It's 10am when we catch up with George but he's already been "down the hill" to get his coffee and breakfast. A normal guy then? "Today I'm doing press till 1pm and then the rest of the day is kind of free. I'll probably go out and do some physical based activity, walking around and shopping - and do a quick whizz around TK Max." He reminds me that he's on the look out for tour props: "I've got a tour coming up so I'm always on the lookout for bits for myself or the band. When I'm free, which isn't very often, I just kind of go with the flow."
He enlightens me that "yesterday would have been a more interesting day to talk about" because he met up with an old friend from the "punk days". "I hadn't seen Jackie, who I call Hilda for some reason, for a couple of years. I have a habit of giving people nicknames and they just stick. I knew her from when I was a punk and we used to squat together, we've kept in touch since then, she's brilliant" George reminisces. "We just did nothing really. We went to a couple of galleries and wandered around. I think it's important to keep in touch with old friends and make time. I promised yesterday to arrange a dinner party for a handful of people that we still speak to, who are still knocking around. I'm calling it 'The Old Freak Elite' …
The last Culture Club album, 'Don't Mind If I Do', was released in 1999, so why has it taken fifteen years for a new album and tour? "It didn't happen now, it's been going on for a couple of years. In the last six or seven years I've been getting my house in order and sorting stuff out." It's no secret that George has also received his fare share of tabloid publicity, but he ensures that he is now "functioning in a much more professional way …
"Culture Club was a massive part of my life, and it's given me everything that I have. For me, it [the reunion] was a chance to rewrite the ending, because it wasn't great … But people do love what we are. We've done a few things recently, like at the Commonwealth Games a few months back, the affection was palpable and people really responded well." He continues, detailing why the band is so important to him, "the last couple of years have been an education for me - I've had a chance to revalue what we were and what we are now. This band, as mad as we all are, and although we do drive each other up the wall, there's something very magical about what we do together - particularly myself and Roy, we're the main writers in the band and something just happens when we work together. I don't know what happens, there's just something about the alchemy of us four that makes our writing unique to Culture Club.
"We've just finished recording our new album", he continues proudly. "When I've listened to it and our friends have heard it, they say, 'it's really Culture Club', but it's weird because we sometimes go out of our way to make something that isn't very Culture Club." So, what does the new Culture Club album sound like? "Well, we've always had this quite eclectic sound. Although we were around in the 80's, we didn't really have an 80's sound but we may have had an 80's look in a way. You could never listen to something like 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me' and say 'oh yeah it sounds like an electro record', or anything. That track wasn't really the sound of that time. We all had an original idea of what the band was going to be when we started it", he says. "But in a funny sort of way, because of all the big personalities, it became something completely different and unique, and I think it was probably better for that. It's kind of eclectic, it's world music without calling it world music, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. We're not worried about dipping into country or going into a bit of rock. I would say this record sounds like us, but really a bit more relaxed, slightly more confident and hopefully a bit wiser. It's got a pop quality to it because I find it difficult not to write melodic songs."
He says that the recording process for the new record hasn't really changed. "I'm the storyteller. Nowadays, because of smartphones, you can use anything. Anything that comes into my head goes into my phone. Im always writing lyrics into my notes and making sound recordings on the road. The difference now compared to when I was younger is that the songs were more personal, about things that were going on in my life. But now I'll write about anything. You've got to be careful if you're in my company and tell me a story - it might end up a song. These days I'm just a bit more flexible about what I write about - a song can come from anywhere. Everybody contributes their own aspect to the songs and this time me and Mikey wrote a song on our own for the record, which we don't usually do but I think it's one of the best songs we've ever written." He reveals that he has "rottweiler" tendencies when it comes to song-writing. "I never let anyone tell me what to sing. I feel, as a frontman, I've got to be honest about what I'm performing. I'm not open to people sticking their nose in to lyrics. I'm quite like a rottweiler when people start saying 'what about this word'?"
George goes on to discuss "a sign of the times" in the modern music industry compared to when he was growing up. "When I was fifteen, sixteen, I was listening to 50's jazz. I've always had a love of music - it's in my bones. I knew that I was going to be involved in music in some way, so I grew up with a very enquiring attitude towards all music." But now, he thinks all that has changed. "I saw this kid the other day on the bus wearing a Joy Division t-shirt and I know for a fact that she hasn't heard a Joy Division record. It's completely a sign of the times. Now, you see young kids wearing Guns N Roses t-shirts, but back in the day, when I was a punk, you'd never wear a t shirt for a band you didn't listen to. It wasn't allowed. It was more of a uniform if you were a punk or a teddy boy, if you were into the music. But now that attitude has completely changed." He continues, pin-pointing mainstream radio as the problem. "There's a reason now why kids can't explore Culture Club or Duran Duran or anything, going back as far as T-Rex or 30's Washington Jazz. If you're a certain age you can only listen to One Direction - you've got to listen to what we tell you to listen to. And as you get a little bit older, you can handle some acoustic guitar", he jokes. "That's what's wrong."
"I grew up in the 70's which was the most bonkers decade for music. On 'Top of the Pops' you had the Goombay Dance Band, Cliff Richard, The Sex Pistols, Donna Summer and Michael Jackson. It was the most inappropriate, bonkers decade ever", he enthuses. "You'd see it and think, 'why is this band on TV'? In a way, I think it was great because you got to sit there and experience things which maybe you hadn't heard of before". It's obvious George loves finding out about new music, as he reveals some unexpected new discoveries … "My friend Miles is my informer of anything reggae or quirky. Like the first time he heard Major Lazer, he was like 'oh my god! you've gotta hear this', because he knew I'd love that. There's always people around the world who will turn me onto something new, like Twitter or Facebook. I think those mediums are really good for sharing music with people, whether it's something old or something new." "Recently, I really like George Ezea. He's very similar to Odetta or some of the old stuff like that, because that's what he's doing. He's almost like a new Elvis. It's got a black quality to it. Because I've been around a long time I know my musical references quite well."
