In a golden era for Scottish Indie music, yet another Glasgow band have stepped out of the shadows, casting a soul shattering spell on, not just the UK audiences, but far beyond. The Twilight Sad have recently returned from the U.S leg of a far reaching tour, which has seen them grip new audiences straddling both sides of the Atlantic and deep into Europe.
Quiffed Owl spoke with Twilight Sad lead singer James Alexander Graham about their travels, their latest album and the hero who has delighted him by covering one of his songs.
QUIFFED OWL:
Your album Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave has been critically acclaimed, not to mention making it to number 2 in Quiffed Owl’s albums of the year in 2014. If anything, what did you do differently this time, compared to previous albums?
JAMES GRAHAM:
Each album we have made is a snapshot of who we are and I am proud of every single record that we have done. With this record, I think there was a lot more pressure this time because the band may not have existed if the record didn’t do as well as it has done.
QO:
Do you think it was that imperative? Was it make or break with Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave?
JG:
I think it was yeah. We wouldn’t be able to tour or put as much into it if people didn’t embrace it as much. We have been doing it for 7 to 10 years and we have not made any money out of it but it’s not about that, if it was we would have split up years ago. We would have compromised everything and we wouldn’t have been who we are.
QO:
And we have seen that happen too many times..
JG:
It’s not even that, the band have slowly grown and it got to the point that we were really happy with the last album, it received really good reviews but it got to the point we felt like we were shouting up against a brick wall. I don’t know whether it was industry stuff or what but it wasn’t through the lack of our trying because everybody in the band believe in what we are doing. There are no doubts about- Do we want to do this? What the fuck else would we do if we didn’t do it?
There was a moment when we contemplated that this might be our last ever record.
QO:
At what point did you think that?
JG:
I actually thought that before I even started writing it.
QO:
Did that put extra pressure on the writing of it?
JG:
It possibly did subconsciously, aye.
It didn’t affect the songs because the third album was more electronic and we always wanted to kind of ‘open up’ after that. It was all about the band progressing and not really caring about what anybody else thought. It was a matter of just caring about what we were doing and that was all that mattered, even with this record. But, in my mind I thought this could be the last one we ever did because if it didn’t work out it would probably break my heart and i’d never write again.
QO:
So it was a really personal and emotional thing for you?
JG:
Yes. It was like…I might not have the chance to make another one.
I mean, after I went away and did a proper job working on building sites and what have you. I know what hard work is like but I have always worked harder for this band although I made a lot more money doing the other stuff.
We were all aware of the importance of this record, although myself and Andy never actually spoke about it. ‘Make or break’ is probably a bit strong because me and Andy would still write together because that is what we love, thats what we do. To do it full time though,…and tour. I don’t think it would have happened.
QO:
But now?
JG:
It has inspired us to make more records. I never doubted the people who believed in us or bought our records, but when you are playing to small rooms and the shows are nowhere near sold out, you think “Do people really like this?”, but I am ashamed to have ever thought that given the loyalty of our fans and the success of this album (Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave).
The most important thing is that we see a progression in what we do and not concentrate on the outside world.
The five of us are best friends and we are out there playing music together. That is the most important thing and to see it grow is brilliant. But it has naturally grown, through word of mouth not promotion and people talking about us to each other.
We would never have played to 800 people in London last night or had our New York and Chicago shows sold out, or the Seattle show being sold out. I am not saying we are a big band but the numbers of people coming to see us show that people give a shit about what we do.
James Graham – giving all he has got on stage
QO: You mentioned your shows in the U.S, How have the American audiences taken to your style of Indie music, bearing in mind it is quite bleak and dark?
JG: The thing is, we started over there. Our American label put out a 5 track EP which was the first thing we ever did. Then they sent us over to do a big festival with CMJ in New York and then to mix our record in Conneticut. That meant we could tour and every Sunday go back and check on the mixing of our record.
