Inside the Big Issue: Mumford & Sons come out fighting

In 2012, Mumford & Sons were described in the press as the “biggest band in the world”, an accolade previously reserved for the likes of The Beatles, U2 and Led Zeppelin. The White House’s archives contain a picture of Barack Obama, George Clooney and David Cameron looking on rapt as the band perform at a state dinner.

Big Issue meets them in Notting Hill ahead of the release of Prizefighter, their second album in the space of two years. And they love us.

“I fucking love Big Issue,” says Dwane. Marcus Mumford agrees: “It feels like a conversation starter of a magazine, doesn’t it? I always have great conversations with the people that sell it. I really enjoy that tactile, human, relational thing you get from – at least my experience of – picking up Big Issue. In a world that also has lots of media that is more disconnected from human relationships, having that more tactile one is nice.”

It is a theme of their music – and something they return to during our conversation: community and human connection. Now, their music has become an anti-ICE protest anthem in the United States.

Read all about it in this week’s Big Issue.

What else is in this week’s Big Issue

Workers sacked by Grand Theft Auto developer claim it was a ‘union-busting move’

Former video game workers at the firm behind Grand Theft Auto (GTA) have spoken out about the brutal way they were dismissed, arguing that it was a form of illegal ‘union-busting’.

‘It feels like we live in the middle of a lake’

Soon, many more people will live with the reality of flooding. Some eight million homes will be at flood risk by mid-century, up from six million today. This winter – one of the rainiest on record – has provided a taste of what a changing climate will inevitably bring. Big Issue spoke to flood victims to know what to expect

Moby’s Letter to my Younger Self

His first show was played to an audience of one small dog, but his obsession with music eventually took him to Glastonbury glory.

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