Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s interview with Jason Thomas Gordon has been revealed. Gordon released a new book, ‘The Singers Talk,’ which includes exclusive interviews with many musicians such as Bruce Springsteen, Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Smith, Michael Stipe, Thom Yorke, Steve Perry, and more.
The interview with Yorke has been released on Rolling Stone, and during the interview, Yorke explained that in his early days, he didn’t want to sing and refused to become like Freddie Mercury, but instead, he saw himself more like Brian May. The frontman was asked about the time he first realized he wanted to sing, to which he admitted he didn’t want to. Then he went on with the following:
“I always expected someone else would be doing it because I didn’t see myself as the sort of character that could put myself in front of a microphone. I was really into Queen, but I never saw myself as Freddie Mercury. I was always Brian May in my head, surprisingly. And it sort of changed because I couldn’t find anyone else to do it.”
Yorke revealed the one thing he did while recording their third studio album, ‘OK Computer’:
“I had this whole thing about how I must be off my face in order to record the vocals so that I’m not self-conscious. But, you know, it just sounds like a drunk bloke. Endless weeks of disastrous vocals until I sobered up.”
Yorke shared that when he started singing, he was emulating other artists who were ‘quite low down,’ namely Morrissey and Michael Stipe. The frontman also said that he tried to emulate David Sylvian’s voice, which was too high for him, leading him to stick to Stipe and Morrissey.
The frontman also told about his struggles with finding his own voice. According to his hardest lesson was learning how to be himself, and it took years to find his voice.
Here, you can catch the whole conversation, and listen to ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ from the band’s early years below.
