Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr joins Zane Lowe on Apple Music to discuss the group’s new song “Boilermaker” produced by Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme. He discusses working with Josh, how he approached the making of the group’s forthcoming album, being terrified of the sophomore slump on their last album, and gaining confidence this time around. He said he was dealing with mental health struggles in the past as well.
Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr Tells Apple Music About Working With Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme…
Mike Kerr: Yeah, this kicked it all off. He guided our ship in the correct direction. It was a moment. It was such a moment. Totally, totally…. We got to know each other really well, because obviously I’m a fan boy, but that only goes so far. I feel like we really got to know each other. It got to the point where I think when we’re actually in the studio, it was more so about the fact that we all have such a connection now and we’ve been through so much together and we couldn’t think of anything more fun.
It was followed up from the desert sessions, I think. I was working with Josh on that and seeing him in a producer role. I wasn’t surprised by it, but watching him produce, he’s so amazing with people and his chameleon able to… yeah, just how he works with individuals and really gets the best out of everyone. I think what inspired me was being in that studio and there’s no one from the industry around. It’s his world and it’s lawless and anything goes. He’s done his own thing in his own studio. It inspired me even more so to go and chase that for myself and find an environment where we could lock the doors and it could just be me and Ben and we could work out exactly who we are. It felt like graduation, like I was graduating.
Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr Tells Apple Music About Being Terrified of the Sophomore Slump on Their Last Album and Gaining Confidence This Time Around…
I think the truth is is that we were terrified making that second record. I think we were terrified of losing the second time round. It had gone so well for us on that first one, I think I had a genuine concern of letting people down. Making art out of fear is never good. Well, it certainly isn’t for me anyway. I was just crumbling, really. Also, my “mental state” was just deteriorating as well.
I just wasn’t in a good place. Making this one, it was just so different. I just feel so fresh and I’m a lot happier. I think one thing I’ve found is just genuine confidence rather than any confidence that’s fabricated in any way. Ultimately, I really trust my own opinion now. I think the problem with being successful at the beginning was it created this transaction between what other people thought and how we felt. Suddenly, I found like I was doing a lot more of, “What do you think? Is this good? Am I good enough?” Whereas on this record, I really have shed that. It was very similar to the first album where we were high-fiving in the studio, like, “I don’t care what anyone thinks. It’s just so good.” We were just so happy with what we were making. Yeah, I feel very separated about how other people feel about it now, which is great.
Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr Tells Apple Music About Being Hopeful For The Return of Live Music…
…I think the album and the songs we’ve made, we wanted it to have that party playlist atmosphere to it and we wanted it to be a… I’m not going to lie. We did have the end in sight when making the record. We were halfway through making it when everything started shutting down, and we were thinking it would be great to have these really feel-good, euphoric songs for that moment where we’re all allowed to do what we love again. I hope it’s close. I hope it’s this year.
