I left school at 15 and my outlook on life was the same as it is now. I was always a hopeful child if not always a happy one. I was outgoing, sociable, funny, and I was accepted by my peers. All I was interested in was music and escapism. I don’t think I’ve changed much. Obviously circumstances have changed along the way, but I think my core values are still the same. I’ve never been the kind of person that thinks negative thoughts about myself. If my upbringing taught me anything, it was resilience. I got that from my mum. She also gave me the notion that no one’s gonna give you anything. The only way you’re going to get what you want is through hard work. Unless you become a master criminal, of course. But I was very lucky in my short-lived life of petty crime – I got caught very early on and I was like, fuck this. This isn’t for me.
To this day my mum personifies the word resilience. Her bark was fucking ferocious. Her bite was non-existent. She had very, very bad language. That’s where I learned to swear, from my mum. We weren’t always having the best time, but I never really worried about the future or felt insecure because we come from such a big Irish family, there’s always someone who’ll look after you. My mum had 10 siblings. They all married. They all had at least three kids. So you’re never going to fall through the cracks.
, football, going to gigs, records, girls, everything. I didn’t know it at the time but
