Patrick Wolf is ready to unleash his inner baby down water slides as he shares his ‘Private Passion’ in Clash Magazine’s monthly column.
“At the end of my last album I went on holiday. I was so consumed with the studio world I just needed to do something that was the total opposite of sitting in a chair staring at a screen and directing people and answering phone calls. So I put on my Fifties-style swimwear and went to Florida and felt free, like back to nature. I like to feel engulfed by things. Because I’m 6ft 4, I’m really tall, it’s really tricky for me to have an experience where things are bigger than me and so things like waterslides really help that. It’s kind of like a humbling experience.
When Croydon Water Palace was still up and running, it was the cool place to go when I was younger, but when it closed down when I was fourteen my dreams were shattered. They’re being closed down in this country. They’re totally disappearing.
My favourite park ever was Wet ‘n’ Wild, Orlando. It’s like the holy grail of waterparks really. There was a ride called Disco H20. You get in a rubber ring, you go down this big purple tube and then there’s a big mirror ball in a big black hole. And it’s playing disco music with kaleidoscopes, lights and mirrors before you splash out into Florida on a sunny day. That’s the magic of what imagination can do.
You know how Dolly Parton owns Dollywood? It’s like a Dolly Parton theme park. I would really love one of those: a Patrick Wolf water theme park. And we could have different vibes and each slide would have a different band. So Björk could do one thing, and then PJ Harvey, and you could get maybe Nick Cave to do one too.
This is really the next stage in my life and I think I’m going to be all about leisure and exotica. Britain needs more swimming pools and more places to swim in and more places to be free as a bird…or a fish.”
Patrick’s new album ‘Lupercalia’ is out now. He releases the album track ‘Time Of My Life’ as a single on 12th September.
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