I'M A RUNNER
GRANT NICHOLAS THE FRONTMAN OF THE ROCK BAND FEEDER, 54, ON SURVIVING THE 1990S AND SONGWRITING ON THE RUN I’M FROM SOUTH WALES, SO OF COURSE I PLAYED RUGBY. I remember finding
running pretty hard work when I was at school. For quite a few years I swam every day – I discovered that laps of the pool are good for switching off the mind. I didn’t start running properly till around 2014, when I was finishing my first solo album, Yorktown Heights. Like swimming, I found it was good for my head. I tend to overanalyse things a lot of the time. It keeps me calm.
PEOPLE THINK I’M STRANGE FOR GOING RUNNING ON SHOW DAYS.
RUNNING IS A CREATIVE TIME FOR ME. My head’s in a different
place from when I’m at home. I get lyric ideas, or if I’m working on a song I’ll have the demo on repeat while I’m out. It’s good for learning the lyrics of new songs, too. Feeder have been around for a long time – the new album is our 11th – so we have a lot of songs, and I don’t want to be one of those singers who needs an autocue! I’D RATHER RUN ON A TREADMILL THAN GET LOST. When you’re on
I’M NOT OUT TO TRY TO PROVE ANYTHING. I do go
‘I do go out most days, maybe for 10km or so, but I’ll just do what I feel like.’
out most days, maybe for 10km or so, but I’ll just do what I feel like. I’m no spring chicken. Sometimes I get achy knees, or my heels hurt. If I’m not feeling it, I don’t have to do it.
in the 1990s, and thankfully there were no mobile phones or social media to record it. We still have fun times – we’re still basically big kids – but you do need to balance it a bit more. When we started out we were doing half-hour sets. Now it can be two hours, so you need to be in good shape.
I can have a pretty heavy night, go out for a run the next day and find it easy. But on the other hand, I can also get loads of sleep, have a really restful week, go running and it feels like really hard work.
tour in a new place and don’t know where you’re going, it’s hard to relax, which is what I want from running, so I’ll get on a machine. At home in north London I’ll head to Finsbury Park. I wouldn’t necessarily want to SOME OF THE NEW go round there at night, but when the FEEDER ALBUM WAS WRITTEN sun’s out, it’s actually a nice place. WHILE I WAS OUT RUNNING.
098 RUNNERSWORLD.COM/UK JULY 2022
foot during lockdown. It’s not a very rock ’n’ roll story – I was going down my garden steps with my reading glasses on, looking at something on my phone and not concentrating. I didn’t want to sit around, so after about a week I was going down to Finsbury Park again in my air boot and on crutches. WE’RE ALL MORE HEALTHCONSCIOUS NOW. A lot went on
I FIND RUNNING SUCH AN UNPREDICTABLE SPORT.
I didn’t like taking my phone out with me when I went running before. But during these mad pandemic years I started doing things a bit differently and writing more observational stuff. I’d stop and type lyrics or ideas for titles on my phone’s notes app.
I GET LOW WHEN I CAN’T RUN. I broke my
IF I EVER DO A RACE, I’M SURPRISINGLY COMPETITIVE.
Feeder’s new album Torpedo is out now
I haven’t done much, only the Crouch End Fun Run a few times – but even that has some good runners. When I see the guys in the club vests, I want to hunt them down. Look out, the old rocker’s gonna catch you up!
WO R D S : DAV I D S M Y T H . I L L U S T R AT I O N : PA D DY M I L L S AT S Y N E R GY A R T. P H OTO G R A P H Y: P H I L I P H AY N E S ; G E T T Y I M AG E S ; S H U T T E R S TO C K
They say: ‘Why are you going for a run if you’ve got a gig tonight?’ But I’ll only run for about half an hour, and I think it actually helps my lungs and is good for my singing. I do drink alcohol, and sitting on planes and tour buses all the time is not the most healthy lifestyle. Running balances it out a bit.
