Marcus Mumford inspired by Neil Young advice a decade ago

Marcus Mumford was inspired by advice Neil Young gave him a decade ago.

The Mumford and Sons frontman is set to release his debut solo album ‘(self-titled)’ on Friday (16.09.22) and the veteran songwriter helped change his perspective on a career in music.

He told NME: “Neil Young sat me down about 10 years ago and told me the importance of recorded music, and that I should pay more attention to the way in which we record because I was always [like], ‘Ah, it’s just an advert for a live show.’

“He was like, ‘No man, these things last.’ I felt like on this record, I listened to that [advice].

“I paid closer attention to the way it sounded than anything I’d ever done before.”

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old musician also recalled taking part in jam sessions at Joni Mitchell’s home.

He said: “I played ‘My Funny Valentine’ for her, and Chaka Khan was there and at the end, I f***** up one of the lyrics.

“Chaka leans down to Joni in a stage whisper and she goes [shouting], ‘He really f***** that up! Do you want me to do it?!’, which was hilarious.”

He described the whole experience as “magical”, and admitted Joni had some “sweet” words of encouragement for him as a performer.

He added: “It was just magical. Joni actually said to me, ‘Your instincts are good, you should just play’, when I was worried about a song.

“I was like, ‘Well, that’s a tattoo I’ve gotta get! Joni Mitchell says I have good instincts.’ It was just so sweet.”

Marcus previously revealed his debut solo record is all about “freedom” and “healing”.

He explained: “Really it’s a record about freedom and it’s a record about healing. I think, certainly in my story, it’s important to face up to some of the gnarlier stuff first in order to get to that place of freedom and healing.”