Rory Graham aka Rag’n’Bone Man released his platinum-selling debut single, Human, in 2016. Since then, he has dominated the charts with his distinctive deep baritone voice, winning multiple awards along the way and collaborating across musical genres with artists including Pink, Calvin Harris, Gorillaz and Bugzy Malone. His latest album, What Do You Believe In, comes out later this month and is described as ‘heavily dipped in hip hop, soul and blues’. It feels like something of a full-circle moment: Rory started his music career MCing with a drum and bass crew at the age of 15. I met up with him to discuss his musical process and personal journey and discovered a thoughtful, sweet, sensitive man who sings and speaks direct from his heart.
Your background is hip hop and you're known for your powerhouse voice. It feels like you’re putting the two together with your new music.
I think with this album specifically, I started off with this one song called The Right Way and I recorded it with Jamie Lidell, who I've been working with for years, on and off. We talked about the influence of 60s soul music, in a sample way, and how those samples and the right kind of drums would give it this sound that goes back to that era of hip hop that we love. We started off with that one song, it just gave me motivation to go back to the influences from the days where I was listening to, like, the Fugees and stuff like that. A lot of the album represents that. Also, I just love playing that kind of stuff on stage, and I really want to make people feel good when they come to my shows. It feels like there's an air of positivity and kind of uplifting vibe about this whole record. And that's very much on purpose.
The lyrics are still quite dark…
Yeah. The thing is, I just needed to change the backdrop. It doesn't mean I need to necessarily try to write happy songs: it’s just the backdrop needs to be sunny and uplifting. I can still be the same way as I always have been with lyrics and I think people that like my music already, will relate to that.
I’ve heard you talk about exploring emotions through songwriting. And I was wondering how does that actually play out?
My process is always lyrics first, right? And it always just comes from, a thought – you know? I'll remember something, and I'll note it down or put it as a voice note. Sometimes it will just be a sentence, a thought about how I'm feeling, or a scenario. I try to make that into something that's hopefully a bit more poetic, and then it's about matching it up with music.
Your voice is so heavy with emotion, and it feels like you really put it out there for all of us. How does that feel when you're performing?
I think it's good for me, because I get to put that stuff out there, and it weighs less heavy on me once other people get to hear it. I can't wait until the record's out, because it sort of takes the weight off your shoulders. When it's out in the world, it's not my burden anymore. Do you know what I mean?
When you put an album or a song out, it, it becomes not-yours anymore. It becomes everybody else's music, and they decide what the songs are about. So that is kind of cool. I get to say what I want to say, and then other people make of it what they will.
Who do you listen to when you need another voice to articulate your emotions?
At the moment, I find myself wanting calm in music. There are times where I put on energetic music, but it's only it's usually when I'm doing cleaning and stuff. But when I want peace…there's a lot of time on tour, like in airports all by yourself, or hotel rooms, and it's a bit lonely. I find myself listening to a lot of like Bon Iver, James Blake and stuff like that. I find the most calming music is the best for me, especially in those in those moments. Do you know what I mean? It calms me a lot. I really love this girl called Olivia Dean at the moment. I think it's really beautiful music.
That’s really self-aware. I’ve been reading about you, your background, your childhood. I just wondered what you would say to 14-year-old Rory. What words of wisdom would you give him?
I'd probably just try to tell myself to have a bit of more confidence in myself. It's taken me to nearly 40 years old to say, actually, you're quite good at what you do, and you actually deserve this. I still feel like at some point someone's just going to fish-hook me up off the stage and go ‘that was all just a prank’, or whatever. Especially at that sort of age I was lacking confidence a lot. And I don't know why, but I was just like that. I’ve tried to instill that into my sons, and to be free with your emotions. It is really important, especially for young men. My sons are really open about stuff, and they know that they can talk about anything, which is not how I grew up.
You’ve worked with so many artists from so many different genres. Can you pick a favourite?
If I to be honest, I think the most exciting for me was the Pink song [Anywhere Away From Here]. For a long time, I thought if I was going to do a collaboration, especially a duet with a female artist, it was going to be her because I always thought our voices would sound good together. I was just like, ‘I'm at that point where I could ask [her] that question’, do you know I mean? And she said, yes. I got to perform it at Dublin arena with her, which was, like, one of the most emotional experiences of my entire career. My family were there, and I got off stage, and everyone's crying. and there were 70,000 people absolutely silent during performance. Wow, pretty cool.
Why do you think your voice resonates with so many people?
I grew up on really big soul voices, a lot of blues and stuff like that. When I first started out, it was about trying to sound like other people and my voice instinctively, was going towards kind of blues-sounding voices; BB King and stuff like that.
I listen to my early recordings, and it's very American – you know, all the little blues licks and stuff are there. Then, as you move on, you gain a bit of your own sound, and your own nuances start to come out. I've still got the base of that music in my voice and maybe just people recognise that. I was listening to Paulo Nutini the other day and I can really specifically hear Otis Redding in his voice. And that's a little bit of what I really love about it. I think that’s probably the reason why people gravitate towards this kind of music, because it reminds them of something classic.
The new album is called What Do You Believe In, so let me ask you: what do you believe in?
I'm trying to be more spiritual. I struggle with stuff like religion, and I never necessarily believed in God, I wasn't brought up that way. But I'd really like to believe that there's somewhere else that you go to. Through recent losses I've found myself really wishing there is somewhere… I've never believed in Heaven and Hell, but I’ve found myself wanting to believe in that.
What Do You Believe In is out on 18 October and tickets for Rag’n’Bone Man’s UK/EU tour are currently on sale. For more information visit store.ragnboneman.com
