回复：如果你爱丝丝，一定要进来

In the summer of 2010, Louis auditioned for the UK version ofThe X Factorfor the third year in a row. He'd recently turned 18, and after having to retake his A-Level exams and flit between a string of minimum wage hospitality jobs, he figured he had nothing to lose. “I was never what you'd call 'book smart,'“ he tells me now, stubbing his cigarette out in a nearby carved ivory ashtray and settling back onto his stool, his face relaxed but impassive. “What used to piss my mum off is that I could have been. I was that classic one from school who everyone said wasn't going to reach their full potential because they lark about too much. That was just who I was at the time.”
2010年的夏天Louis三战英国的The X Factor海选他那个时候刚刚18岁在又一次考了A-Level的考试之后 干起了一系列工资极少的服务生工作他一无所有 决定搏一把 “ 我从来都不是那种’好学生’”他这样告诉我在旁边的一个用象牙雕刻出来的烟灰缸上摁灭了烟坐回了凳子上很放松但也没什么表情 “我以前惹怒我妈妈的点是我本可以成为那样的好学生 我就是别人嘴里那种因为玩心太重没发挥出所有潜力的学生我过去就是那个样子”

He didn't really consider himself a “singer,” either, but he knew he was confident enough to pull it off. His early teenage years had been spent dancing around his room to pop punk bands like Green Day (“I was given a DVD ofBullet in a Biblelive as a gift and I became completely obsessed with it”) so he used to emulate the American accent when he sang—something he says he still finds himself doing today. Aptly, the first band he played in was a Green Day tribute band when he was 14, but the other members kicked him out after a new boy came to the school and decided he wanted to replace him as singer. “Then I was like, 'I'm going to go onThe X Factornow and **** you all!'” he says, his face crinkling up with laughter for a moment, before turning serious again. “But I do remember that band as the first feeling of being... a performer, I suppose. I'd never really done anything like that before, and I was getting a bit of attention from it afterwards, so I was like OK, this is alright. This is cool. I can do this.’”
他其实没有把自己看作是一个“歌手”但是他知道他自己现在能够自信到去撑起这个名号他青少年早期的时间都花在在房间里跟着流行朋克乐队的歌跳舞 比如Green Day (“我那时候收到了一张Bullet in a Biblelive的DVD作为礼物然后我彻底被迷住了”) 所以他以前在唱歌的时候会模仿美国口音 — 他说他现在还是会这样做恰当地说他加入的第一个乐队是他14岁的时候加入的一个致敬Green Day的乐队但是其他的成员把他踢出了乐队并用新转来学校的一个男孩替代了他歌手的位置 “然后我就说 ‘我现在要去X Factor 海选了 去你们的吧’”他说 脸笑得皱了起来然后又变的很严肃 “但是我还是记得在那个乐队的时候第一次有了... 应该是表演者的感觉我之前从没做过那样的事情在这之后我也吸引了很多的注意力所以就想行啦这还可以嘛挺酷的我可以干这个”

Watching his very firsttelevisedX Factorauditionback today—a rendition of “Hey There Delilah“ by Plain White T's—feels remarkable, purely for the fact it isso unremarkable. He can barely hit the notes, and even the judges look as if they're more interested in their next cigarette break than the guy singing right in front of them. With his combed asymmetrical haircut, Topman cardigan and hopeful expression, he looks like every other British teenager you could have found in any suburban town in the mid 2000s; the kind of contestant that might get through the first couple of rounds, but would have a hard time making a stand-out impression. However, it didn't exactly pan out that way—because mere months later, he would become one of the most idolized pop stars in the world; a human canvas onto which a whole generation of teenagers would project their fantasies. These days, he'sreportedly wortha clean $50 million.
今天再在电视上回看他的第一次在X Factor试镜Louis表演了来自Plain White T的 “Hey There Delilah” — 这个表演的平庸程度是很“出色的” 他基本不能唱任何高音 评委们甚至看上去对接下来的休息时间都比这个正在唱歌的人感兴趣 当时他顶着精心打理的不对称的头发 穿着Topman的开襟毛衣 脸上带着充满希望的神情 看上去跟2000年时英国郊区随便见到的一个男孩子都差不多这样子的选手可能会通过前面几轮的选拔但是会很难给人一个深刻的印象不管怎么样事情并没有完全照这个方向发 — 因为几个月之后你会变成世界上最受崇拜的流行明星之一成为了青少年们梦想之中的偶像 那些日子报道称他净身价就有五千万