We hadn’t played a gig in Edinburgh at that point yet we had played New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and there would be 100 people coming to see us every night. Nobody knew who the fuck we were in Britain but because we put out that EP in America, it was the opposite.
QO: How many times have you toured America, because you’ve been there twice since November?
JG: Fifteen times. There is something about our music that really connects with American people.
I know the music is miserable but there is something about it that is strangely uplifting. I think they like the fact that the music is honest, that could be the same for any country actually but a number of Americans have heritage stemming back to Scotland. They may not understand all of the lyrics but they understand the passion that is coming through in the music.
I wear my heart on my sleeve and I am not afraid to show emotions. Other bands might think that’s not cool but I don’t care. It’s all about the feeling. Even if you think “Oh fuck, Iv’e been a bit of a fanny tonight and gone too mental”, I just genuinely express my passion in the music and in my performance.
A Happy Twilight Sad and Quiffed Owl
QO: A lot of your song titles…
JG: Fucking long aren’t they?
QO: Now you are just walking over my questions James. Yes, they contain a lot of prose but they also have a sinister edge to them. Is that something you do to try and mirror the darkness of the music?
JG: What I find interesting is that I write my lyrics and my melodies. Andy writes the music and is the producer of the band. But, I find it really hard to name a song, because I have put so much into it, so Andy has actually named most of the songs.
QO: Do you think that is out of exhaustion?
JG: No. I think it is because I am too close to it. I have to detach myself from the song after putting so much into it. I will say that Andy hits the nail on the head with the song titles though.
Andy always gets where I am coming from. I filter my lyrics through him so he is actively involved in every way but very rarely would he tell me that a particular lyric or line doesn’t work. He is sort of my editor but my mate.
Many of the song titles are quotes from films, which you’ve probably noticed.
QO: Your lyrics aside, the power and the resonance in the notes that you hit assure your vocals are extremely emotive, especially with how atmospheric and cinematic the music is. You mentioned before – “the music is miserable”, I would argue it is bleak and dark but far from miserable because it is beautiful.
JG: I agree there is something very uplifting about it and there is a difference between miserable and sinister. We have been at festivals with other bands or touring with them and they are all happy and up beat on stage and they come off stage and they are miserable bastards.
We get it all out of our systems on stage and when we are writing. So we just have a right laugh on tour. We have our moments but I bet if you ask Mogwai and other bands that we have been on tour with they will say that they have had more fun when on tour with us.
QO: And that is why you are doing it in the first place I would imagine?
JG: Of course it is, it is a privilege to do what we do. 10 weeks of touring is like group therapy because I can get off my chest stuff you can’t talk about in real life. We believe in everything we do.
QO: Tell me about the Robert Smith (The Cure) thing?
JG: Aye, Robert Smith of The Cure has covered There Is A Girl In The Corner, the first song off our new record and that is a double A side. I will play you that now (Plays song from his phone).
I cannot believe that The Cure like our band, it’s fucking mental.
The Cure and The Smiths are my biggest influences. I love the Smiths, I have actually done a few sessions with Mike Joyce, he’s a really nice bloke. The Cure to me though, progressively are a band that have always tried new things.
QO: On a personal level, who has influenced your vocals do you think?
JG: For me, I would say Arab Strap and now – Aidan Moffat is one of my best friends.
He is releasing a film shortly and Andy and I are doing backing vocals on it. We have toured the Islands with him and when we go home we go to the cinema and pub together. It’s surreal sometimes to think about it, that the guy who inspired me to do what I do now is one of my best friends.
Aidan and Malcolm Middleton laid the path for countless Scottish acts. They are both lyrically phenomenal but when this film comes out people will see what a genius and funny fucking bastard he is.
QO: Finally, you recently did a short tour of UK independent record shops. Why was that?
JG: We think it is important to support local and independent record stores. As you know with your last article on Record Store Day.
QO: In your opinion what is important about them and what can they do to survive?
