Throughout history, an act from the UK trying to break the States is one of the great musical puzzles that not many manage to solve, and even fewer can keep together. Artists with wildly accessible catalogs who exploded in Britain but failed to find remotely similar success on these shores. For every The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin, there are dozens of Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, and The Jam. Hell, even Oasis didn’t crack the code for three decades and a 15-year breakup.
Imagine then being a duo of blue-collar blokes from Nottingham, one of the more financially deprived regions of the country, railing about how difficult getting by is in a very region-centric manner via a near-unclassifiable strain of minimalist electro-punk. Yet despite that, Sleaford Mods have managed to carve out a surprisingly devoted American audience.
Comprised of frontman Jason Williamson, with his modern mod haircut and thick East Midlands accent, and Andrew Fearn, the unassuming keeper of the lo-fi laptop beats, Sleaford Mods first gained serious traction here around 2014, even though the lyrical content was steeped in disgust over the UK’s austerity program, the government’s attempt to cut spending and public services after the country spiraled into massive debt.
Songs like “Tied Up in Nottz,” “No One’s Bothered,” and “TCR” were deliciously catchy, as were collaborations with the likes of The Prodigy and Billy Nomates. Even covers that seemed bizarre on paper somehow worked, including takes on Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” and the Yaz dancefloor classic “Don’t Go.”
Live, the bushy-bearded Fearn is perpetually bouncing about, clad in a flat-brimmed cap, while Williamson shouts both at the audience and seemingly to himself, paired with gleefully awkward dance movements most of us reserve for the bedroom mirror with the shades drawn. Early on, it drew the attention of Iggy Pop, who famously said Sleaford Mods were “undoubtedly, absolutely, definitely the world’s greatest rock n roll band.” The iconic frontman also shared a now legendary clip of his pet parrot grooving to the band’s “Tweet Tweet Tweet.”
“I still look at what we do, and it’s just not – it’s awful,” Williamson tells The Sober Curator without a hint of irony. “Aesthetically, it’s horrible. How can anyone be attracted to what we do?”
But people are attracted to it, evident in a string of sold-out dates on the group’s North American tour, which kicked off this weekend with two nights in Brooklyn at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and wraps in Vancouver with a pair of dates at The Pearl on May 22 and 23.
And while Williamson’s shouted stanzas, with the refrain “fuck off” deployed casually as “and” in most conversations, can come off as humorous, there’s a deep-rooted anger, insecurity, and addictive behavior running underneath it all. From the earliest days of Sleaford Mods, he was battling to keep his life together, immersed in a dangerous and debilitating cocktail of drugs, alcohol, and pornography.
Ahead of the tour, in support of this year’s The Demise of Planet X LP, Williamson sat down with The Sober Curator for an exceptionally frank look at the addictions that enslaved him, which were finally put in the rearview nearly 10 years ago. It’s a topic he’s been open about in both interviews, social media posts, and the Sleaford Mods “Monthly Dump” newsletters – which always arrive accented by the poop emoji – though rarely at such length.
Michael Christopher: Do you know your sober date?
Jason Williamson: No. Roughly, I think it was mid-June 2016. Definitely a month, but it was mid-June 2016.
Tell me about the road to get to that point. Were there false starts? Long stretches of denial or relapses?
Oh, lots and lots of false starts. Denial. Lots of…despair, really. I think I knew that I needed to stop, but I couldn’t. And it got darker and darker, I guess. I tried to scale it back, but I wasn’t doing drugs and getting drunk every day. It wasn’t this kind of, I don’t know, how you imagine these bigger celebrities carry on. But I was severe, you know? I’d carved a whole set of behaviorisms around it, and I’d become quite… what would be the word? Just very “destructive,” I guess.
So, was yours more like a bingeing thing, or what was it kind of centered around?
Pornography, really. My desire to watch it on cocaine. That would build up in the week, and I would plot it out, but I wouldn’t have strategic points. I would just go, “Right, I’m going to lose it today.” That would give me justification to start drinking and then call someone to get cocaine. I didn’t have money, really, so I was always buying it on credit, always promising my wages at the end of the month to whoever I was getting it from.
For the first hour or two, I’d speak to people with a heightened sense of disregard for anything, speak in a positive manner, but not have the stress of life behind me. Then it would go dark, and I would digress into a room on my own with pornography on a laptop or in magazines, films, DVDs, anything I could get my hands on. And from that, a whole other host of behaviorisms sprung out and took hold and acted as a structure around my substance abuse.
How does that shift when Sleaford Mods start to get more popular because now you can’t, or maybe you can lock yourself away in a room, but if you’re on tour all the time, it’s got to change a bit, right?
Yeah, it did. It changed in the sense that I have money, so I could become more severe with my intake of cocaine. And it would be after the gig, I’d go back to the hotel, you know what I mean? Or not go to the gig at all and just do drugs. It was just too… the success of everything was very discombobulating, and I couldn’t get my bearings. It was weird. I didn’t expect it. We were in our early 40s, and how would you get success from what we do? So yeah, it got more severe.