On the surface, his quick ascent as part ofOne Directionlooks fortuitous, or even unlikely—but take a closer look, and it actually makes perfect sense. Around the time Louis auditioned forThe X Factor,boy bands had been on the steady decline in the UKsince their golden age in the late 90s and early 2000s. Young pop fans had seemingly grown tired of manufactured bands with slick dance routines, formulaic songs and clinical sound bites—it had become cheesy and outdated. The fact that Louis' background was so average, so relatable, was already inherently part of his appeal. Rather than trying to shrug off his working class Northern roots, he vehemently embraced them. There was nothing about Louis that screamed “showbiz.” He didn't come from money. He hadn't been to Brit School. One Direction weren't your typical boy band—and so they flew.
从表面上看他作为One Direction的成员 名气迅速增长这件事情看起来很偶然甚至是不大可能发生的— 但是我们再进一步看这其实是完全能说得通的 Louis去The X Factor试镜的那段时间男团的数量在英国正呈现平稳下降趋势 因为他们的黄金年龄是九十年代后期二十一世纪早期年轻的流行音乐粉丝渐渐的开始厌烦那些千篇一律的舞蹈动作能看得出规律的歌曲还有简单的音乐 — 这些都变得俗气而且跟不上潮流Louis普通的背景也是他的魅力所在他并没有想要摆脱自己一个北方工薪阶级家庭的背景反而欣然接受Louis身上一点都看不出 “娱乐圈的气息”他家没钱也没去过艺术学校One Direction也不是传统的男团就因为这样 — 他们一炮而红

Even today, seven years later, when he couldn't live a life further from what he grew up knowing, he clings onto his background with an almost commendable stubbornness. While the others from the band—particularly Harry Styles and Zayn Malik, and even Liam Payne to a certain degree—seem to revel in the starry sheen of pop fame by dating other high-profile figures, being seen on the front row at fashion shows or stumbling out of A-list parties and having the sort ofmeticulously crafted marketing campaignsthat are designed to create intrigue, Louis has always appeared to shy away from that side of things; with one foot cautiously dipped into the lifestyle, and the other firmly on the ground.即使在七年后的今天当他住的地方离自己幼年所了解并成长起来的地方远得不能再远的时候他依旧对他的家乡有着值得令人称赞的固执的爱 在团里的其他人 — 像Harry Styles和Zayn Malik甚至Liam Payne — 通过与高名气的明星约会 在时装秀的前排游走 或是参加高档的派对来收获名利 成为焦点 他们被设计定制成一些推广宣传中应有的样子 而Louis往往离这些东西远远的一只脚小心翼翼的踩进这种生活 另一只脚还是坚定的踩在地上

“Yeah, well, Doncaster is the opposite of showbiz,” Louis says, cackling when I point this out to him. “But really, I've got two sides to me when it comes to that kind of thing. What I really can't ever get used to, or really enjoy, are these super geared-up celebrity parties—where he's there, she's there—and everyone pretends to be friends like they've known each other for years, like”—he puts on a faux smoozy LA accent—”'oh, how are the kids?!' but no one actually cares. You see people who are beyond self-absorbed, and that's why it can be a dangerous place. For me, I much prefer messy nights out with my friends from home.”
“是的唐卡斯特简直就是娱乐生活的反义词” Louis说在我向他指出这一点的时候笑出了声 “但真的这事也有两面性我真的不太能习惯或者是说享受的是那些有超多名人的派对他也在她也在所有人都装出一副互相认识了很多年的样子就像是这样” — 他装出一副假惺惺却又很性感的LA口音 — “ 噢你的孩子还好吗?!”但是其实真的没人在意你看着那些自以为是的人这就是为什么这里是个危险的地方对我来说我还是更喜欢那些和我家里的朋友一起出去混的乱糟糟的夜晚”

