Last weekend I was in Italy for a TV show, then Zurich in Switzerland and then Spain for more interviews. That’s fairly typical when you have an album coming out.
With the second album I struggled a bit with the promotional duties because I felt I can’t keep explaining lyrics to songs and stuff like that. But this time, in a strange way, I’m enjoying it.
I still live in Ibiza. That’s home. But with making the new album I was in London, locked away in a studio, writing and recording for 12 months.
I work hard and I try and play hard too.
When I’m on the road, either doing interviews or touring, we’ll often just find a local pub or bar or club wherever we are. We try to get out, otherwise we’re pretty much locked away in a tour bus for two years.
There are 12 of us on each bus. I know lots of other solo artists who keep themselves separate from the rest of the band but I would be very lonely if I did that. So instead, my drummer is a foot above me on the bunk and my keyboard player is through the curtain across the small corridor, about half a metre away.
It’s very close knit to say the least and it feels like we’re a band. As does the album. Rather than just one man who has written some songs on the guitar and put a band around it, it’s been a collective effort this time.
The people I meet in the bars and clubs of various towns and cities, on the whole, have pretty good hearts and to me they’re especially kind. I find that a mind-blowing experience. I do enjoy the talking more than the photographs.
I don’t watch a lot of TV. When I’m at home I do get the time but it’s Spanish TV. So, I got out, I go to bars, to the clubs. I don’t like staying inside that much. I like to go out and socialise.
In Ibiza I’ll go to the beaches, I like diving, I love surfing, water ski-ing and from the time I was in the army I’ve been regular skiing too when I get the chance to go in to the mountains.
I’ve seen the odd show and been to a gallery or a museum or two while I’ve been in London because that’s where people take me out. But most of the time I’m in London, I’m actually working.
I haven’t any fitness regime in place. I find if you don’t eat and just focus on the drinking...
When I’m working I can walk a mile a day in an airport because we’re on the move so much.
I don’t have a book on the go at the moment but I’ll read anything that’s out there. I haven’t any particular favourite kinds of books. There’s Great Expectations on my book shelves here (in London). That was a good read. No, I haven’t read that for a long time. I’m looking at my book shelves as we speak and I’ve just decided I’m not going to tell you any of the other books. It’s definitely not worth mentioning any of them.
Because I’ve been locked in a studio for a year, I’m embarrassed to say I’ve only listened to my own music. I really recommend it, you’ll love it.
Now that I’ve got out the studio and the album is done, I think The xx have a really interesting sound, Mumford & Sons sound really good too. I’ll hear a lot more now I’m out and about.
A perfect weekend would begin with me getting up late. I’d phone some mates up and we’d go and have a pub lunch in the sun. Then we’d go to a park and have a few drinks... so, spending time with friends, that’s all I’m really after.
James Blunt’s new single Stay The Night is out on Monday. The album, Some Kind Of Trouble, is released November 8. He plays the Royal Concert Hall on February 21. Tickets are £29.50, call 0115 989 5555.
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