Lead singer Sebastian Murphy opens up about being "middle-aged guys on stage playing hypnotic music" in the desert
Late afternoon, San Francisco. Sebastian Murphy is standing in the toilet of Viagra Boys’ tour bus philosophising about the psychological benefits of songwriting.
“It’s very therapeutic for me,” says the lead singer of Sweden’s iconic punk-rock band. “On the last album, I was getting out of a crippling drug addiction and tried to get my shit together. I was ruining a lot of relationships and turning into someone who wasn’t that fun to be around. It was hard on my psyche digging around with that shit – and now I’m in a very different place.”
Just 48 hours have passed since he stepped off the stage at Coachella: a triumphant show in the Californian desert where the band – surrounded by influencers in crochet tops and fringed suede jackets – brought raw emotion and raging guitars to a world of flower-crown-adorned teens and pop melodies.