“I genuinely enjoyed [the band] and did whatever I could to be myself within that, but it’s just not where I sit as a musician. The other boys’ taste was generally indie rock. It’s good music, but I don’t f--- with it. That was never cool where I was from," he said in an interview with Billboard Magazine.
He also revealed that he felt like he was being restrained when he was still part of the band. "[The band and I] weren't allowed to say certain things, or words [lyrics] the way we would want to. I'd sit and wonder, 'If the fans knew how it worked, what would they think?' My argument was: People are more intelligent than that. They want to hear what's real, so why don't we write some stuff that we're actually going through?"
Zayn shared that he is currently working on his new music and recording some new tunes. “I’ll come down here (referring to the room in a house in L.A. where he now resides) and record maybe seven songs a night. That's because I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I’m not censoring myself anymore, so I’m not tired. I love it.” The singer stressed that he is not in competition with One Direction. "There are no sides to pick. We're not going head-to-head," he said.
After leaving the band, Zayn openly admitted that he lost touch with some people when he decided to do so. “The truth of it is, you can think one thing about a situation and the total opposite can happen. I had every intention of remaining friends with everybody, but I guess certain phone numbers have changed and I haven’t received calls from a lot of people. I’ve reached out to a few of them and not got a reply. Certain people have pride issues, but it’s stuff you overcome in time," he stated.
Main photo credit to zayn IG