"Now is a really interesting time because people really don't know what they want and they're not aligned to any particular thing like when we were kids", he says of modern day pop-culture. "We wore the uniform and totally bought into it. If you didn't look like us, you weren't in our gang! But there's a lot of freedom now for music and for being creative. A band like Culture Club doesn't have to worry about getting played on the radio - it's irrelevant. We haven't made our record with that purpose. We just did what we wanted and I think the records great because of that."
However, George's main career isn't being one-fourth of Culture Club. Instead, he's been making a living from DJ'ing around the world for the last quarter century. "I've now been DJ'ing for 25 years, that's what I do. I'm off to Ibiza tomorrow then I'm going to Switzerland then Croatia. It's kind of my job now. I also do a monthly podcast for iTunes called Club Culture which has been number one in the deep house chart. I'm a very active DJ. Dance music is like a second career to me. I've been a house DJ since 1997. I play house, deep house and tech house, mainly soulful, bass driven music. When I DJ I try to use a lot of vocals and create a lot of stuff for my own sets. I spend a lot of time and money on putting together unique tracks which only I have … because nowadays, everyone's a fucking DJ", he says, somewhat annoyed.
While listing Doorly and Claude Von Stroke as his favorite house music producers, he gives his take on dance music. "It's constantly changing and there's always new people coming up. I love Redondo, and my favourite track at the moment is The Beatbangers' 'Jump Like This'. It's kind of my style, sexy and plenty of vocals. I play what I love, I'm not a jukebox DJ. When people ask you to play records which are in the chart, which aren't appropriate to play in the club, I say I'll play it later and hope they won't come back", he jokes truthfully.
It's clear that George wants to look to the future rather than focus on the past: "The past is the thing that gives you everything but it's always more exciting to think about what's happening next." World domination then? "I've done that" he says, laughing off the realistic suggestion. "The best way to describe my mission statement right now is I just want to do what I do well. I've come back to music and my career in the last six years with a new understanding and respect towards it. I was 21 when I first became famous, barely older than Justin Bieber. It all just happened overnight. My career kind of fell into my lap. I never really had to be grateful, obviously I did have gratitude but it all just happened. One minute I was a kid from Woolwich, the next minute I was famous all over the world. I had to grow up through all of that, the ups and the downs", George says whole-heartedly.
"At the moment I do see this as more of a game, and I want to play it to the best of my abilities. I'm really happy with all the things that I do. I make music, I DJ, I do photography, I make clothing - I'm very lucky, a classic renaissance man. DJ'ing is the thing that allows me to indulge my musical passions, because it's what I've done most and how I make my living.
Come December, it will be the first time Culture Club have toured for fifteen years, but it's obvious from ticket sales that they are far from forgotten. "We're really excited about the tour. We've actually just sold out some American tour dates including a New York show within a week. We just sold out Vegas as well. It's very exciting. It's great to know there's still an audience out there and we're going to put on the best show we can. We'll give people what they want as well as playing some of the new stuff, but without overdoing that. I'm a classic pop lover and I think when you go see a band or someone like David Bowie, you'd want to hear the songs you know, but it's also about getting the right balance. I heard people moaning about Kate Bush's show because she didn't perform 'Wuthering Heights'. That's a weird one though because it's like me not performing 'Karma Chameleon'. We'd probably get pulled off the stage" he laughs.
Alison Moyet is set to open for Culture Club on the tour. "I loved her last album and I'm a big fan of hers. She was on my wishlist and I really didn't think she'd say yes. Allison's a bit of a Gretta Garbo character, because although she's been around for a few years, she's always kept to herself. She's quite interesting, people absolutely LOVE her. People in America keep saying why can't we bring Allison with us and I'm like, 'she does have her own life', he jokes. "I'm really looking forward to it, I think it's a great combination of artists and it should be fun."
Over the year's, Boy George and Culture Club have played around the world, but why has the Nottingham crowd always stuck in his mind. "I think the last show we played in Nottingham was fantastic. I remember coming out the back of the theatre and it was just mobbed with people's mums. I was in a sea of mums for five minutes, I literally couldn't get out of the doorway. I think that's likely to happen again. People were really really lovely. My audience is always nice, whether it's my own gigs or Culture Club gigs. Back in the day it was all screaming girls, now there's more guys, some couples and more older people as well. In the last couple of years we've had more young people as well" he enlightens. "At one show their was this fifteen-year-old girl in full goth make up. It's always unpredictable and a nice surprise who comes. It's like, 'we're Culture Club, anyone's welcome'. But what about when he's DJ'ing in tropical climates? "Then it's a totally parallel universe. Usually the people who come to the clubs where I play wouldn't come to the gigs, but I don't know, that might change. I quite like the fact that it's separate though."
Like everyone wishes, if he could turn back the clock, George would have done "everything" differently, he ominously tells, after fighting off the laughter for some minutes. "If I had it written on a t-shirt, it'd say 'I hope that I have learnt from my mistakes", he chuckles … "I'm in a really good place right now though, I'm happy with everything I'm doing and life is beautiful!"
Culture Club and Allison Moyet play the Capital FM Arena on December 6.
![Boy George: 'I was mobbed by mums the last time I was in Nottingham']( "Boy George: 'I was mobbed by mums the last time I was in Nottingham'")