JG: Well, it is an experience to shop in these places. There was one in Aberdeen that closed down, they got everything right but it just didn’t work because people didn’t go in.
I think like in Pie and Vinyl in Portsmouth they have made the store appealing and interesting. By selling food and music you are appealing to people to go on in and have a look. Those with the passion, the best ones will survive. We went to Spillers in Cardiff, unfortunately we didn’t make it to Diverse in Newport but we were really glad we did that tour. It was a lot of fun and we got a lot of people through the doors.
If you have frequented a music festival in the UK over the last few years then have a think about what, other than the music and bands you have seen perform, has stuck in your mind. What show, or entertainer, or game, or alternative act has affected you the most?
Of course everyone will have their own examples depending on their own personal tastes and upon the festivals they have attended.
In my mind, there is one that towers above the rest. For pure wholesome entertainment and a guaranteed feeling of joy, I raise you Ringo: Music Bingo.
Since my first experience of it some 5 years ago, I have made a point of beginning every day (when at a festival) with the absurd delights of this game that was the brain child of a man from Cork whom, now is a friendly fixture at End Of The Road.
Ronan Leonard has his fingers in a lot of pies (I am sure he would be able to react with a hilarious one liner to that description), he is a musician, a song writer, a comedian and a disc jockey. He is well known on the Cork scene but further afield it is Ringo: Music Bingo’s growing popularity that has secured Ronan a loyal fan base across the British Isles.
Quiffed Owl caught up with Ronan at The End Of The Road Festival and spoke about Ringo:Music Bingo and other such things like politics, economics and gags.
Quiffed Owl discovered that the loveable man from Munster’s interviewee style was not at all dissimilar to his presentation and comedic style.
QO: How did you come up with the idea of Ringo: Music Bingo?
RL: I was impeccably hungover about 9 years ago, early 2005 and just like my normal performance style it was monoprocysi……well, whatever the word is when you get the first letter wrong in a word and I was talking to some friends about different ways to entertain ourselves on the Monday without going to a pub. Someone said “Why don’t we just go to ringo?” and everyone laughed.
Bill Bailey was asked “How do you come up with ideas for your jokes?” and he said “I start by laughing and then go, what would elicit that response?
So I remember going “What would Ringo be?” as my friends were all laughing at me for saying Ringo instead of bingo. I was obviously trying to say bingo and Ringo is a famous musician so it must be music bingo and I would definitely go to that if I could so I went into a pub I know on the Tuesday and said “Listen I have had an idea, let me know if you would be up for this and I will do this next week and you just give me free booze and booze as prizes, will you just give me a go? I want to scratch this itch?”
And they went “Yeah. Fine.”
I got this educational vocabulary software and did some dicking about with the settings. So I went from basic words like ‘Birds’ and stuff like that for six year olds to learn and then to band names and then just had a basic I-pod playlist.
So I went in on the Monday and brought a crowd and said “Look, free booze to play and within about ten minutes of the game starting the owner was like “We want to do this every week”, and it just kicked off from there.
QO: As well as Ringo: Music Bingo I know you have a lot of other projects going on. What are the most interesting projects that you have been working on as well as Music Bingo?
RL: Well I get easily distracted and also have too many ideas which are major problems and unfortunately not a great combination.
I started off as a musician about 16, 17 and got involved in youth theatre. The difference between youth theatre and stage school is the concept of process not product or product not process. Stage school is about getting 10 people and getting the best singer and giving them the best role and if you are not good enough at singing they just say “You shouldn’t come back” Where as youth theatre is process not product, about pursuing stuff almost like Ringo: Music Bingo. As I explained it was like “Let’s see how this goes”, without a defined end point. So I do loads of things, sometimes just for a few weeks. Sometimes, for ages.
I DJ and do a lot of things as a one man performance style because it is a lot easier to rely on just one person. I change personal goals so I am not letting anyone else down.
