Ed Sheeran: The Full Croke Park Press Conference

I’ve never set out to be the envy of every 16-year-old girl (and a good few boys, too) in the land, but that’s precisely what happens at 1.02pm on Friday July 24 when Ed Sheeran gives me a great big bear hug. For those who’ve dreamed of such an eventuality more than I have, I can reveal that he’s extremely welltoned, smells lovely - I’m guessing Boss, possibly L’Eau D’Issey - and has skin that wouldn’t be out of place on a baby’s bottom.
Our hug – some may go so far as to call it a cuddle – makes it onto the RTÉ Six One News, resulting in lots of funny looks afterwards from those aforementioned 16-year-olds.
Ed’s Irish record company, Warner Music, had rung the previous day to ask whether I’d like to host the press conference their star man is giving before the fi rst of his two Croke Park sellouts. Even if he wasn’t the hottest male solo star in the world right now I’d have said “yes”, because the idea of a 24-year-old from Suffolk wowing 160,000 people with not more than a guitar and a bank of FX pedals fascinates me.
Riding presser shotgun with him is Jamie Lawson, the one-time Dublin 3 resident who’s the first signing to Sheeran’s Gingerbread label. More sensitive types might have called it ‘Strawberryblondbread’, but Mr. S is a master self-Mickey taker. Jamie has brought an acoustic with him to perform ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’, his re-released debut single which is top 10 in both Australia and New Zealand, and was serviced to Irish radio this week.
Before we get down to interview business there are several trillion newspaper photos to be taken. The sound of 50 camera shutters going off in unison is deafening, and what I imagine being caught in the middle of a swarm of extremely peeved mosquitoes might sound like.
They’re in friendly mode today, but you really wouldn’t want all those lenses pointed at you in anger.
The plan is for the three of us to natter for a while, Jamie to sing his song and then take half-a-dozen questions from the fl oor before wrapping things up at around the half-hour mark. A good plan, but one that goes totally out of the window when Ed decides he’s going nowhere till all the ladies and gentlemen of the press get their sound bites.
Here’s how it went down...
STUART CLARK: You make this stadium-playing lark look so easy. Do you ever get nervous?
ES: I’m not so nervous for this. I was really nervous for Wembley because everyone kept coming up to me and saying, “Oh, do you think you can do it?” I said after Wembley that this was going to be more fun because the Irish crowd has always been the best crowd that I’ve played to; they’re just mental. The fact that there aren’t that many people in Ireland and 160,000 of them are coming to this venue, which has a special place in everyone’s heart...it’s a fair chunk of the population!
It’s the same as 2.8 million turning up to see you in the UK.
ES: Yeah, that’s the equivalent. We did a soundcheck yesterday because in Wembley the loop pedal kept messing up on one song. We had to run it a bunch of times to make sure it didn’t mess up again. Some people came to Wembley just to see if I could do it. People are coming here just to have a good time. It’s a big event in their summer.
One of the great things about being the headliner is that you can get your mates to play with you. How did you meet Jamie?
ES: I played with him years ago in The Bedford in Balham, which is a similar thing in London to Whelan’s. I was playing the Ruby Sessions at Doyle’s of College Green last year and Conor, the guy that ran it, asked, “Do you want an opening act?” I’d seen a poster of Jamie a couple of days earlier, so I said, “Yeah, we’ll get Jamie Lawson.” That was that. We’ve also got Gavin James and BellX1. The Bell X1 thing is cool because my cousin, Laura, is married to one of them. He hasn’t played with them for a while because they’ve kind of downsized, so I said they could play if they put Mark back in!
Being a glutton for punishment, you’ve started your own record label. How’s that going?
ES: It seems to be going swimmingly. We just had our fi rst double-platinum single in Australia with Jamie. I know a lot of people who set up a label or get given an imprint with the major that they’re on – much like I have. They get really excited and sign six people but don’t have the time to give to those people. They focus on one or two and the rest fall by the wayside. With Jamie, I wanted to take it slow and do it properly. So we started off in Australia and New Zealand and Ireland is the next market we’re going to be moving into. We’re going into the markets that have a love for acoustic singer-songwriter music and spreading out from there. So Ireland is the next frontier.
Jamie, that run round Australia and New Zealand sounds great. What were the highlights?
JL: It was all a bit surreal for me. I’d literally gone from playing to 50 people to 15,000 so it was a big jump. I got a real warmth and a big response from the Australian crowd so I felt taken in quite quickly. And when by the end of the tour the song started to get played on the radio, that was a buzz.
ES: We had him dancing on a table by the end of the tour... literally!
JL: I’m quite quiet, y’know? I don’t go out much. They had a bet on that they could get me drunk and dancing on tables, which they won.
What song persuaded him to strut his stuff?
ES: I think it was Radiohead. Jamie, Ed’s a real Duracell bunny.
Does he wear you out when you see what he packs into a day?
JL: He’s got an energy. I don’t know where he gets it from. It’s admirable to say the least.