Rolling it back a bit, what was the drinking and drug culture like in your friend group when you were growing up in Nottingham?
It was pills, whizz – speed, sorry – alcohol, marijuana, and eventually cocaine. Some people moved on to crack and heroin, but I stayed away for the most part. They were cheap drugs, nasty drugs, bottom of the bottom, really. If you live on the lower end of the social spectrum, you’ve got to be aware of what kind of drugs are going to bury you very quickly, and heroin and crack were those drugs.
There’s this romantic idea of the pissed-up, working-class poet. Did you ever buy into that, even subconsciously?
No. [long pause] I kind of did in a way, I guess, in the romanticism of failure, because failure was constant. So, I bought into the fact that I resigned myself to that. But I was never into the idea of poetry. It didn’t appeal to me at all. Anyone that took up that mantle and called themselves a poet, I found deeply annoying and deeply suspicious of. So no, I didn’t buy into that, but I did buy into my own journey and how that shaped me through honesty. It’s just that everything else underneath wasn’t so righteous.
I find it fascinating that you were balancing the addiction to not only cocaine but also pornography. Where does alcohol play into it, or is that just always in the background?
Yeah, it was a gateway, wasn’t it? And also, alcohol was a softener. So if you didn’t fancy the ferociousness of a cocaine and pornography bender, you could go and get drunk and sit in the pub. I would never think about porn then. It was more swimming in a sea of hazy happiness and cigarettes.
There’s a lot to be said for nicotine. It’s perfect for coffee and alcohol. And on some days, coffee, alcohol, and nicotine were really all I needed. But I was never a ferocious drunk. I wasn’t an alcoholic, so to speak, although I did have traits of that. Beer, nicotine, and coffee were kind of like your days off.
Was there one defining moment where you thought to yourself, “I need to get sober,” or was it just more cumulative than that?
I think June 2016, I just thought I’d taken it to the extreme, and my wife was looking at ways she could exit the situation to keep the children safe. So, I knew that if I carried on, then they would become a separate thing and I would be on my own again. And I didn’t want to do that to them.
And for some reason, I gave drinking up and that stopped everything else at the same time. It was weird. I tried lots of other things to stop drugs and smoking, but it was alcohol, really. It tied it all together. The minute I gave that up, I felt it became a lot clearer.
Did you feel like you had to relearn who you were without alcohol or drugs?
Yes, I still am. It’s been 12 years now, so I’ve had to learn why I do the things I do, because the anger didn’t go away. I felt happier, but all of the fuel that kept me taking more drugs and drinking more was still there. And I had to find out what that was, and that was trauma basically. Trauma and learned behavior from my parents. I think I’ve got over the worst of it, and now I’m just picking the litter up, you know what I mean? Clearing the yard of broken twigs and leaves.
In Sleaford Mods, there’s always been anger and frustration in your lyrics. Was that easier to access when you were drinking?
It was always there, but it wasn’t every day; it would accumulate once or twice a month and result in me hitting myself or hitting a wall, screaming at myself. It was an insular thing like my substance abuse. I don’t think I hated myself, but I was disappointed in myself constantly. I wasn’t good enough. So, whenever I needed to take it out on someone, I’d take it out on myself.
Was there a version of you that existed only when you were inebriated that you miss?
Yeah, not giving a fuck on it and going out [and being] reckless and devious. I didn’t care. I’d find myself in places that were volatile and unsafe, and I didn’t care. And so, do I miss that? I don’t know if I miss it, but I think that’s still with me in a way, but not obviously with the deviancy or anything like that, but more with the fearlessness, perhaps.
Speaking of fearlessness, were you intimidated at all going on stage for the first time sober?
No, because drinking wasn’t working. Being drunk and performing was not as slick as being sober. When you’re drunk you feel like you’re a million dollars, but a lot of it is awkward and clumsy and slurry. The minute I gave that up, the performance became slicker. Stopping smoking changed it even more. It was like, “Oh fuck, I can sing better. I’ve got more energy.” It changed overnight.
There are certain songs that I always associate with partying, “Columbia,” by Oasis, for instance. It reminds me of being in college, getting revved up before going out. When I hear that now, I still feel something. I still feel that little twinge of excitement that used to lead to, “Let me grab a fifth beer and let’s call up the dealer.” Is there any music that does that for you that takes you back to a period?
House music, club music, from any kind of Italian house classics, or anything. Lounge music from the noughties, late ’90s, drum and bass. Oasis, of course. Any of those old bands pull you back into a certain degree. Two Lone Swordsmen. Even stuff you’re not familiar with from that era will drag you back in.