Louis tells me it's these friends from home who have kept him from getting too wrapped up in himself. In an industry that is notoriously superficial, he says, it can be hard to find an honest opinion when everyone that surrounds you is so agreeable. “I often treat that as a type of marketing,” he explains. “As in, how would my friends from Doncaster—who know nothing about music and fashion—interpret an outfit or a song or whatever. That has always really helped me. I like to think that if I came out in some awful tracksuit, they'd all tell me about it on WhatsApp, and in three months time I'd be like, 'thank you for telling me, I looked like a right dick!' Because if you get to a stage where you disconnect from those friends from home, other people don't really darego there... You can surround yourself with super successful celebrities, but you can get swallowed up in the glitz and the glam of it all.”
Louis告诉我就是这些来自家乡的朋友在帮助他 没有让他太以自己为中心在这样一个肤浅的行业他说身边所有人都很附和你说的话 那就很难得到一个诚实的意见了 “我通常把这当成是一种市场营销”他解释 “就好比说我的那些来自唐卡斯特的朋友们 — 对于音乐和时尚一窍不通 — 他们怎么会理解一件外套的设计理念或者是一首歌的创作呢但这恰恰能帮助到我我经常会想如果我穿着难看的运动衣他们就会在WhatsApp上面告诉我然后三个月之后我就说‘谢谢你们告诉我我当时看着真的像个**’因为如果你到了一个阶段与你家乡的朋友们都断了联系其他人又不敢说真话 你周围的朋友都是一些极其成功的名人你可能会被这些名利吞没”

This isn't to say he doesn't ever go out and have fun with the rest of them—he's done a lot of that too, over the years. “During the last year of One Direction, in particular, I definitely went a little bit… west,” he tells me now, raising one eyebrow before taking a sip of coffee and lighting another menthol. “I kind of realized we were going on this hiatus and I thought 'I've been very sensible for this whole time' and that's not really me, so for a year or so we definitely had a good 'party stint' and I got it out my system, in a way. There were definitely those days when it felt as if touring was relentless, and if you want to tackle it from a party point of view it can be really fun, but it does make the whole thing even more draining. It's just such a difficult feeling to come off stage and have this amazing buzz and then be like…'so what now?' You can't just sit on the tour bus and chill.”
这并不是说他从来不跟其他人一起出去玩 — 相反这些年他也玩的很多 “尤其是在One Direction的最后一年我绝对有点玩脱了”他这样告诉我抬了抬眉毛然后喝了口咖啡点燃了另一只薄荷烟 “我有点察觉到我们要有这么一个休息期 然后我想‘我一直都非常理智 但这不是真的我所以有一年的时间我们真的是“限量派对” 然后我在某种形式上找回了自我 你肯定会有一段时间觉得巡演的日子没有尽头 如果你想要用派对的方式来解决这件事情 是会非常有趣但也更累人了 从舞台上下来你的状态很兴奋 就好像在催促你说 ‘接下来去干嘛呢’你不能就只坐在大巴车上休息啊”

Louis has spent a large portion of his life being extremely famous, but his identity presents a strange duality. On the one hand, he is every bloke you've ever met on a Saturday night in a high street club sipping neon cocktails and chirpsing girls. He loves watching British reality shows likeGeordie Shore(“You could have a fun night out with the birds, but the lads are disgusting”) and having quiet nights in with his girlfriend and one-year-old son, Freddy. But there's also something inherently poised about him, in that way that only comes from years working under the glare of a spotlight. Every sentence he speaks feels considered, and he sits with such casual ease in front of a camera that he barely needs any direction from the photographer at all. He already instinctively knows what angle to turn his face so that the light reflects off his jaw, and he can change into a fresh outfit in the time it takes to adjust a camera lens. He never complains, he just seems to do it without thinking. It's quite remarkable to witness.
Louis的人生中有很大部分是处于非常出名的状态 但实际上他的个性是具有两面性的 一方面他是那种周末你去到高端酒吧里见到的一边啜饮霓虹灯鸡尾酒一边和女孩子调情的家伙 他喜欢看英国一个叫做“乔弟海岸”的真人秀节目(“你可以晚上和只你的朋友出去但是小伙子有时也很讨厌) 他也可以和女朋友还有他一岁的儿子Freddy一起度过安静的晚上 但也有别的方式能让他内心镇定下来 这种方式只来源于多年在受人瞩目的聚光灯下工作得来的经验 他说过的每一句话都是思考后得出的 他坐在照相机前是那么自然 根本不需要摄影师的指导 他已经出于本能知道把脸转到什么角度可以让灯光从他的下巴反射出去 他可以在摄像师在调整摄像机镜头时换一套新的服装 他从不抱怨 他他做这些事看起来非常自然 能见证这一幕让人难忘