And he can’t keep his nose out of things! You had your headline show, your moment of glory, in the Camden Barfl y recently and guess who crashed the stage...
JL: I know! Ed joined me the night before playing Wembley. I had 100 people there to watch me and then Ed comes along, watches the whole gig and gets up to sing. That’s pretty special. I’m not sure many people would do that. He’s very kind.
ES: Cheers!
Ed, can you remember the last day you didn’t play your guitar?
ES: Eh, yes! It was last week – my friend had a barbecue. If I brought
out a guitar at one of those things my mates would be like, “Dude, shut the fuck up! Eat a burger.”the fuck up! Eat a burger.”
We all know the story about you aged 13 sneaking into Whelan’s to see Damien Rice, but before that you were a massive Christy Moore fan.
ES: Big Planxty fan in general. Gary Dunne, who’s an Irish singer songwriter, ran a night 12 years ago in Portlaoise where he got Andy Irvine to come and play. That was really good! I was brought up on Irish music. I’ve listened to a whole bunch of it and it’s defi nitely been an influence.
If any of your younger fans want to check Planxty out, where should they start?
ES: If you want to get all the vibe of it, the Live At The Point album and DVD from 2008 are great.
You came in early on Wednesday to play another secret show in
Whelan’s. What else have you been up to?
ES: I’ve been at my gran’s. We ate pasta last night, played with the dog... nothing really that rock ‘n’ roll to be honest. The Whelan’s gig was supposed to be a warm-up, then this radio station in Australia called Nova heard about it and made it a radio show. It turned into something bigger.
You were only supposed to play four songs but, surprise surprise, it ended up being almost a full set.
ES: Yeah, well I guested on the Other Voices Stage at Latitude and bumped into Lisa Hannigan there. I invited her and her friend Una to Whelan’s. When I get up in front of musicians I respect I want to show them everything I’m about and four songs doesn’t do that so... I played and played and played!
Ah, you’re just a show off! Jamie, your self-titled album is coming out on October 9. How was the recording process?
JL: It was good fun. Ed being a slave driver, I had just ten days to make the record in Oxford. We have (Belfast man) Ruadhri Cushnan mixing it and I’m really chuffed so far. With ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’ a hit in Australia before we’d even started the record, I felt confident. With it being under Ed’s umbrella, there was pressure but also support if that makes any sense!
It does. Ed, given where you’re performing, have you got your head round hurling and football yet?
ES: I actually played the Aussie Rules Final in Australia and they said Gaelic was just Aussie Rules with a different ball. So I kind of got my head round that; hurling less so!
We’ll have to get him a hurley and a sliotar at some point during the day.ES: Sliotar?
S-L-I-O-T-A-R, to rhyme with 'glitter'. The ball. I’m learning myself as I go along. It’s a very good sport, but it’s violent.

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Jamie Lawson plays, everyone’s suitably impressed and reminded that in addition to his self-titled debut album there’s a history-in-the- making Whelan’s headliner to look forward to on October 30. Over to the floor now for more questions ***
RUTH EGAN (FM104’s Strawberry Alarm Clock): There’s a rumour going round that U2 or Bono might be turning up and joining you on Saturday?
ES: No truth to that, no. It was something that crossed my mind and I did look at their tour dates. I shouldn’t say anything because there are people who’ve put bets on with Paddy Power and that probably ruins that. I could probably place a bet on who is coming to guest and get the money for that!
STUART: You didn’t think to give The Corrs a call?
ES: I should have fucking rung them up, shouldn’t I? Jesus, why didn’t I think of it?
LOTTIE RYAN (2fm): You’ve gone from Wembley to Whelan’s to Croke Park in a few days. Do you enjoy playing different sorts of venues?
ES: More so now that I’ve done the hard part, which is playing a stadium for the first time. I’m quite upset that we can only do two gigs in Croke Park. I want to spend the week here and do as many as possible. I had an idea with that. Because the gigs here generate cash, with any band you could go to the locals and offer to send them on holiday.
CROSSY (SPIN 103.8): If you could have anyone come up and sing with you tonight, who would it be?
If I could reform Planxty and perform ‘Raggle Taggle Gypsy’ that would be pretty cool.
EDDIE ROWLEY (Sunday World): Jamie, you were friends with Gavin James first and then you introduced Gavin to Ed...
JL: Yeah, I think I did actually. Last year wasn’t it? As Ed said earlier, we did the Ruby Sessions and I made sure that Gavin came down to it so he could sing for Ed. I knew Ed would go mad for him! Gavin has one of those voices that you don’t quite know how it works, where it comes from, how it exists. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. I think he’s going to be a big star.
ES: I didn’t understand what he was saying for the first 10 minutes! He talks very fast. He’s such a nice, lovely guy. He’s flown back from the Sam Smith tour to do this; fair play to him.
STUART: You lived down the road for a while, Jamie.
