Harry Styles is opening up in a new interview with Zane Lowe from Apple Music Beats 1 – talking about his new album, One Direction, therapy, drugs and more!

 

 

 

So let’s dive right in –

 

On being a ‘sex symbol:’ “Honestly I’d say I try and think about it as little as possible, because it’s a very strange, dynamic thing.  It’s also like a weird thing to think of about yourself. I guess the thing with sex in general, is like, it used to feel so much more taboo for me. Even like when we were in the band, the thought of people thinking that I had sex was like, oh no, that’s crazy. What if they know?”

 

 

 

On trying drugs: “When I was in the band, to me it felt like it was so much bigger than any of us. I felt like I’m not going to be the one who messes it up.  So I was like, now is the time in my life when you probably go out and experiment, and do this and you take this and you do that.  Making this record felt like… I just felt so much more joyous. And I was with my friends, and we were in Malibu I felt so safe.  It was like, I want to take some mushrooms, I’m going to take some. Like now’s the time to have fun.  I think my thing with drugs is if you’re taking anything to escape both to try and hide from stuff then you shouldn’t even drink.  And if you’re taking anything to have fun and be creative, then great.”

 

 

 

On his new album: “I wanted to feel a lot freer and just more joyful and honest.  A lot of the time, when there’s tabloid stuff, for example, of people breaking up, I think people forget that there’s a person who’s also broken up with someone, which is sad. You get sad when you break up with someone.  Definitely with working because ultimately it will be okay.  If you don’t hit the top of the chart, your life doesn’t change. I think realizing that it’s like if that was what I was aiming at, and then it didn’t happen, then I’d feel so much worse. But redefining it for me has been amazing to be like, Oh but that’s not the game I’m playing. There’s a freedom with that.”

 

On mental health: “When I started coming to California, there was a big thing for me where I felt like everyone went to therapy. And I think for a long time I was like, ‘I don’t need that.’  Then I think there was a point where I was trying to work out a lot more stuff about myself because obviously then it was just me walking in. When you’re trying to make music, it’s so navel-gazing. Making an album, I feel like is the most self-indulgent time you can think of really.  With the therapy thing, I just realized I was just getting in my own way.  It’s been a thing where I’ve definitely felt it have an impact on my life and something that I’ve kind of introduced some friends to, who were going through stuff. And they were very skeptical about it.”

 

Harry also opens up about One Direction and not realizing Zayn [Malik] wasn’t enjoying his time with the band, “It was kind of like we were sad, obviously, that someone had left, but also sad that he was not enjoying it so much that he had to leave.  Because I think at the time too, the tour and everything was going so well and everyone had kind of got to this place where everyone was kind of living in a way where they, i think, felt pretty good.  It felt like everyone was kind of enjoying it.  I’d say a big part of it was us kind of being like, ‘Wow.’  You didn’t realize he wasn’t enjoying it that much.”

 

 

 

Once Zayn left, Harry says the rest of the band ‘questioned’ if whether or not they should continue on or not, “We were about to start recording a new album and stuff and it was like, ‘Are we recording without him?’ But I’d say in the moment, I guess the four of us became closer because we were like, ‘Ok, this is a hurdle that we weren’t expecting.’  Why would you want an artist to make stuff for you when they don’t want to make it?  It seems completely counter productive to me.”

 

As for One Direction calling it quits for good, Harry shares, “We’d sit down and have conversations [asking if] everyone [is] good, everyone wants to keep going and that kind of thing.  There was a part of me where I felt like all of the decisions I’d made as an adult – that affected my life and what i was doing with my life – had been made as a group.  I think there was a part of me that felt like I wanted to make some decisions for myself … I felt like i needed to make some decisions that just affect me.  I didn’t really have a plan for when i wanted to make a record.  I knew that, like, maybe one day, I’d want to do it, but I wasn’t like, ‘I can’t wait to get out of this thing so I can go and make my own records.’  I wouldn’t say [it] crept up.”

 

 

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FINE LINE . THE ALBUM . DEC 13

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Harry’s new album Fine Line drops on Dec. 13!

Filed under: Apple Music, beats-1, Harry Styles, zane-lowe