At just 24 Scarlxrd has a purposeful outlook on life. Throughout our time together, he barely makes eye contact, staring into the middle-distance, deep in thought. He knows what’s important, who’s important, and comes across as more comfortable in his skin than someone twice his age. He talks intensely about his goals and his spirit, knowing that he can’t spend his time getting wasted and ruin all the hard work he’s put in to get where he is today.
He doesn’t live a rock’n’roll lifestyle, instead spending most of his time with his cats and reading with a cup of tea. On tour it’s a military operation of early bedtimes, gym sessions, and chill-time – keeping his head in the game, always.
“I talked with my mum when I was 16 and said, ‘I don’t just want to exist, I want to live,’” he remembers, gradually starting to bounce in his chair. “I wanted to really experience. I’m so passionate about myself and my craft, it can come across as quite selfish, but that’s just how it fucking is. People who haven’t got with the programme aren’t in my life anymore.”
But deadweight isn’t the only thing Scar has ditched recently – he’s also removed his iconic Tokyo Ghoul mask for new album Infinity. He tells us that it helps bring a more personal energy to the record.
“There’s nothing more personal than dropping the one thing that everyone thinks they know me for,” he says. “My image sells, we know that. So what happens when I drop that? Do I become irrelevant? Or do I increase in infamy? It’s a beautiful challenge.”
The freshly-unmasked menace also cites David Bowie and Gary Numan as creative influences on this new Scarlxrd era.
“How they presented themselves didn’t define their ability to produce incredible sonics, and I feel like that’s where I am. I can’t wait to be sitting there, old as shit, with people saying to me, ‘My favourite era was No Mask,’ or, ‘I loved it when your hair was this long.’
“Slipknot change their masks and you can pick your favourite era based on the look they had, and I feel like that’s what will happen now my mask is off. I’m still gonna bring the noise, though – the music is just as fucking horrible. I don’t want people to think I’ve taken off the mask and I’m going to make a fucking country record now. I can scream better without it, trust me.”
Scarlxrd unzips the bumbag he’s had strapped tight to his chest for the past hour. He apparently carries it with him everywhere, filling it with notes of everything he wants to accomplish. On one page in particular is a sketch of an oval with a curious collection of other shapes drawn inside…
“That’s my stadium tour right there,” he says, beaming with pride. “I know I have the tools and the mind to do it. I have the body and soul to do it. So let’s fucking do it, then! You think you’re gonna wake up one day and you’ve sold out Wembley? Fuck off. Get yourself in the fucking booth, man.
“Certain creatives have to lose their minds to create, but I have to be in my own mind to create. I can’t lose myself to make something, I have to be myself to make something. ‘Yeah, we took a tab and we flew, man.’ Oh sick, but I did 30 press-ups, had a cold shower and know what I’m gonna fuckin’ say. I’ve got to do what I’m here to do.”
It’s just a matter of time.