Hanging out with John Glacier backstage at Primavera Sound

It’s a beautifully sunny evening in Barcelona when John Glacier takes to the Levi’s stage at Primavera Sound. Dressed in a denim maxi skirt, white sunglasses and a black crop top, the former FACE cover star performs emotive tracks such as Emotions, Found and Steady As I Am from her recent album, Like A Ribbon. At one point, she spots some seagulls in the distance, flying above the festival. Squinting into the sun, the crowd turned towards the direction of her pointed finger in a shared moment of appreciation.

“The sound and the people here were amazing and the birds were really cute,” she says backstage after the set. ​“I go more inwards when I perform, but the energy around you is also present. It means that you’re on both sides of the spectrum, both out-of-body and hyperpresent.” Stopping off in Barcelona for just three days, John’s been spending most of her time in the city taking it easy and looking for an acupuncturist. ​“My immune system took a hit because of my disability [Ehlers-Danlos syndrome],” she says, ​“so I’ve been having a lot of flare-ups recently.” Luckily, she managed to find one before her performance and is feeling much better by the time we speak, ​“they fixed me and I can breathe through my nose again!”

The rapper has a busy summer ahead. When I ask if she’s got many gigs lined up in the next few months, she replies ​“Glastonbury, then I think that’s it for the summer,” before turning to Kai, her manager, who reels off a list of festival commitments she’d forgotten including: Lido, Green Man and Way Out West. But if it was up to John? She’d prefer to be in Jamaica or Bali, ​“God willing!”

Hi John! Is there a moment from the performance that stands out from today?

Yes, there was a nice lady with blonde hair and a person wearing black with a leather crossover bag. They really stood out to me, they knew all the words.

Can you say anything in Spanish?

“Hola”, counting to 10 and ​“gambas”. I love shrimp.

What do you think is worse, pronouncing a Spanish word very badly or not making an effort at all?

If I know that I can’t do it, I would rather not butcher your language. But it’s always good to try. And what better place to try Spanish than in Spain? If someone corrects you, be grateful. Now you know how to say it properly.

Have you eaten anything nice on this trip?

I had a very nice mackerel at Bar Super and the lettuce was very very nice.

The lettuce?

Yeah, I like lettuce a lot. I really like it. I feel like a lettuce and ginger juice would be amazing.

What are your festival essentials?

In England: boots, trainers, raincoat and a bag. For Glasto, I’m going to have a cute Burberry bag and Burberry outfit.

Are you one for souvenirs on holiday?

I usually collect stones and seashells. On this trip, I haven’t gone to the beach yet because I was unwell before. But if I see a nice stone or a nice seashell and it’s legal to bring it back from the country, [I’ll bring it back].

What are you reading this summer?

I recently got into the Bible. Bit late but a lot of people were questioning me about it, maybe because of [my song] Heavens Sent, but I hadn’t actually read it. When you read the Bible, it really is just the same shit, however many years later. When you look at the state of the world, we’re just on a revolving door of calamity that we’ve created. The world won’t get better until we all decide to do better personally within our own lives. I think it’s a good book. I’d like to read the Quran as well. I haven’t read that one yet.