Djing is as much to make a living than my main goal in life but I do love a theme so I do something called Dead Cool, only music by dead people. Under cover, where I only play people that have done cover versions. I have also put on one man shows under the name of Adventures of a Music Nerd which is me taking a bunch of songs so that its like a hyper extended version of Music Bingo. So I’ll do an hour long show about a particular type of song, and these would be in like theatre festivals. The most recent one I did was called Adventures Of A Music Nerd. One Guy, Two World Cups where I took just the world cup songs that Ireland released for world cup 90 and 94 and made a comedy show out of that.
I write sad songs and record them and play them to myself but personally I see so many more talented musicians that I am happy to play it like… other people play golf, where they are a fine golf player but they are not the best golf player so they don’t pursue it. Where as with comedy, I have definitely developed a niche thing and it is easier to measure somebody liking comedy than liking sad songs because they laugh.
QO: I would imagine it would be self gratifying if you think it’s funny and you believe in it then you will go and do it?
RL: Exactly, and also because the very thing with Ringo: Music Bingo, (Pause) it is preposterous. Just the idea of it, if you walk in to it in the middle it’s just like “What is he saying?” and it always ends up, I am not applauding myself but rarely in comedy is the punch line written for you, in front of you on a piece of paper so you are just going “How does he get to the answer which is written down?”.
A lot of comedy is about juxtaposition and the element of suprise and the twist but all I am is twist first and I twist into the punch line.
QO: What is the most unusual gig you have played?
RL: The thing about Ringo: Music Bingo is while it has a series of prepared bits it is largely improvised and odd things happen at random.
In comedy you would see a lot of stand ups do it and I do stand up as well but I learnt a term called ‘Call back’ and stand ups do it where they prepare texts so they are just making a sign about something and then twenty minutes later you will refer to it again which oomphs up the second punch line but for the audience themselves, it is in many ways a trick of the mind because the audience themselves are pleased with themselves for remembering the original fact.
So you go “Well done me for getting that and that’s called a call back so the thing with Ringo is sometimes the call back happens before the first mention so I am always kept on my toes about that and keep referring to it.
At the moment I have a running joke with myself of a Cast album and how many times musicians say “Alright” in their songs and that’s a Cast song title.
QO: That has had a great response this weekend.
RL: You play it to your audience and this End Of The Road audience would be quite musically sophisticated and mostly 25 plus, maybe 25 to 40 so we can share cultural reference points but I remember doing a Ringo: Music Bingo in a youth hostel which my second cousin runs and it was quite a challenge to do….well, most of them didn’t speak English or spoke pigeon English so to do those kind of gags. ..you know?
I’ve been involved in mad things like with yourself in Newport which was just the most random idea because sometimes when you do a gig you have two enthusiasts like yourself and your brother were the only people who had ever played it and one other guy, Johnny but there was about 60 people there who had been promised “Look its good, it makes no sense but it’s good”.
You have that kind of audience from scratch when you just have to show them your ‘throw away nature’ but deliberately ride up the front like when a support act has to play the catchy song first. Whereas at End of the Road a good 25% have heard the jokes 4,5,6 times already and sometimes they come like 3 days in a row so you have to find a new way of presenting what they know already.
Because it is not a set script, unique things happen at each event. Earlier today I had this thing where I was playing the theme tune to The Monkees and 3 youngsters, teenagers walked in. I thought it was amazing so I said “Hey, lads will you go back out and walk back in like you are The Monkees?” and they were like “Yeah definitely, no bother”.
Everyone else knew what to expect but then they came in and they were just running like chimpanzees. I think it was the funniest thing I’ve been a part of, its just stuff like that.
QO: With Ringo and anything that you have done, there is a lot of crowd participation. What are the most unusual answers or ridiculous comments that you’ve heard?
RL: Okay well I will tell you straight up. Its vulgar though.
QO: Go right ahead.
