The 1975’s Matt Healy Questions One Direction’s Artistic Credibility

Carl Williott | February 9, 2016 11:33 am

The 1975 are on the cusp of superstardom, and so it’s only natural we’re now at the beef/”shots fired!” phase of their climb. Following last weekend’s giddy SNL performanceSpin has published a feature on the British pop band, and of course the first thing everyone will home in on is frontman Matt Healy‘s comments questioning One Direction‘s artistic bona fides.

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Healy explains that he was brought in to write a song with 1D during their Four sessions. “They didn’t seem to be actually that interested; they just wanted to play me this song that they said was really, really inspired by us,” Healy recalled. “‘Listen guys, fill your boots, the song doesn’t sound that much like ‘Girls.’ But the guitar and the whole vibe of it is a complete lift. So take the guitars off, and we’re good.'” 1D agreed to his proposed changes, but an unaltered “Change Your Ticket” eventually made the cut as a bonus track, displaying obvious shared elements with “Girls.”

“It would have been a bad 1975 song,” Healy said. When told by the interviewer that 1D’s Made In The A.M. is one of those spot-the-influence albums, he added: “They’re four guys who queued up outside an arena to sing in front of Simon Cowell. Do they really have any artistic credibility? That sounds like a mean thing to say, but it’s a good question. Like, do they?”

1D may be on hiatus, but there’s no rest for Directioners and Healy is probably about to find that out.

He also discussed his very brief Taylor Swift run-in that led to full-blown relationship rumors, saying “God bless Taylor Swift… But I couldn’t live that life. I couldn’t be that famous.” Read the full interview here.