Graham Coxon: 'I was a mardy brat in my 20s … I'm quite mellow now'

Blur’s guitarist reflects on the state of pop music, swearing, and why he’s glad he doesn’t need to put on make-up any extra

Graham Coxon enters the studio by way of a thick cloud of vapour. “Banana and yoghurt,” he broadcasts cheerfully. I had expected Coxon to be a bit extra taciturn, given his fame because the second least chatty member of Blur. But earlier, as I waited outdoors, I heard him loudly, fortunately tootling a track to himself. As he vapes, he fizzes with enthusiasm, his physique barely nonetheless for a second, even when he is making an attempt to take a seat down and speak. “I can get quite harassed,” he says, shuffling in his seat, “but I’m in a very good temper once I’m within the studio.”

We are in London’s Konk Studios, near where Coxon lives, to talk about The Finish of the F***ing World, the Channel 4/Netflix drama about two damaged teenagers falling in love, for which he wrote the beautiful soundtrack. He abbreviates it to “The Finish of the World”, though, because he is round youngsters quite a bit, his personal now being 18 and five. “The older one hears a number of expletives once in a while, but I don’t swear that a lot any extra. I just discover it a bit grating. I’ve used each swear word underneath the sun but… ” He shrugs. “Who’s received the power to be that het up that they’re going to use swear words? It's worthwhile to be enjoyable, not swearing. You should be doing something else.”