This duality is also present in the way he keeps ominously referring to joiningOne Directionas “the change”, which goes to show just how much his previous life was pulled out from under him, like a rug. “I had a great upbringing. I had a great childhood. I was very lucky,” he explains. “And my school life… I absolutely loved it. That's what I found hard about the change; it was such a massive jump. It was something I knew that I wanted, but in hindsight… I wouldn't change anything, but you never know what you're getting into. You don't really know one percent of what thatmeans.”
他个性上的双面性还体现在他总是把他加入One Direction这个组合当成是他人生的转折点 他说他过去的人生就像是一块毯子被抽离出来 “我的教养很好” “我的童年也很幸福” “我实在是很幸运” 他解释说 “我的学生生涯...我太爱那段日子了这就是为什么对我来说转折是很困难的地方 因为这一步实在是太大了 我知道这是我想要的 但事后...我不会去改变任何事 但你永远不会知道你在做什么 你连这其中百分之一的意义都不明白”

But what does it mean? I tell him that I can't begin to imagine being in a band like One Direction, who have sold 7.6 million albums around the world, whose five faces are burned onto the retina of pop culture forever, whose every move was – and is – scrutinised from every angle. Amidst all of this, what was his favourite era? He finds it a difficult question to answer, and flounders a little. “I think during the early days, we just had this pure naïvety,” he begins. “We were being hauled around the world to all these crazy places and it was such a whirlwind. And when I say naïve, it's not like we were naïve to all the awful things, it's just that when you're a bit older, you've seen it and you've been through it, whereas back in the day… especially for someone like Niall who is the most happy-go-lucky Irishman in the world. He's so happy and smiley…”
但那到底是什么意思呢 我告诉他我想象不出自己可以在One Direction这样一个组合里 可以在全球卖出760万张专辑 五个人的面貌可以永远的烙印在流行文化的封面上 他们的一举一动从过去 – 直到现在 – 被人们360度无死角地关注着 在这所有的一切里 他最喜欢的是什么时候呢 他发现这个问题不好回答 挣扎了一下说 “我觉得在最初的日子里我们都特别单纯” “我们被拖着满世界跑 去到各种疯狂的地方就像是陀螺一样 当我说天真这个词时 不是说我们对所有不好的事情都抱有天真的想法 只是当你长大一点 你看到也经历了很多 但回想过去的日子... 尤其是像Niall 他是世界上最无忧无虑的爱尔兰人 他是那么快乐那么爱笑...”

He stops for a second, drawing himself back in again as if to gather his thoughts. “But I think it was obvious to everyone that we were always five best mates on the road; it was real nice. And as time went on, we all began to understand each other. There are often misconceptions, but we're all such good mates.If you look at theX Factorfinal, when I performed my song with Steve [Aoki], all the boys came tosupport me, and I didn't know until a couple of hours beforehand” – by this, he is referring to his first solo single, an EDM track with Steve Aoki called “Just Hold On“, which he performed on the show last year. He continues: “It wasn't one of those stupid ****ing celebrity things where it's like, 'lets all get in a picture and put it on Instagram and show everyone that we're best mates' – we didn't even put it online. There are always those little things that people don't hear about.”
他停了一下又向后靠了 像是梳理他的思绪 “但我觉得大家知道 我们一直是并肩前行的好兄弟 有人陪伴感觉真的很好” 随着在一起的时间增多 我们开始了解彼此 虽然经常有一些误会 但是我们还是好兄弟 如果你看了XFactor决赛的话 当我和Steve [Aoki]一起表演我的新歌的时候 我的兄弟们都过来支持我 我已开始并不知道 直到几小时前才知道– 他指的是他去年在XFactor上和Steve Aoki一起表演的他的第一首个人单曲Just Hold On 他接着说 “我们并不搞那些名人常用的技俩 '一起照相然后发到Instagram上来向所有人展示我们深厚的情谊吧' – 我们根本就没把这件事传到网上 总有一些小事是人们不知道的”

