There was Shannon Hoon, the singer in million-selling US rock band Blind Melon, clutching a selection of soppy kids' books.  one was called 'Papa, Please get the Moon for Me.'  Another was 'My Little Golden Book About God.'

       It was mid-August in London's Copthorne Tara hotel.  Photographer Dave Willis and I were there to do a Blind Melon feature for Kerrang!.  it was our first time workign with the boys, and by the end, we dfinitely didn't want it to be the last.

        There was a concept to the piece.  With the band poised to return to hard touring, the idea was for each member of the band to present a vital possession of theirs.  Something they couln't really be without on the road.

        For example, bassist Brad Smith brought a pool cue down to the room.  His secret ambition, believe it or not, turned out to be to beet UK snooker star Stephen Hendry.  Drummer Glen Graham, uh, brought a keyboard in.  Guitarist Rogers Stevens brought a book.  His guitaring parner Christopher Thorn brought liquorice sticks and his sketch pad.

        Shannon Hoon was last in, wearing his hat and shades, a little hazy, having just awoken.  Displaying his kiddie's book, he explained that he had been reading them onto tapes, then sending them to his month-and-a-half-old baby daugher, Nico Blue.  "This is the only way that I can be there wihtout being there," he shrugged.

        He suddenly noticed my tape recorder running.  "Are we doing the interview now?" he asked.  Yep.  "Whoah!" he laughed.  "I'm gettin' all mushy here! I'd better put my rock head back on...."

        He was just kidding, and continued to chat in exactly the same vein, stressing how much the birth of Nico Blue had changed his life.  He was a man with a new found sense of purpose.

        "No matter how much I could try to prepare myself for it, there's no way you can.  How do you prepare to be overwhelmed in every part of your body?!  It gives meaning to the big picture now.  I'm gonna be a father longer than I'm gonna be a singer.  I don't know which will be the most exhausting, actually!"

        Would being a father affect Shannon's writing?  "It won't affect the way I write, but it will affect the way I live.  My home life has always been very calm and quiet, believe it or not, and although it's a bit noisier now, it's the healthiest thing that's ever happened to me.  We'd been wanting to have a child for a while, and of course when you stop trying, it happens!"

        The singer candidly admitted that leaving home had proved hard.  "I'd be lyin' to you if I said I was enthusiastic about being back on tour.  A month is by no means enough time to enjoy something so huge as a child.  Trying to mesh it all together is quite a difficult task.  I'm not even sure I want to.  One is a bit purer than the other."

        Blind Melon's first, eponymous album sold over two million copies.  The subsequent touring drove the band a little crazy.  By the end, they all admit that they didn't particularly care for each other's company.  This time, pledged Hoon, they were going to take things slower.  "We can prepare for it a little bit better now.  We'll know the cities better this time.  I think I'll be doing a little more sleeping too!  This time we'll be pacing ourselves.  Trying not to live at 90 miles an hour.

        "I think the band and crew are probably a bit relieved when they call my room and I happen to be sleeping!" he smiled.  "Usually I'd be calling their rooms at 6 am, going, 'Hey man what's going on? I got nothing to do!."

        Hoon also revealed that he had recently come out of a rehabilitation center for alchohol and drug problems.  At present, he was banned from the demon drink - something he found quite amusing.

        "I was just sitting in my room, and the concierge came in and took all the alcohol out of my mini bar!" he checkled.  "he was from Zaire or something, and he was saying 'Ha ha, I take away your lager now.  You can't have none!"  It's pretty weird when somone from Zaire knows who you are, and knows about your alcohol problem!"

        More seriously, he sighed, "There's a lot of things I'm trying to get used to on this tour.  There so much time on hand.  I'm spending a lot time going out and seeing cities now.  This band doesn't spend a lot of its spare time together, though.  Trying to fill in and kill the 'hurry up and wait' part of this business is difficult.

       "It would be a little easier if I had Lisa and Nico with me, but the baby's too young to travel.  Should be a couple of months yet..."  With that thought in mind, Hoon cheerfully went through to the next room, where Dave Willis was waiting to take pictures.

        Photo session can be like pulling teeth if a musician isn't into, but Hoon was not only patient and willing, but a f**king good laugh.  "Guide me, baby, guide me!" he comically pleaded to Willis, in his wispy, cartoon character voice.  He went on to exchange general conversation about the imminent Reading and Donington festivals, talking both to us and his tour manager Paul.

        There were a couple of distincly off the wall moments.  At one point, Hoon remembered a dream he'd had about UFOs, then appeared confused.  Had it been a dream, or had he seen it on TV?

        He also produced a serviette that he called his "relapse napkin."  On the serviette was a letter he'd written to somone while in rehab, earlier that month.

        We had heard that Hoon had slightly bizarre feet, due to him having walked around barefoot a great deal.  At Willis' request, Hoon gladly removed his shoe, showing off a second tow which was one knickle longer than the first.

        As Willis snapped away, I pointed out that no one at Kerrnag! knew why the band were called Blind Melon, after all this time.  "Y'know what?" Hoon grinned, now lying on the floor with his foot in the air.  "I've just established a common denominator with everybody in your office.  Because I don't have a f**king clue why we're called Blind Melon!"  The definition of Blind Melon is to have no f**king clue!"  What with the band's new album being called Soup, there was always going to be a dumb shot of Hoon with a can of minestrone.  The singer was happy to oblige.  BBefore you knew it, he and his bandmates were off on a bus to play an acoustic set from the BBC.  Hoon's parting shots were a firm handshake and a cry of, "Thank you, Sir, Take care!"

        Shannnon Hoon had no death wish, making his demise all the more tragic and shocking.  He was a gifted individual who appeared to love life.

        One thing that Hoon said during the interview could hardly be more bitterly ironic.  Asked if drugs would be kept under control on the Soup tour, he shrugged.  "Obviously now being a father, there's a lot of things I need to take into consideration.  Staying alive is one of them."