RL: It is only Ringo that has crowd participation but things like Dead Cool and as my job as a DJ my job is to entertain but some people, they may be lovely people but they seem to think their DJ set is to show people music they should know which I just find a bit snobby. People always react best, particularly at a festival crowd to three songs they kind of know and then drop someone that they do know they always go crazy.
I listen to so much music but I listen to it at home and work it out and talk about music with friends but when, in a socialising way your job is to be the entertainer just like a barman, if you went up to him and ordered a drink he won’t go “I don’t think you want that, I think you should have this drink instead”.
I always say “Requests are welcome but not guaranteed”, so there is a great song by this Irish band called Republic of Loose and they are absolutely brilliant.
Dirty white boy funk music, absolutely brilliant, you should check them out and they have had a couple of big hits and as a music lover, they have a brilliant song called “Do you like music?” It is about a broke entertainer who is being chatted up by a girl he went to school with who suddenly makes lots of money, well, a wage as anyone who makes music doesn’t make a lot of money and the whole chorus is “What kind of music do you like?” as if only people should like one type of music..umm… so he is tackling the 9-5 way of life…but they have this other song called Come Back Girl and it was a song to his Ex girlfriend saying “This is my Come back girl, you know, I’ve been in a dark place for a while but this is my comeback, girl.” It’s a great tune and so catchy and when I am personally on a low I draw back on it.
Now, bearing in mind the song is called Come Back Girl and they are called Republic Of Loose…..In isolation my jokes might seem in poor taste but as the whole show goes I just take terrible stereotypes and invariably turn them on their heads so, my joke for this is, um:
If Nurses had their own country, Right? Because nurses are traditionally or stereotypically known for, um, loose morals. So if they had their own country it would be called ‘The Republic Of Loose.’
This guy guffawed when I said that because it was called Come Back Girl and he said “Oh Yeah, yeah, because you always cum on their back”.
So obviously he over exaggerated the meaning. He obviously meant one nurse and thinks that’s what their all like. So I always remember that.
The Monkees thing might have overshadowed that now.
QO: It certainly went down well.
At festivals I always have this thing, like ‘Spontaneous Festival Moment’, because sometimes you find people spend their whole time talking, at a festival, about something amazing that happened like two festivals ago. So I am always staging spontaneous moments like that Monkees thing.
QO: I would imagine that doing what you do and working on the festival circuit, you have made some famous/ semi-famous friends. Is there anyone in particular who you’ve remained friendly with?
RL: One of the most famous people, in the music scene I ever saw was, well I am not going to name him because, well it’s not particularly embarrassing but he would be a leading figure in the Scottish, alternative music scene in the las t ten years
QO: Aidan Moffat?
RL: No, not a member of the Chemikal Underground stable, so I will let you work that out. There is only one other label, really of note in Scotland.
Anyway, he came along to play Ringo:Music Bingo and he fell asleep during it. It was the afternoon sun, it must have been.
I know a couple of members of Goldie Lookin Chain would have been at it but I suppose people just enjoy the fun because like I say “Ringo: Music Bingo is like disco dancing, its more fun to do than to watch people doing but sometimes people are just having a few drinks and enjoying the music and the banter because Ringo: Music Bingo doesn’t need much attention either.
To be honest, I haven’t really thought about it.
QO: I remember the one you referred to earlier, Cheese Fest 2000 which was yours I believe?
RL: Well, ours.
QO: Well, at that, Keith Levene from Public Image Limited was there. In fact, I think that was the first solid I have ever seen pass his lips.
RL: I didn’t really know who he was until he was pointed out. I like some of his songs but I haven’t heard all of it.
Ah yes. About two years ago at End Of The Road there is always one breakout band and there was a band who played on the Friday and then they got pulled in to do the secret gig in the Tipi tent on the Saturday and then they played the third stage because their was a cancellation. It was Alabamma Shakes and they were brilliant. They happened to walk passed on the Saturday and then made a point of coming back on the Sunday which was kind of cool.
