NO SOUR GRAPES

Having beaten heroin and ecstasy, Shaun tries to stay upbeat despite his current thyroid problems

’Years ago I would deal with things by getting off my face. Now I wonder why I did that’

Shaun Ryder’s days of drug and drink excess are in the past. The Happy Mondays, Black Grape and sometimes Gorillaz star’s past exploits haven’t hindered his career.

Ryder has a great new Black Grape album due, dates with Gorillaz, and the Happy Mondays are reunited, playing better than ever and also making a record.

But 54-year-old Ryder’s health is now an issue. The thyroid condition, discovered when he was undertaking US Embassy drug tests to attain a work visa, can be debilitating.

“My thyroid is up the wall,” he explains. “It’s picked a bad time – when the thyroid goes, it affects my memory really, really badly.

“It affects everything, it breaks your immune system down, the lot, it’s terrible.”

These days Shaun has replaced former recreational favourites ecstasy and heroin with prescriptions for thyroxine and a testosterone gel to treat his condition.

“I went to the American Embassy because when I go to the US I have to go through all the tests because I’ve been on a 10-year probation with the Americans. To get my visa, they put me through standard drug tests. They said, ‘You need to get to your GP asap because your blood cells are all over the place’.

“I’ve had the condition for 10 years and it’s been quite stable, but every now and then it flares up, especially now after turning 50.”

Despite his medical challenges Ryder is enjoying the sober second half of his career.

He admits he hasn’t always been the greatest father – he has six children by four partners – but is enjoying his two youngest daughters.

“I enjoy the work I do, yeah,” he says. “I also like to sit down and do nothing or go out with the kids. My hobby at the minute is to get the girls out and try and do things with them.

“It just seems like years ago I used to deal with things by getting off my face – now I’m thinking, ‘Why did I do that when it’s so easy not to?’”

Shaun also retains a keen interest in UFOS but is sure we have nothing to fear.

“If we had owt to be scared about from invaders from the stuff I’ve seen in the sky, we’d have been slaved up and working in the fields a long time ago.

“The whole history of this stuff, the powers that be won’t tell us. It’s like we say [on the new album] Everything You Know is Wrong.”

Black Grape’s Pop Voodoo is released on August 4.