After five best-selling albums that spanned six years, One Direction announced their “hiatus” at the tail-end of 2015. At first, it was supposed to last around 18 months. But as time went on, it became increasingly clear that they had no immediate plans to get back together. They all went their separate ways with hopes to blossom individually—as boy bands tend to—and Louis found himself at a loose end, unsure of what to do next. “It kind of happened by accident,” he says, explaining his decision to release solo material. “There was a six-month period where I was just writing. I wasn't writing for me—I was writing for other people—and then we got the Steve song and everything started happening quickly. Before long, I'd got a call saying I could play theX Factorfinal, which was such a big ****ing deal for me. I felt a real sense of fulfillment doing that.”
六年出了五张畅销的专辑后 One Direction在2015年的年底宣布他们要 “休团”的消息 休息的时长原本是18个月 但是随着时间渐渐过去 很明显的是他们没有按照原定计划重聚到一起 他们每个人都怀着希望走在各自的道路上 — 和男子组合固有的发展趋势一样 — Louis发现他自己一直闲着 不知道接下来要做什么 对于他为什么决定发行个人单曲 他解释说 “有点像是个意外吧” 6个月的时间里我一直在创作 我不是为自己而写歌 — 我是为其他人 — 然后我们有了Steve的曲子 一切发生的都太快了 没过多久 我接到XFactor给我打来的电话 邀请我去他们的决赛现场去表演 这对我来说绝对是一件太他妈了不起的事了 我真的能感受到那种成就感”

His next single, “Back to You” featuring the singer Bebe Rexha, is a minimal electro-pop track and it suits him. The stripped-back production gives his voice space to shine, and it sounds stronger than it ever has done before. So far, the output of each former member of One Direction has admittedly been a bit hit and miss, but I'd vouch for this one being a hit. “You think it sounds good? And not predictable?” Louis asks, leaning forward, putting me on the spot. I tell him that it's super catchy, that I'd probably listen to it out of choice and not just because I have to ahead of an interview. “Good, good,” he leans back, seeming satisfied with my answer, “because it's so melodically different to what I was used to, I wasn't 100 percent sure on the song initially. But after playing it like three times, I became really excited about it. I think it's really cool.”
他的新单曲“Back to You”是和歌手Bebe Rexha一起合作的 这首歌是一首简单的电子流行乐曲 非常适合他 没有过多后期的制作 让他的嗓音有了更多的展示空间 听上去比以往录制的歌要更坚定有力 到目前为止每一个One Direction成员的作品都预言会成为热单但都遗憾错过 但我担保这首单曲肯定会成为热曲 “你是真的觉得听起来不错吗 并不是预测的吧” Louis问着 身体向前倾了些 把我问住了 我告诉他新单曲非常抓耳 我是出于自己的意愿选择听这首歌 而不仅仅是我要为了这次访谈而做的准备 “不错不错 ” 他又靠了回去 看上去对我的回答很满意 “因为它和我以往听到的旋律并不一样 一开始我对这首歌并没有百分百的信心 但是在听了几次之后 我对这首歌很兴奋 我觉得这首歌很酷”

As our interview draws to a close, we start chatting about his latest project, a girl band he's spent the past two years working on with Simon Cowell. “I wanted to put this girl band together so I pitched it to Simon.Off the back of that, he offered me my own imprint label through Syco,” he says, suddenly sitting up in his seat and looking more animated, cigarette ash falling into his lap as he flails his arms around. “The most important thing for me was that they have to be undeniably great musicians. To me, there's nothing cooler than seeing a girl own an instrument. It originally started when I was following Little Mix and I thought they'd go down a more guitar-led route. But that whole Paramore vibe in America is so huge, and we found this unbelievably amazing lead singer and a great bassist who were in a band together already, and then we found a guitarist and drummer. It's early days with the label stuff, but the girls are my first major project and I'm super invested in them.”
随着我们的访谈渐入尾声 我们开始谈到他最近在忙的工作 是他和Simon Cowell花了两年时间打造的一个女团 “我想把这个女团组在一起 所以我把它推荐给了Simon 之后他通过索尼给我提供了我的厂牌” 他突然站起身来 看起来更有生气了 他把胳膊盘在一起 烟灰落到了他的膝盖上 “对我来说最重要的是她们一定要是优秀的音乐人 在我看来没有什么比一个女孩有自己的乐器更酷了 当我关注Little Mix的时候我就有这个想法了 我以为她们会走更偏重吉他的路线 但是Paramore[美国乐队]的氛围在美国实在是太强了 我们发现了这个让人惊艳的主唱 还有一个非常棒的贝斯手 她们之前就在一个乐队里 之后我们找到了一个吉他手和一个鼓手 虽然和我的厂牌刚刚起步 但是这些女孩子是我第一个大工程 我在她们身上花了很多心血”