Sylvia Patterson, a 61-year-old journalist from Perth, Scotland, has spent four decades interviewing some of the biggest names in music. Her new book, I'm Not with the Man: A Writer's Life with the Music Mavericks, published by Fleet, offers a behind-the-scenes look at her wildest encounters. From Pete Doherty smoking crack in front of her to Liam Gallagher challenging her to a wine-drinking contest, Patterson's stories capture the chaos and charm of rock 'n' roll.
Pete Doherty: Crack Pipe and Rehab Diary
In 2006, Patterson interviewed Pete Doherty at his Hackney home. The Babyshambles frontman sat on his bed, took out a crack pipe, and began smoking while she sat opposite him on a purple-covered duvet. “I'd never actually seen anybody smoke crack before… certainly not in an interview situation,” she said. “I didn’t know where to look. There was a used needle in the bathroom, and the whole place was in darkness.” Doherty, now 47, had been sacked from The Libertines in 2004 due to his heroin and crack addiction. He later showed Patterson his rehab diary from Arizona's Meadows clinic in 2005. “He showed me what he'd been writing when he was there, lyrics, poetry. After he got out, he went straight back to London and got straight back on the gear,” she recalled. “After that, his diary entries were just swirls of his own blood, tapering out to absolutely nothing.” When she met Doherty again in 2024, he was a changed man. “The pandemic did him a massive favour, because the drug supplies were cut off,” Patterson said. “He arrived in the foyer of a hotel with his baby daughter in his arms and his beautiful big dog Gladys was at his feet. He was about three stone heavier than before, but that's a good thing.”
Liam Gallagher: Wine Dare and Glass Wall
Patterson's most memorable moments came during the Britpop era, especially with Liam Gallagher. In 2010, while interviewing him for Q magazine during his Beady Eye days, Gallagher challenged her to down a large glass of red wine in one go. “I caved and agreed. He did the same. And five collective down-in-ones later, I walked straight into a glass wall, which Liam found hilarious,” she said. Patterson described Gallagher as “strikingly beautiful” and “oozed cool,” noting that he still called his mother Peggy every day to keep him grounded. She added that Oasis embodied the spirit of rock 'n' roll, with Noel Gallagher once telling her, “Oasis is a celebration of the euphoria of life.”
Sinead O'Connor: A Unique Individual
Patterson met Sinead O'Connor in 2009 at a five-star hotel in Dublin. “Because of her look in the late 80s alone, we knew she was a unique individual. Then she opened her mouth to sing. I've never heard anything as striking, powerful and bewitching as that,” Patterson said. O'Connor, who died in 2023 at age 56, used her platform to highlight issues like child abuse and human rights. She even tried to enlist Patterson's help in exposing paedophiles, alleging she had evidence of a ring operating at the heart of power. “She was convinced she had evidence,” Patterson recalled, adding that O'Connor “cared about the bigger picture” and didn't care if she was arrested.
Marianne Faithfull: Extreme Life Choices
Patterson interviewed Marianne Faithfull in 2013 in Belgravia, by which time the singer's only vice was green tea and Marlboro Lights. Faithfull, who died in 2025 at age 78, spoke openly about her romance with Mick Jagger. “She said ‘I hated being famous with Mick. A lot of people can’t take fame and I’m one of them’,” Patterson recounted. She described Faithfull as an aristocrat who gave up everything to live in a bomb site in Soho as a heroin junkie. “It’s one of the most extreme stories you'll ever hear. Keith Richards is an extreme character, but what she did was a lot more extreme than anything he ever did,” Patterson said.
The Changing Music Scene
Patterson believes that by 2010, the wild days of the naughty noughties had given way to a more predictable music scene. She noted that stars like Nicky Wire from the Manic Street Preachers and Noel Fielding from Kasabian discussed the “flatlining of culture” and the disappearance of eccentric personalities. “Without casting any aspersions on Ed Sheeran and Adele, it had become more like that world at that point. They were the new massive stars. And, you just know actually, Adele would be the first one to say, ‘where have all the weirdos gone?’” Patterson said. However, she is hopeful that with the return of Oasis and the spirit of artists like Lady Gaga, the mavericks might come back. “People are clamouring for something real, and raw,” she added.
Patterson's book, I'm Not with the Man, is available now in hardback and eBook, priced £25.
