Harry Styles On Being 'Sad' After Zayn Malik Left One Direction & Doing Drugs For His New Album!

Harry Styles wasn’t upset when former bandmate Zayn Malik abruptly decided to leave One Direction — if anything, he felt bad for the poor bloke!

During a recent interview on New Music Daily with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1, the 25-year-old singer admitted “it was hard” when Malik exited the boy band in 2015 because it was so unexpected.

But the Watermelon Sugar crooner said he didn’t feel anger toward Zayn for leaving: he felt “sad” that his bandmate “wasn’t enjoying” being in one of the world’s biggest music acts.

Video: Harry’s ‘SNL’ Sketch Leaves Sara Lee Company CONFUSED!

He explained:

“It was kind of like we were sad, obviously, that someone had left, but also sad that he was not enjoying it so much that he had to leave. Because I think at the time too, the tour and everything was going so well and everyone had kind of got to this place where everyone was kind of living in a way where they I think felt pretty good. It felt like everyone was kind of enjoying it… I’d say a big part of it was us kind of being like, ‘Wow.’ You didn’t realize he wasn’t enjoying it that much.”

Naturally, once Zayn decided to split, Harry said he and his remaining bandmates — Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne — “obviously” debated whether or not to continue without him.

He shared:

“We were about to start recording a new album and stuff and it was like, ‘Are we recording this without him?’ But I’d say in the moment, I guess the four of us became closer because we were like, ‘OK, this is a hurdle that we weren’t expecting.'”

While Zayn’s exit certainly threw the rest of 1D for a loop, Harry said he’d prefer that over the 26-year-old singer staying in the group and not being happy, admitting that “if someone’s not enjoying it, you’d rather they don’t do it.”

He added:

“Why would you want an artist to make stuff for you when they don’t want to make it? It seems completely counter productive to me.”

Good point, H!

Of course, the departure of Zayn sort of left a ticking time bomb for the rest of the group. Harry admitted:

“The last year of it we all kind of knew we were going to stop at the end of that year… We’d sit down and have conversations [asking if] everyone [is] good, everyone wants to keep going and that kind of thing. There was a part of me where I felt like all of the decisions I’d made as an adult — that affected my life and what I was doing with my life — had been made as a group. I think there was a part of me that felt like I wanted to make some decisions for myself… I felt like I needed to make some decisions that just affect me.”

Self care is important!

He continued:

“I didn’t really have a plan for when I wanted to make a record… I knew that like maybe one day I’d want to do it, but I wasn’t like, ‘I can’t wait to get out of this thing so I can go and make my own records.’ I wouldn’t say [it] crept up.”

As fans know, the superstar went on to release his self-titled debut solo album in 2017. This solo adventure not only came with the freedom to make his own records, but the freedom to try things he was previously hesitant to indulge in. (Read: drugs, y’all!!!)

For his upcoming followup album, Fine Line, the artist admitted he did mushrooms and drank during the making of the record — two things he never did during his time in 1D.

His motives all came back to artistic freedom: something Harry never felt like he had until going solo. He explained:

“Making this album was all about freedom… I think part of the thing with the mushrooms thing for me is that I never do anything when I’m working… if I’m touring or anything. I don’t drink really at all. When I was in the band, to me it felt like it was so much bigger than any of us. I felt like, ‘I’m not going to be the one who messes it up.’ … So I was like, ‘Now is the time in my life when you probably go out and experiment, and do this and you take this and you do that. And that’s what you do with your friends.’ … Making this record felt… so much more joyous.”

We bed it did!

For all you kids out there, Harry went on to differentiate when one should NOT indulge in substances (to “try and hide from stuff”) versus when they should (to “have fun and be creative,”) noting:

“It was like, ‘I want to take some mushrooms, I’m going to take some. Now’s the time to have fun. We’re in Malibu. 24.’ I’m also in music… I’m not a politician. I don’t think it’s that crazy. I think my thing with drugs is, if you’re taking anything to… try and hide from stuff then you shouldn’t even drink. And if you’re taking anything to have fun and be creative, then great.”

Basically, only do drugs if you’re recording an album! LOLz! (Note: Do not do drugs, ever. Drugs are bad, mmkay? We are not encouraging drug use.)

He continued:

“I was with my friends and making an album, you obviously get so in your head and you get so self conscious about everything and you hit these bumps in the road where you’re thinking, ‘Is this good enough? Is this enough? Is that enough?’ There’s an after flow of some of that stuff where sometimes you take something, and then for 10 days after you’re like, ‘Don’t worry about it, everything’s going to be fine.’ It’s stress relieving in a sense.”

Which is a good thing, seeing as the LAST thing Harry wants to be is stressed:

“I think that that’s been a big part of this whole thing for me, I’m just trying to go through life being a little less worried about stuff. Definitely with working because ultimately it will be okay. If you don’t hit the top of the chart, your life doesn’t change…. If that was what I was aiming at and then it didn’t happen, then I’d feel so much worse. But redefining it for me has been amazing… There’s a freedom with that.”

The star also got candid about going to therapy recently, sharing:

“I think for a really long time, especially when I started coming to California, there was a big thing for me where I felt like everyone went to therapy. And I think for a long time I was like, ‘I don’t need that.’ You know, it’s very British way of looking at it, I think.”

Meghan Markle would agree! Ha!

He added:

“I think there was a point where I kind of was trying to work out a lot more stuff about myself because obviously then it was just me walking in. I think it kind of comes with when you’re trying to make music… Making an album, I feel like is the most self indulgent time you can think of, really. Because you’re just like, ‘How do I feel about this?’ … I think with the therapy thing, I just realized I was just getting in my own way. It’s been a thing where I’ve definitely felt it have an impact on my life.”

Everyone is their own worst enemy, Perezcious readers. Even Harry Styles!

We wonder if Zayn would agree with this philosophy??

Ch-ch-check out a clip of his interview (below) for more!