You sometimes forget that when musicians and bands are at a festival they also want to ramble around.
QO: I know you love your music. Who are your favourites?
RL: Arab Strap. They are the greatest band of all time. I am also a fan of The Dirty Three and Damien Jerado. I think because I have listened to them all so much they are in in my muscle memory, I can go a year without listening to them. There is also an Irish band called The Frames who were very influential in my early music career as a writer and performer I find I often tap back to that.
I find it funny that people make a point of disliking things they used to really like years ago.
QO: From over listening, do you think?
RL: No. For instance Oasis were one of my favourite bands at 15 and I still love them because I remember that time of my life. As a critic I have evolved passed that time of my life.
QO: Their first two albums, you cannot ignore how great they are.
RL: Yes but as an influence they increased my confidence because it was something I was a part of.
Dylan and The Band would be huge and then it would be lots of individual musical moments. You hear some things but it takes me longer to get really excited by a new act and I think it is because I have heard so much.
It would be like going to a restaurant, and I eat out about, like five times a year and I order something on the menu which I think is so inventive, I don’t know, mushroom with goats cheese and then someone else is like “That is so cliché”.
QO: I suppose it is just putting yourself out there to become more exposed to it? For me, there is still nothing more exciting than hearing a new band that you like for the first time and that is why music keeps bringing you in.
RL: Because I do Dead Cool and Ringo you are vvery aware that there are a lot of kids there and they have never heard these songs and you see them kind of looking around. An 11 year old might hear Perfect Day by Lou Reed which is actually one of the most iconic songs, everybody knows it and the look on their face of discovery is brilliant.
I DJ weddings and stuff and it is nice to be reminded that not everyone listens to music as much as we do. This is an aside but it reminds me of an interview with Fran Healy from Travis and the interviewer was like ” How do you feel about the ubiquitousness of the song?” because it was one of the most played songs at that time and he replied “I don’t listen to that song that much. I wrote and then we rehearsed it alot and then we recorded it so now we only play at least once a day.”
That just goes to show, I listen to a lot of music a lot and then there are all these classic tunes whether it be Dianna Ross or The Beatles, I rarely listen to them because they are so well known but it reminds you what people like in a pop song and that should have recognition.
QO: Your presentation style is seamlessly disjointed. Is that a conscious decision?
RL: I don’t know, I have never sat down and thought what would be the best way to deliver Ringo: Music Bingo but because I am the world leading exponent of it, it is what it can be. Like I said I get bored easily and the random style of Ringo makes it more fun for me so that keeps me on my toes.
By its very nature of being random it has got to be disjointed. Sometimes, when doing Ringo I have been very hungover which can make you sloppy but at certain times like when you are doing a corporate gig or a staff party you have to be more forceful, a bit like a teacher just to get it across that it is fun, which I know sounds counter intuitive but at a festival you read the audience and I think people love the shambolic nature and at things like End Of The Road I deliberately ramble and am off hand because I am always aware that a proportion of people have heard a lot of the jokes before so it is the asides that will entertain them and the people who are there for the first time will just have to put up with the asides. You have to play to both audiences so, I guess it is deliberate yes.
One of my favourite books is The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and the classic passage in it, that I have reflected upon so much is, I know it sounds grand but when Arthur finally learns how to fly it is because he has to stop thinking about flying and anytime you are flying and you think about the fact that you are flying you fall. That is the thing, I deliberately don’t think about how I am performing because then I would probably become to aware of how I am perform and I know it works so I leave it at that.
QO: What makes End Of The Road Festival special and unique? What does this festival have to offer?
RL: Well I have been here so much, it is the same for The ATP Festival and same with Green Man, the first time at each festival was the best time but you get used to the stuff that the people here for the first time thinks is amazing. We are currently having a drink at a converted barn with ale put into it and they change the selection of ale everyday. When I say that I mean it is a barn with ale put into it not a barn full of ale. It’s these little touches that you wouldn’t see at a more mainstream festival.
