Undertones - Interview

  by Olga Sladeckova

published: 29 / 12 / 2003

intro

Influential 70's punk act the Undertones have recently reformed. Backstage at a gig in Sheffield, they speak to Olga Sladeckova both about their past and also their new album, 'Get What You Need'

It is around about 10:30 at night. I’m standing downstairs in the Sheffield venue the Casbah. The venue is completely packed and you can hardly move. Well, that is not quite true as the audience still manage to jump up and down and to dance. It’s nearly the end of 2003 but tonight, with the reformed Undertones on the stage, we are all rooted somewhere in the late 70’s (not that that would be physically possible for a lot of the people here…). It is a few days before Christmas and the band are setting the Casbah on fire with ‘Here Comes The Summer’. I never saw the Undertones live when they were first around and making music between the years 1976 and 1983, but something tells me from what I’m seeing now that things are pretty much as they used to be. The Undertones first formed in Derry in Ireland in the mid 70's. Its members Mickey Bradley (Bass), Billy Doherty (Drums) and brothers Damian and John O’Neill (Both guitars) have all known each other since they were little. Towards the end of 1975 they asked their school mate Feargal Sharkey to join them as a singer and took out a loan to buy their first instruments. The band’s debut appearance came in early 1976 in front of about 60 scout cubs (Sharkey was a scout leader at the time). The group still didn’t have a name at that point. Just about 5 seconds before they were due on a stage Sharkey come up with the name Hot Rods to the surprise of the other 4 members of the band. It would have also been a surprise to that other 70's group, Eddie and the Hot Rods, except they probably never found out about it. Nor too did the American band Little Feat, whose name Sharkey borrowed for the second Undertones show. Luckily Billy managed to come up with the unique name of the Undertones for the band from a reference in his school history book in time for their third show. By the end of 1977 the band were regularly playing gigs in Derry and had built up a strong fan base. The still popular ‘Teenage Kicks’ single came out in 1978. John Peel loved the single so much that he even played it twice in a row one night on his radio show. It was clear the Undertones were on to something good. The same year Seymour Stein of Sire records (who also signed Madonna and Talking Heads) approached the group with a record deal. The Undertones spent a lot of time touring around the world, including playing a triumphant tour with the Clash in late 1979. The band’s debut album ‘The Undertones’ came out the same year, and was followed by ‘Hypnotised’ in 1980. Unfortunately for the fans and in spite of the great music the band were making, things inside the group weren’t so good and Feargal never really fitted in with the rest of the band. The Undertones released other 2 albums, ‘Positive Touch’ (1981) and ‘The Sin Of Pride’ (1983), but eventually, after a bitter argument, disbanded in 1983. There wouldn’t be much point to saying all this if there wasn’t a continuation to it all. Perhaps the 7 years the Undertones played together couldn’t just be left to rest in peace. Perhaps also its musicians still had a lot more in them to show the music world. Either way, they are back! “We actually nearly reformed about 10 years ago.” Mickey says, surprising me when I sit down with the band backstage at the venue just after their sound check. “It was for John Peel’s birthday, but it was cancelled when John and Damian’s father sadly died. Although we did ask Feargal at that point if he wanted to carry on with the Undertones, he said no.” We didn’t ask him again when we decided to reform in 1999” he adds. “I think it was just because he turned it down before and we thought he wouldn’t be interested anyway.” The Undertones found themselves a new singer in Paul McLoone. “I knew the band a long time before they offered me the chance to play with them” explains Paul, who is sitting on my left. “I was also in a band called the Carrellines with Billy for some time, but that wasn’t anything serious. Even though we nearly got signed to a major label a few times, we just weren’t lucky enough, I guess. Billy and I also managed a band called Schtum and had a recording studio together. I knew Mickey as well from BBC Radio, where I worked during the 90’s.” As always has been the way with the Undertones, they didn't have any great plans and only very modest ambitions for the future. “We did a few gigs at the beginning in 1999” confirms Mickey. “It seemed okay so we just carried on and started writing more new songs and a bit later decided to record an album. It’s going really well and we are having a great time!” The latest Undertones album ‘Get What You Need’ came out in October of last year and has been released on Sanctuary records. “We had about 10 titles and didn’t know which one to choose.” Mickey recalls. “But ‘Get What You Need’ sounds a bit like a Rolling Stones title , doesn’t it? And it sort of fits in with the situation we are in.” The album opens with the energetic ‘Thrill Me’, which was written by John and Damian. If it relates to any of the original Undertones songs, then it is ‘Teenage Kicks’. The music is sharp and full of energy and has Paul thunderously singing his vocals with a great enthusiasm. “I never thought you loved me, I had to leave the world behind, Like the open sky above me, You thrill me all the time” John and Damian wrote most of the songs for the album although ‘Ride The Rough Escalator’, one of its tracks, was written by all members of the band. That song is abstract in tone and concentrates on the darker side of life. The themes to most Undertones songs have usually been relationships and women. Another exception to this, however. is ‘Oh Please’, which is inspired by politics and which was written by Mickey. ‘A gang sneaked past the palace yard They’d gone and decked Mandela’s guard” And Castro has to press the flesh Pretending he speaks a little Welsh” “That song is about both music business and politics” reveals Mickey. “It’s about how silly some big rock stars can look when they take themselves too seriously and how the media encourage them. You remember when the Manic Street Preachers played in Cuba in early 2001. They all ended up shaking hands with Fidel Castro. I just couldn’t understand what that was all about. So it’s sort of based on that.” The album also includes a few slower songs, such as ‘Girl Like You’ and ‘The Cruellest Thing’ but closes in fast speed with ‘Oh Please’, ‘Joyland’ and finally ‘Shut Down’. The artwork of the album features 5 women dressed in 70’s dresses standing outside a house all done in white, black and blue colours. The artwork ties in well with the music, which maintains the band's exciting 70’s roots. “The artwork was designed by John McCandless who is a friend of ours” says John. “We have always had our friends designing our sleeves as they know what sort of thing we like, and we can discuss it with them as well and give the a few leads.” Even though the band reformed without any big ambitions, their fan base has remained large, which is a good enough reason for them to carry on and write more new music still. “Yeah we definitely want to do another record” confirms John. “But because we don’t have the sort of record deal in which we have to have an album finished by a set time, we don't know when that will be. We also don’t work as fast as we could. ‘Get What You Need’ took us 3 years to write and record. At the same time it’s good that we are in complete control over our music. If we didn’t feel that a new record was what we were after, we could then take more time to get it right. It would be good though to put something out quite soon just to keep things going and to make it more continuous.” 2004 will see the Undertones playing a few gigs up in Scotland in February and then in March they will head to Germany, Holland, and Italy. Hopefully then they will return for more gigs in Ireland and UK or where ever you live. It looks like the band will be very busy. “It would be nice to make living out of making music and playing gigs” ponders Paul. “But if we did do it all the time then it might not be as much fun as it is now” he concludes laughing. It’s nearly 11pm now and the Undertones are finishing their encore. The band have played many of their old numbers including ‘Jimmy, Jimmy’, ‘Teenage Kicks’, ‘You’ve Got My Number’, ‘Perfect Cousin’ and ‘Mars Bars’, but also some of the tracks from the new album. ‘Thrill Me’, ‘Oh Please’ and ‘Shot Down’ are all enjoyed by the audience with great pleasure. If you have not had a chance to catch up with the reformed Undertones yet, then it’s highly recommended because they are truly "thrilling". More info www.theundertones.com

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