces with alternative lyrics, to foil illegal downloaders. How damaging is illegal downloading to the industry? What do you think of Ed Sheeran's recent comments that 'it's all relative'?
I mean, thats great but, in recent years, Ed has made millions of pounds. He is a great lad too. I've chatted with him numerous times. What people don't realise is it can have a big impact on smaller bands but, even more so, a HUGE impact on small labels. And THEY are the important ones. They are the ones that have unearthed all the great acts over the years. Everyone argues that money is made back in merch or ticket sales, and that can be great for the bands… but the labels will rarely see any of that money. So many great labels have fallen in recent years and that is largely due to illegal downloading.

Your last album was a solo offering. What were you keen to do with this album that you didn't - or couldn't - in your work with Dan?
Just get my punk and hardcore influences across really. They are genres that I grew up in love with and that hadn't come across yet in my work with Dan. So it was great to jump into those areas a little! But I'm now equally excited to get back into the writing process with Dan and see what we come up with!

What's next for you then? More solo work, or will you and Dan be re-uniting soon?
The next target is the third Le Sac vs Pip record. Then who knows! I definitely enjoyed doing the solo record on my own label, so more of that in years to come too I'm sure.

What's the strangest encounter you've ever had with a fan?
Hard to say really! I have fans that have my lyrics tattooed on them and even some portraits, so that's always unusual. Never a bad time with the fans though.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever heard?
When you get hungry, eat. When you get tired, sleep.

Tell us a secret?
I am an AWESOME secret keeper. So no.

Spoilsport. See you on the 3rd!
See you then!