John Doran sits down with former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft ahead of the release of his fourth solo album 'These People’. Ashcroft discusses fatherhood, what he misses about the North, and Bitter Sweet Symphony. In John’s own words: Today I am speaking to one of the biggest, and arguably most misunderstood pop stars of last quarter of a century: Richard Ashcroft. His band The Verve were one of the most unlikely success stories of the 1990s, predicted by no-one bar him. Nearly twenty years after the phenomenal success of Urban Hymns, Ashcroft has become ambiguous about fame, but as this rare interview proves, he has more to say than ever.