5 places to find peace and calm, by Sleaford Mods

There are so many places I really like in Berlin. It gets me every time, because it’s such an unusual place.

It has a lot of history, with all the stuff from the Second World War: the old monuments, remnants of the last century’s buildings, the war’s buildings. You can walk around and see entrances to lots of grand buildings and it’s the only thing left still existing of that building because of the war. They’re stuck in the middle, bang-slap with modern flats.

I find all that really good and interesting. I like learning about history and exploring places that have a bit of aheritage.

I love the look of the buildings and the streets, the food. Berlin’s such a great place. I also really like the culture there. The nightlife and everything else is just brilliant. The people are just wicked.

You can get a lot of quiet there too. Cities are quiet places if you want them to be. They’re noisy but you can just soak it all up. I think that’s quite a relaxing thing.

My wife’s family comes from Portadown in Northern Ireland. We’ve spent a lot of time there and we still do occasionally. It’s a lovely place.

It’s a very, very old Irish town really. It was quite noted when the Troubles were going on. There is a lot of history with the place, which is interesting, as well as obviously quite sad. There’s lots of industry there. It’s got all the hallmarks of past industrial history.

Ireland’s a lovely country. Portadown is definitely a place where I’ve got some good family memories from there. The people are lovely. It’s just a beautiful little place.

I always like to explore the places where the band have been touring, places like Italy, Berlin, Paris. I really like Paris. I feel quite at peace in Paris.

I like going to all the tourist spots, especially the area around Notre Dame. It’s all really beautiful. It’s just absolutely so full of history. Paris can be very busy, but it’s not intimidating.

Sometimes, when we’ve got time, I like to check out the museums and the galleries, although when you’re gigging, there isn’t always time. Me and my wife have gone to the Louvre a few times.

Paris is just great for walking around. That’s one of my favourite things to do there: to walk around and see all the old buildings and the rivers. I don’t know all of the places by name, by I do definitely like to walk around definitely.

I know Paris is an obvious choice, but that city is a really special place.

I’m a big one for sitting about doing nothing all day, but I also really like getting out and about. I’ve always liked Norfolk, places like Stiffkey and Wells-next-the-Sea. There is a fair bit of money around there. You don’t have to spend too much money to enjoy the place though.

It’s just a beautiful area, with loads of little villages and loads of history. It’s pretty flat but there are lots of windy roads, lots of old houses, great beaches… Holkham Beach is one of my favourite places there. All of those things combined in Norfolk are enough for me.

Home for Sleaford Mods is Nottingham (England). I like walking around Nottingham City Centre. It’s quite peaceful because it’s home. I just sit down, have a cup of coffee or whatever.

The music culture is alright there too. We came from here, so that’s decent enough. There’s a lot of people doing stuff. It’s quite diverse genres. People’s interests are quite different. There’s a big scene but it’s not a noted scene.

The heart of Nottingham for me is just the memories. I’ve grown as a person here. Everywhere you look there’s a message, a memory attached, good or bad. That’s home for me.

Sleaford Mods’ new album English Tapas is out March 3 on Rough Trade Records.See www.sleafordmods.comfor details

A film about the band, Bunch Of Kunst, is also due out in early 2017. See www.bunchofkunst.com for more info.

Main image: Jason Williamson (right) with Sleaford Mods bandmate Andrew Fearn (Roger Sargent).