Alt-J's Thom Sonny Green: From shielding to getting back on tour

Thom Sonny Green has had a kidney transplant and is considered clinically extremely vulnerable

"Who knows what will happen if I catch Covid again? But anything I have to do to get back out on stage, I'll do it."

A rare genetic condition has meant that, like millions of others, Alt-J drummer Thom Sonny Green has spent a lot of the pandemic shielding.

But in February he'll be going back out on tour with his Mercury Prize-winning band - playing stadiums and arenas across the US and UK.

"We're just going to have to be extra vigilant. Whatever we have to do, that's what we'll do, because it'll be so worth it just to get on stage again," he says.

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Thom is classed as clinically extremely vulnerable because his genetic condition meant he had to have a kidney transplant, when he was at university.

To stop his body rejecting the new kidney, he takes drugs designed to suppress his immune system - and this leaves him at a higher risk than normal of having complications from something like Covid.

Thom tells Radio 1 Newsbeat he had a "pretty bad" Covid infection this summer.

"I spent a week in hospital and then the symptoms dragged on for three or four months.

"I'm actually fortunate that I'm ok and I'm back to normal, but I don't want that to happen again."

Alt-J's 32-date US tour starts in February. They're playing nine dates in the UK in May

The live music industry has been hit hard by Covid, with artists cancelling tours and music venues shutting for months during lockdowns.

One recent report suggests one in three jobs in the British music industry were lost from 2019 to 2020.

Restrictions on live music were lifted in the UK in the summer, and since then loads of bands have announced tour dates or festival appearances for 2022.

But self-isolation can still cause disruption, with Ed Sheeran one of the most recent artists to have to cancel performances after testing positive.

As if to hammer the risks home, in the build up to our interview, Alt-J's keyboardist, Gus Unger-Hamilton, tested positive for Covid.

Thom's bandmate Gus (left) is currently self-isolating in his garden shed, after catching Covid himself

Thom and the rest of the band, from Leeds, will stick to lots of safety measures to reduce the risk of infection while they're touring - such as wearing face masks and sanitising their hands while in venues.

And while Thom will keep in regular contact with his doctor, he says the risk of touring will be worth it.

"I just can't worry about it anymore. I've got none of that energy left," he says.

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"Obviously I don't want to get it and I don't want to spread it, but I'm trying to live my life as much as possible.

"The tour is doable, and being able to play live again would be such a gift."

The band's latest single, Get Better, tells the story of someone losing a loved one during the pandemic.

"It's the first time that we've ever really written a song that directly deals with something in the news," Gus says.

"In the past, we've steered clear of writing songs that were too grounded in current events.

"But it speaks to the momentousness of this of this event, this pandemic, that if there was going to be one thing that did make us write a song about what's happening in the world, it was going to be this."

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