Having written about pop music since 1988, Sawyer started her career at Smash Hits before moving to The Face and The Observer. She has interviewed everyone from Liam Gallagher to PJ Harvey, Stormzy to Billie Eilish. Her first book, Park and Ride, explored the British suburbs, while her latest, Uncommon People, is a literary mixtape in tribute to Britpop. Across 20 songs, she captures what it was like to live through that creative moment in British culture.
Music started to make a difference to me at secondary school. Blondie’s Parallel Lines (below) was a massive deal. They’ve got rap in there, reggae... They were always quite experimental, but because they did it within a three-minute pop song, and Debbie Harry delivered it in a certain way, it worked.
My favourite piece of music depends on what I want it to do. I’m always happy to hear Voodoo Ray’s A Guy Called Gerald. When I was doing the book [Uncommon People], some tracks I liked more than others, and some I’ve changed my mind about, but they all take me back to a certain point. At the moment though, because I have children, I could tell you every note of Billie Eilish.
What's everyone reading?
The books that influenced me the most in terms of writing are Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (below) and Hunter S Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I understood you can bring yourself into the piece without making it about you.
I find novels a bit baggy and boring, but I like essays. I’m reading a collection by an Irish writer, Patrick Freyne. It’s called, OK, Let’s Do Your Stupid Idea and is hilarious, touching and beautiful.
The greatest TV show of all time is Top of the Pops. I know it makes me sound old, but I wish it was still around. I want to see a nice snapshot of the Top 40, and the rubbish too, and to know who’s number one!
I spend far too much time looking at clothes online and watching old gymnastics videos. I go on eBay a lot and I’m always a fan of a YouTube music wormhole.
I remember the first time I saw a Francis Bacon in the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford. It was just of a dog; I had never seen anything like it. When my daughter was a baby, I would put her in the pram and go to Tate Britain – it had the Bacon triptych. I just thought, God, it’s amazing.
I like the South London Gallery in Camberwell. They put stuff in there that you’d never expect. It’s by the Camberwell School of Art, so is full of young people.
I don’t like fancy restaurants – they fuss about too much. In Brixton Market, I like two places: The Joint, which does chicken strips, pulled pork and messy burgers, and Mamalan for Chinese dumplings.
A great place to stay in LA is the Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel (above). It’s inexpensive, is in a good area and there’s a diner next-door.
My house is full of clothes, trainers, books and records that are worth nothing, but I call them ‘collections’! All from jumble sales and secondhand shops. Obviously, I look for clothes, but also funny 1960s ornaments.
If I won the lottery I would have a small but central flat in New York; also a place at the beach in LA. And then, you know, obviously give lots of money to charity.
If I could bring back one trend, it would be spontaneity – not booking things. I just want to be able to rock up to places.