QO: The eye for detail perhaps?
RL: It is these touches, for instance they didn’t do that last year and I am sure next year which shows that they are, well, Chairman Mau called it a constant revolution.
There are always great acts that I have always wanted to see and then there are acts I have heard of and wanted to see and then there are acts who come out of nowhere and you think that was great.
I have got to know it so I have gotten used to it but you look around and people are always having a good time. That is I suppose the core of it, you go to a festival to be festive.
I like the way it didn’t expand too much. It went from 3000 to 4000, to 5000 to 8000. There was no expediential growth like “We now do 12000”, which would go towards losing its essence.
QO: You have a night where you DJ called Dead Cool. Who are the three dead people you would most want to see dancing to your set?
RL: Oh, That’s good.
The staple of Ringo is there are so many songs that people know but, if you ask people to write down all the songs they know people will always remember Help! by The Beatles or Take On Me by Aha. Everyone knows those songs but there is another song list of the same length that people don’t know that they know or forget they know until they hear it and go “I love this song” and I love playing those ones at Dead Cool and one of my favourite’s of those is Everybody Needs Someone To Love by The Blues Brothersand John Belushi in that would mean he would be a great guy to see dancing.
John Belushi, not just dancing but I would say because hewas such a gregarious character that if he heard a song that he had forgotten but that he knew, you would see him gesturing to people and getting excited.
Do you know what? I am not saying this just because he has recently passed away but I think Robin Williams would be fun to have at a night you were djing at. I don’t want to make this too gender specific so the next one I would like to see dancing is Dusty Springfield. I would definitely like to see her socializing because she definitely liked to drink so that would be fun. Oh no wait, Janis Joplin!
QO: Jesus Christ
RL: No, Janis Joplin. She would be hands up and the kind of person to sing along to her own song.
I just realised that all four of those people I mentioned suffered from severe and ultimately life ending addiction problems. Maybe something in common there?
Here is just a little aside and in isolation it may sound in bad taste but it was Cork ‘pride week’ about two weeks ago and I was booked to do a Dead Cool set. I decided to do, of course, nobody who isn’t dead but I decided to play nobody who died of Aids. Just a little tribute. It went down well with the people who got the joke.
The thing with Dead Cool is I regularly do late hours and long sets and people would be up afterwards saying “Hey, that was great. I love the broad selection of music because it isn’t just gender specific”
I would be like “And did you notice anything else?”
They would start to think and be like “No, not at all”
“They are all dead” and you would see them going “Oh Yeah”
When people know the trend you see people saying to their friends “Oh Jesus, I didn’t know he was dead”
I remember once that I had to break the news of Nick Drake’s death to a 20 year old and she was like “When?”
And I go “Before you were born”
A lot of people think Bill Withers is dead which he’s not but I have noticed a lot of people don’t know Joe Strummer is dead.
QO: Who are the three people you wouldn’t like to see dancing?
RL: Nobody!
There are people, who are dead that I wouldn’t like to see but I would like the challenge of having them on the dance floor.
QO: Chairman Mau for instance?
RL: Oh god. Chairman Mau would be terrible. He would slowly and administratively get everyone to dance in exactly the same way.
QO: And to the left of the dance floor.
RL: Of course Maggie Thatcher I wouldn’t like to see but here’s the thing. I have this theory and it’s not because they are dead but when somebody who is remotely famous reaches out to shake your hand, you will always shake their hand. A friend of mine, in a news story, like when the Prime Minister or someone turns up in a building and they have announced 800 new jobs, my friend was working in one of those places.
The Prime Minister guided Ireland, face first into a recession. His name is Brian Cowen and he turned up at one of these places, It was actually a poisoned challis he was given but he was presiding the ship as it went down. Anyway, he shook my buddies hand, he reached out to it in that politician way and my buddy shook his hand. His face beamed up but he has never lived it down.