You recently namechecked Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction as your “Perfect 10” album for Pitchfork, which is arguably one of the least sober records ever made. And I’m wondering when you hear something like, “It’s So Easy” and Axl singing, “I drink and drive, everything’s in sight.” Is it difficult to separate the music from the mythology?
Well, I think you say that it was an album made on absolute substance abuse routines, but underlaying there is a white-hot professionalism. And I know that obviously somebody else produced the album and probably tied them up – this loose bag of fucking idiots – tied them up and made them look a little bit smarter, but there was a thirst and a need and a desperation there that I don’t think can be touched by alcohol. Eventually, it can, of course, you get jaded and addiction takes over. But for a long time, they were professional as well as being reckless.
Do you ever see old pictures of yourself and be like, “God, I look so much different. I look so much better now.”
Yeah, I look better now than I did 12 or 15 years ago without a doubt. I was puffy, red blotched, and dead behind the eyes. But alcohol and substance abuse acted like a carer through the years of trying to get somewhere. It was my retreat, so to speak. And I’m not making excuses for it because I regret it, but it looked after me while I tried to make something of my life.
From the outside looking in, things seemed to happen so fast for Sleaford Mods. How did that acceleration intersect with where you were personally?
I was still drinking at that point and taking drugs. But I’d have my daughter, she was about two years old, and it wasn’t working, so it needed to change. I found stepping into a professional world with The Prodigy, especially, I felt like an imposter, but now I’m not. I don’t feel like that anymore. It’s one thing transitioning from unknown to successful, but once you’re there, you then have to prove your worth again by surviving and remaining interesting.
Did you lose friends when you got sober?
Yeah. [long pause] Yeah. I lost a fair few. Most of them. Or were they friends? I don’t know. I think I changed. The pub was a central meeting point for me and my fellow male friends, and when that went, there isn’t anything now apart from WhatsApp groups.
Did the dynamic with Andrew change at all?
No. Yes. Well, did it? No… I think I was always motivated, and I could be in the depths of depression due to behaviorisms, substance behaviorisms. But I would still coordinate myself as I do now in the studio with him, and I think that’s why it works with us. There’s not a lot of chit-chat about personal life. And if there is, then it’s really valid, and it contributes to our relationship. But generally speaking, we’re there to feel turned on by the music. And if that isn’t happening, then I think we would have problems.
Do you have anything that you have to avoid that triggers you?
No, I’ve not got a problem with it now. And I don’t want to tempt fate, but I go to the pub now, and I know people are on drugs or drinking – it doesn’t bother me. I, for one, have started drinking the zero alcohol beers. It took me a while because I was like, “This is stupid.” [laughs] “This is stupid.” Because it does bring everything back, doesn’t it? But what it’s starting to bring back more so for me now, rather than memories of partying, is the taste. And there are certain alcoholic drinks that have got a nice taste. So, to a certain degree, it’s a great invention if it’s used respectfully. And I find that zero alcohol allows me to use it. I only have a couple. Two or three. You get sick and tired of them, don’t you?
Right. You don’t need to drink 18 of them.
No. It’s like you just need one or two.
Do you have any favorite zero alcohol beers?
Guinness Zero. It’s really nice. Heineken, surprisingly. And I’m trying to get into the cask ale ones, because I was really into ale towards the end of my drinking career, and there are more and more zero alcohol ales coming out that I quite like. So, yeah, anything like that, really.
Has sobriety changed your tolerance for chaos?
Yeah, I’m tired of it in other people, particularly cokeheads. I’ve done it. I can sniff one out a mile away. It’s a powerful drug, and you can tailor your thoughts any way you want to and it will enhance that for you. If you’re enjoying that, fine, but don’t start believing that about yourself because that’s the problem.
What does a quiet night look like for you now that would’ve terrified you 15 years ago?
Decaf tea, followed by another decaf tea, followed by a hot lemon and water, followed by magnesium and a vitamin D pill, before I go to bed with 10 minutes of stretching. I will fit in there 30 press-ups, 30 sit-ups, 30 lunges, body weight lunges throughout the day. And I might tease myself and do 50 sometime. My new addiction is exercise, I think. Then, sitting watching TV, learning how to behave with my wife. [laughs]
How do you define sober?
Sober is not doing any alcohol, not doing any hard drugs or soft drugs, not smoking nicotine. That’s it.
What’s your biggest motivator for staying sober?
It’s my health and my family because they need me. I don’t want my children or my wife to have to start again because I had to when I was a child. You’ve got to keep it tight and learn how to be a positive presence.
Where do you think you’d be today if you hadn’t gotten sober?
I don’t know. Probably depending on someone else somewhere. It wouldn’t be anywhere good.
What’s the best part of being sober?
The morning. Making people smile. Making my family laugh. Making my family feel like they are protected. There is somebody else here that can offer protection.
Sleaford Mods latest album, The Demise of Planet X, is available now. They’re touring North America this month and will be on tour in Europe throughout 2026. For more information, visit their official website.
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