Good morning,
Welcome to your weekly free edition of The New Cue. Today, Inhaler frontman Eli Hewson takes on our Life & Times questionnaire, sharing a very funny Larry David story and an embarrassing moment in front of Julian Casablancas in the process.
Next month, Inhaler will release their new album Open Wide, a record that sees them inject their expansive indie-rock with a glammy swagger, 80s grooves and some of their sharpest hooks yet.
It’s the third album from the Dublin quartet, who have come through that early stage of their career where there was a little bit of curiosity/suspicion about the fact Bono’s son had taken up the family profession and gone on to establish themselves as one of the breakthrough guitar bands of the decade.
I interviewed the band very early on for Q and Eli told me about the occasion that a Bono impersonator had come to one of their recent gigs (which is quite weird but also quite funny) and, when he spotted him from the stage, he got confused because his dad was meant to be out of the country. No such problems these days – Inhaler have got two shows at Brixton Academy next month, indicative of the level the band are at these days, and their audience is mostly made up of a generation who don’t know or care who U2 are.
Eli is a very lovely fella and spoke to me, Niall, over Zoom last week from the family home on the outskirts of Dublin. He might have followed his father into a career as a frontman, but he is not a natural extrovert. He’s a natural worrier. “I feel like I should be shouting from the rooftops but I kind of hide, like an ostrich putting their head in the sand,” he said about where his head was at concerning the band’s forthcoming release. “I don’t want to think about it too much. But genuinely, I’ve never felt so comfortable with it, I’m just so in love with the music so I’m gassed for it to come out.”
Let’s get stuck into his Life & Time chat…
Enjoy the edition,
Ted and Niall
The Life & Times Of… Eli Hewson
What was the first record you loved?
Come Around Sundown by Kings Of Leon. I had one of the old iPods and it had a load of my sister’s music on it and she had that album. She loved that album and played it for me. That was the first album that I used to replay, I’d pick certain songs off it and want to listen to them over and over again.
And the last?
I loved Mk.Gee’s album, Two Star & The Dream Police. I just love the guitars, because I’m such a big Prince fan and it sounds like Prince and Joni Mitchell had a baby. It’s amazing.
What’s your earliest memory?
I used to think that I had a memory of being in the womb. I’m not even joking! I used to think I had a memory of being in the womb, but I now think it was a Nickelodeon animation thing. They used to have these placeholder things in the middle of ads that would play in the middle of the night if you’re watching television and I think somewhere my brain, my wires got crossed, and I thought that was like being in the womb.
What’s your daily domestic routine?
I wake up, go for a walk with the dog, then maybe read for 10 minutes, and then just brain rot all the rest of the day.This is when I’m not doing anything like rehearsing, although I love going into to meet my mates for like a pint, but not too many because I’m not that hard.
Who or what is the love of your life?
Oh my God, I’ll get killed for answering this question wrong. I’m just gonna have to cut my losses here and say my dog Beans. I just love him, he’s a geezer, but I do have another dog called Lemmy who will be quite upset. My family have all kind of left so I’m the prime dog walker now. My little brother used to do it but he’s now moved to London. I love it, it’s a good responsibility.
What’s your worst habit?
Smoking, definitely. That or overthinking.
When were you most creatively satisfied?
Right now, I feel most creatively at peace with myself. I don’t feel that anxious about anything and I feel like that comes from knowing that I’m really proud of the music.
What’s your desert island disc?
I’m gonna have to be really boring with that answer but I’m gonna say Rubber Soul because that’s the mecca of everything musically to me, The Beatles and that album.
Has anyone you’ve ever met made you feel starstruck?
Larry David, although I didn’t get to meet him but I did brush past him and I witnessed a very Larry David moment happening. My sister [actress Eve Hewson] was at an after-party for one of her premieres, was in the show The Perfect Couple and she invited the band to go. It was in LA on one of these rooftop things and it was all very squished, everybody was squished by the door. I was walking in and I saw Larry David coming towards us, brushing past people, squinting his eyes like he was disgusted. We were like, ‘Oh my god, I really don’t want him to walk past us, because what if he doesn’t like us?’. And then some kid tried to fist bump him, and he just squinted at him, made the Larry David face, fist bumped him out of frustration, and then just continued to squeeze on through the crowd. It was really beautiful to witness. I’m just glad he’s still doing it, still being Larry.
Who or what is the greatest influence on your work?
I know our music doesn’t really say anything like it but I’d say The Stone Roses. They were the biggest influence on why we started a band, it was life-changing for us. But it changes, that was then and now it seems to be Prince. But I’d have to say The Stone Roses because they were there first for me.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
I really don’t like people being rude to like staff or waiters and waitresses. I really hate that, it gets me going. It’s like a real flaw with somebody’s humanity, it’s a real marker of somebody’s personality if somebody’s rude to a waiter.
What are you scared of?
I’m scared of the future a little bit. Right now, I just don’t know what’s going to happen and everything feels very unpredictable. I think I might be a little OCD, so that kind of that makes me feel a little uneasy that we’ve got no control over anything.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
I’d go to London in the 60s, to somewhere like Carnaby Street just to see the Stones there and The Beatles and everybody in their mad clothes and stuff. I think it’d be funny. I’d like to go there.
What one book would you recommend we read?
The Picture Of Dorian Gray. I know it’s one of the classic ones but I think it’s a really big signpost for your morality. Once I read it, I recognized it in a lot of other stories I’ve read or seen on the screen. It’s funny the influence that I had. I think it’s a really interesting take on morality. I read that last year and it really blew my mind.
What was the home you grew up in like?
Loud and very high energy. Bombastic!
How do you spark creativity?
I think being alone and in the middle of the night is usually where I love to create, that kind of weirdly gets me really hyper and in a good mood.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Follow your gut. Maybe my little brother told me that, John Hewson.
What’s the worst thing anyone’s ever said to you?
Oh my god, how long do you have? My sister once told Julian Casablancas that our music is stadium-rock. I’ve never face-palmed so hard in my life… but it might be true. He was like, ‘That’s cool, man’.
What’s your favourite film and why?
Inglorious Bastards. It’s nuts. I remember seeing that beginning scene with the milk and they’re hiding under the floorboards when I was a kid, and it really scared the shit out of me. But watching it as I got older, I found the movie to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I love the script, I love all the dialogue, I love the way it all works together. It’s really beautifully dark. An amazing film, I keep coming back to that.
Can you cook? What’s your signature dish?
I can’t really cook. I can do a good arrabbiata, but that’s just a fancy word for tomato pasta.
Which living person do you most despise?
Oh, there’s lots of them. I would say one of those fucking nut jobs in power. Let’s just say Donald Trump, safe bet.
Do you have any phobias?
Snakes. I can’t deal with snakes. Thank God there are none in Ireland cos I’d just live under a rock if they did. [Eli is informed that under a rock is probably where the snakes would live]. Fuck yeah, you got me! I can’t stand them. Thank God for St Patrick.
Do you have any hobbies away from music?
I am partial to the odd video game, I will admit. I love a bit of Call Of Duty. Always have, always will, probably.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Getting in a band, being in a band, that’s my greatest achievement so far. We’re very lucky to be in the position we’re in and we’re very aware of that.