I have the feeling that if I ever meet Thierry Henry, as much as I hate him I would still probably shake his hand.
QO: To just touch ‘that’ hand?
RL: Yes. I have a friend who met Maradonna once. He was absolutely off his head and my friend reached out to shake his hand and Maradonna put out his right hand because that’s your standard hand shake one and my buddy went “No, no, no”
And Maradonna, with a glint in his eye went “Oh, okay” and then he put out the left hand.
At the time of print Maradonna is alive but I want him on the dance floor.
I wouldn’t like to see John Lennon because I would be so in awe of him that if I played a song he clearly didn’t like I would have to turn it off.
QO: I don’t think Yoko would let him out anyway.
As a comedian. Who do you draw from the most?
RL: Kenn Dodd. There we go.
People like Bruce Forsyth and stuff like that. Ringo is a natural descendant of late 70’s to mid 80’s Saturday night light entertainment. Stuff for all the family. Bad jokes and a lot of fun.
QO: Is that because it is so accessible?
RL: It’s what I call ‘Post Ironic Fun’. For so many people ‘fun’ seems to have become a bad thing and I just don’t know what’s wrong with it. I don’t know why people don’t have the craic.
I am serious person. I go through the serious stuff as we all do but why waste all of your time on stage doing that kind of stuff.
I am a singer and songwriter and that’s where I tackle it, you know? The hard stuff. Personally, the comedians I love like Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan and there are a pop troop trio from Limerick called The Rubberbandits.
The Rubberbandits style would not have influenced my style of performance but as an art it is just amazing and Dylan Moran was a shambolic, hung over drunk guy so that style would probably shift into how I perform stuff. I would like to think it is mutually exclusive, his influence on my performance style and his influence on my intellectual humour.
Steve Wright for the one liners and Tim Vine for the puns are two other people but you see I have never portrayed Ringo: Music Bingo to be the most original thing you’ll ever see as some of the jokes, in a sense are just gags and I know a lot of stand up comedians always bitch about Peter Kaye or Michael Macintyre because they are like “Oh, its just like jokes you’ve heard before” because , I suppose they do and there is nothing wrong with telling a joke or two that’s an easy joke for people to laugh at because your job is to entertain and people always forget this stuff.
QO: Since 2005 when you started doing Ringo: Music Bingo you have built quite a following and a loyal fan base.
RL: Well, a base.
In fact that reminds me of an interesting article I read about being an independent musician in America but an economist sat down and worked out that to become a professional musician that could live from his wage you needed, I think about 11,000 fans and the idea was that a fan would be someone who bought one album, one t-shirt and two gig tickets in a year and this would be based on travelling just around America so it didn’t include trans- Atlantic flights. I think it was based on doing 150 gigs a year or 120 so he built in petrol costs, accommodation, food and this was for a band so four people to make a living.
I thought it was really interesting but now, to extrapolate all of that data over a year, I don’t have enough fans to make a living off it so that still puts me in the semi-pro, enthusiasts bracket. I would love to make the jump up but that would mean having to commit to way more things and way in advance and that would mean stopping a lot of other things I like to do on a whim. I am 34 and I should have made that decision years ago but I still haven’t.
I know it sounds cheesy but at this festival (End Of The Road) I would say that I have talked to 30 or 40 people whom I have never met before and probably wont meet again who just say “That was really good fun, that’s great”. Then they’re are people like you who I’ve met and we are just buddies so you make friends with outside of the Ringo: Music Bingo so those are fans but to turn those into patrons of your work, that is the hard step.
I can’t release a record but I should make t-shirt’s and sell them but I haven’t got around to that.
I just realised I cut you off. What was your question?
QO: No that’s fine, I was going to ask what your plans are for the future? But I think you’ve answered that.
RL: Well to do a little bit more admin and answer all of those emails.
Quiffed Owl 