“We’re gonna try and get Rod Stewart to be in the film I’m about to make actually" - James McAvoy chats all things music

Originally written by Alex Flood for NME

The first song you remember hearing?

Rod Stewart – ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’

“We’re gonna try and get Rod Stewart to be in the film I’m about to make actually. It’s a true story about two guys from Dundee who, in the early 2000s, were rapping and they were really good. They were really talented. They came down and auditioned for Sony, and the two reps who were auditioning them laughed them out of the room because they were Scottish. Anyway, they came back months later, pretending to be two West Coast California skater-dude rappers and they got a record deal for 35 grand. It was the same songs, just re-recorded. For the next bit of their lives, for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even when they were on their own, they would pretend to be these characters. Great things happened and bad things happened and the story is pretty wild.”

How does Rod Stewart come into it?

“You’ll have to watch the film to see if we got him. Rod, we’re coming!”

The first album you bought?

‘The Power And The Glory’ compilation (1991)

“It’s a compilation, featuring such greats as The Black Crowes and Alannah Miles. I loved ‘Black Velvet’ by Alannah Miles, which features in this film actually. I got it from the local Asda when I was about 12… growing up in a council estate called Drumchapel, which is just on the edge of Glasgow.”

The first gig you went to?

U2 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh in 1997

“I was actually quite old – about 16 or 17. I went with my mates and we were right in the front. We got there super early in the morning to queue up. And then as the day went on, people kept skipping in front of us. But before that started to happen, some of the roadies came out and gave us all cups of tea and stuff like that because we were there so early. They told us to keep hold of the cups. Then later on, we were 500 people back by then when we’d been 20 from the front, and they came and found the people with the cups and they brought them to the front of the queue again. It was awesome.”

The song that reminds you of home?

Dougie MacLean – ‘Caledonia’

“I’ve lived in London longer than I’ve lived in Scotland, which is crazy to me – but Scotland is where I’m from.”

The song I can no longer listen to

Plan B – ‘She Said’

“It was my favourite tune for such a long time. I think I just played it too much. It was a couple of years ago though. After this, I’m going to see if I’m ready for Plan B again.”

The song you want played at your funeral?

Deacon Blue – ‘Dignity’

“It’s quite triumphant in some ways. It’s aspirational, about somebody who’s from a background where they don’t have much. It’s about dreams, manifesting something and making it happen… I’d never thought about my funeral until I saw this question in the car on the way to the interview… If I’ve been OK to people, then hopefully they’ll take care of my funeral for me.”

The song you can’t get out of your head right now?

The theme song to Blippi

“Blippi is a children’s entertainer/educator who’s become a multi-gazillionaire on YouTube and multiple platforms. He’s a sort of latter day Pee-wee Herman with more of a focus on education type. He wears jeans, trainers, a denim shirt buttoned-up to the top and orange braces (or suspenders as they call them in America). And he wears a blue and orange hat.”