IF YOU WANT BLOOD
Two years ago Mike Kerr became a different person. The Royal Blood singer/bassist was in Las Vegas when the dark shadow that had followed him for some time crystallised in one simple decision: he was done with drinking. Amid the neon and noise of the world’s gambling capital, he experienced a moment of clarity and downed the espresso martini that would be his last alcoholic beverage to date. Although that martini was technically a relapse of sorts.
“I kind of had this moment where I was like: ‘Wow, I think that’s it, I think I’m done,’” he remembers today. “And then I was so drunk I forgot I’d already ordered an espresso martini, and the guy gave it to me and I was like: ‘Maybe one more.’ And that was my last one,” he says with a wry half-chuckle. “But I basically immediately failed. It was quite funny.”
Looking fresh and serious, Mike Kerr has the polite, if slightly short manner of someone you expect to make a sarcastic comment at any given moment. Which he does at times, in the sort of deadpan tone that makes even the daftest remarks fleetingly believable. But he’s an engaging interviewee, pausing to consider his answers and