JL: Yeah, I lived here for a year or so and got to hear U2 from my bedroom window, which was nice. I got brought over to Dublin by a guy called Mark Dignam and was doing gigs with The Frames and Mundy thinking: “This is going alright.” So I came over and lived here for about a year. I really enjoyed it, it’s a beautiful place.
EDDIE ROWLEY: Ed, you have a reputation for being the nicest man in the world...
JL: It’s not true, absolute shit!
ES: It’s a lot of pressure. I find with having that title, whenever I do something that’s not nice it’s really blown out of proportion. Actually, Dave Grohl is the nicest man in music.
EDDIE ROWLEY: What’s the secret to coping with superstardom and running the Ed Sheeran Corporation?
ES: I guess in any business you do sometimes have to be firm and nasty – and I just employ other people to do that! I don’t ever like being mean. I like being friendly.
GLENDA GILSON (Xposé): I know you have a job to do this weekend, but are there any sights you want to see; maybe pubs you want to visit?
ES: My Gran is 91 and whenever I come to Ireland I just want to spend as much time with her as possible. I’ve got a lot of family over this weekend. Wembley was the rager weekend where I just wanted to celebrate everything. Croker is more about catching up with family, cups of tea and things like that – not necessarily going out and doing 15 Jägerbombs. I’m not saying that won’t happen at some point but for now I’m just focusing on family shit.
GLENDA: Does she know how big you are in Ireland?
ES: She’s quite aware. She has people pop in now and again who she doesn’t know, but she’s always very friendly to them.
VALERIE LOFTUS (The Daily Edge.IE): Do you have any other traditions when you come to Ireland other than seeing your granny?
ES: Not really strict traditions. I’ll have a Guinness. I can’t have more than one because it feels like a meal. I’ll have one and move on to the spirits. Usually play a show. I can’t be in Ireland and not play a gig.
NICOLA BARDEN (Irish Sun): You said when you announced Wembley that you were taking a year off and not doing any more concerts. Was there a reason you decided to eat into your holidays with these two?
ES: Bren from Aiken Promotions just got me drunk and told me it would be a very good idea! I’m glad you brought that up because I did mean to take a break, but as soon as I opened the floodgates to this, America wanted a tour and then Australia wanted a tour. So now I’m not finishing until December. It’s all Bren’s fault but I’m happy that he made me do it. I’d much rather play here than take this weekend off; this is massive.
CAROLINE TWOHIG (TV3): What is it about the Irish that you love so much - and which makes us love you?
ES: Unlike any other country you guys are brought up liking every type of music. Music’s kind of in your soul. I guess that’s from the age of five having to sing songs in school or something like that. All of my best memories of concerts have been in Dublin. Firstly, you’re all mental! When you go to a gig you’re all madly up for it, so you don’t have to get people going. You step out on stage and instantly they’re there. It’s always the best crowd you can get.
ISABEL BARTAK-HEALY (Cork’s Red FM): You’re about to play the GAA headquarters in Dublin, but when are you going to come and see us in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, which is being redeveloped and has been home to concerts by Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen?
ES: Actually, there was a plan. We weren’t going to do Croker. We were going to do Cork and Limerick and all the places other than Dublin but I think that’s a next tour thing. They were trying to persuade me to do it next week but... one, I’d love to have the week off and, two, I’m probably going to drink after these shows and it’s going to be at least a week’s recovery.
CRAIG FITZPATRICK (Hot Press): Have you been watching Conor McGregor’s rise? If you have, would you do a Sinéad and usher him into the octagon at his next fight?
ES: The MMA dude? I was shown that fight where he gets up, smiles and knocks him out! I don’t think he will, but if he asked I probably would. I’ll just sing the really filthy version of ‘Thinking Out Loud’ (that Noah Powa did). It’s fantastic that Conor McGregor’s doing so well.
GRAHAM O'TOOLE (SPIN 1038): Are you on Tinder and, if so, do you have any tips for me?
ES: I’m not on Tinder. It depends whether you want a relationship or something quick and easy.
GRAHAM O'TOOLE: Quick and easy.
ES: Just say it straight. I have a friend who has Tinder and the first thing he does is ask, “How far away are you?” and if they reply they’re up for it. I’ve never used Tinder but I’ve been on my friend’s and just swipe everyone to the right. Leave him in the lurch!
CHRIS WASSER (Evening Herald): Having sold out football stadiums with your second album, is there pressure on you to come up with a third straight away or do you go away for a year, maybe two?
ES: There’s definitely pressure. It doesn’t come from me, it comes from the record label. They all see it as their big release of the year. It’s their chance to get their Christmas bonuses. There’s a lot of pressure from their side but as long as I’m happy with it, that’s alright. I’ve never put out an album and thought, “I want to make a certain amount of money from it.” I can’t really see anything selling more, unless you go into Adele territory, which is just ridiculous. x has done 10 million worldwide and I think that’s a good number to aim for. The first one did five and that’s also a good target to aim for. If I can do anywhere between the two the label will call it a success and I’ll be happy. But I’m just going to make what I want and put it out.