Right Formulae

JJ72, Dublin’s darlings of the alt rock world are back – and with a replacement. Mark Greaney, Fergal ‘Gus’ Matthews and new girl Sarah Fox invited uk-fusion back to their dressing room at their recent gig in Leeds to chat about their return to form, their new album and who’d really like to get to grips with Bono…

Looking back at I To Sky, why do you think the album was as commercially successful?

M: I hate to sound like the petulant band complaining about the record label, but our record company really fucked it up at the time for us. We switched from Lakota, who did our first record in Ireland and Britain and Sony for the rest of the world. Then Columbia said we want this band, ‘cos they’re gonna sell loads and loads of fucking records! We didn’t know, but we went with it. Everyone at Columbia got fired the week the release of the record, no one was left, who was into the album. That’s when we realised how important it’s been for us and while we’re still here, that the label that signed us, Lakota are really big music fans and have patience and faith, whereas the other guys, were like, “See ya!” I love the album, I think it’s fantastic; it’s very different to what we’re doing now. It was probably a lot more serious and meant to be epic and sprawling. I think it’ll be something that people will look back on and understand it more a few years down the line.

Do you think the mainstream success of the album affected I To Sky’s performance?

M: Yeah, I think Columbia expected 11 Oxygen’s, which we could have done very easily – I don’t mean that in an arrogant way. We could easily write an album full of pop rock songs but that’s not us. It was more a statement of intent, with us trying to move on. Hopefully we’ve moved on – well I know we’ve moved on with this album.

Is the new album going to be called On?

M: That’s something that we’ve seen on the internet, but it’s not going to be the name. It was one of the possible ones; there are a few ideas, but nothing’s confirmed.

Mark, you performed at the Jeff Buckley tribute gig last December, how did that come about?

M: His mum was organising the whole thing, and I got a phone call.

S: His mum’s a fan of the band.

M: She’s a lovely woman, and obviously very emotional, as you’d expect for a tribute to her son. At the time, we weren’t doing much, just demoing stuff for the next album and the phone call came out of the blue. I think James from Starsailor was supposed to be headlining, but he pulled out at the last minute, so when I got there, I found out I was going to headline this Jeff Buckley tribute gig, and all these amazing musicians went on before me like Rufus Wainwright. All these good musicians did these amazing versions of Jeff Buckley songs. I’d never met Buckley’s mother before and it was my new regime to not drink before a gig (turns to Sarah and Fergal)…which I’ve continued!

S: Really?

M: Yeah.

S: Weirdo.

M: But any way the thing was, I got up on stage, Jeff Buckley’s mother had about two bottles of wine in her and she starts hugging and kissing me, saying, “This guy’s gonna do an amazing show and he’s gonna play Jeff’s songs exactly the way, I know Jeff would have wanted them played.” There I am, trying to remember the fucking chords, ‘cos I’d just learnt them the day before!

S: You had an excellent crew.       

M: Yeah, I did. Sarah and Fergal crewed it for me and my guitar was completely out of tune for the first song, but it was really great to be asked to do something like that, to get respect from a dead man’s mother.

S: It was a fantastic gig though.

M: Yeah it was.

Do you have any favourite places to tour?

F: The thing is, when you’re touring the UK, you know the buzz is gonna be there. Say you’re doing somewhere in Austria, the decibel level is so low, that if you stamp your foot, you go over the limit. You’re trying to rock but there’s no volume, ‘cos you have to play quietly.

M: It’s a load of shit, ‘cos I think the level is 100DBs. You can crush a plastic cup out front and you’ll hear it over your amps.

S: No way! 

M: Yep.

F: And if you do break the DB level, the cops come arrest you.

M: Honestly Ireland and the UK are the best.

S: Super fun people, great crowds. We can be as loud as we want and the people are brilliant.

F: If you’d been up on that stage with us tonight, your ears would have bled –  we just have tough ears! 

R: That’s when you go Spinal Tap. Up to 11, isn’t it? 

S: Definitely! We like loud!

How do you pass the time on the tour bus?

S: Have you ever been on a tour bus?

Err, no I haven’t. 

S: Boredom and tour bus don’t go together. They stink and smell, but are never boring.

F: It’s more picking on one person and making fun of them the whole time.

S: Gus.

F: It’s not always me. 

S: It’s never boring.

M: Wait till we get to America – three days of driving across states.

How do you feel the reaction has been to the new material you’ve played so far?

S: Well you know what it’s like when you go to see a band and they play predominantly new stuff. It either happens or it doesn’t. I think the fans have been brilliant. A lot of the new stuff is so much fun to play live and it really comes across. It feels really well received everywhere we’ve been.
M: The first gig of this tour was in Cork and it was our first gig for about a year and a half and to be honest, I was so nervous, I thought I’d split in half. Within the first three seconds of ‘Heat’, it was like, “Oh my God! It’s good to be doing this again!” and it’s just continued like that.  It’s new material as Sarah said and people in the audience are hearing this material for the first time and it’s difficult to get into. We try our best to get people into it. What we’re really grateful for is our loyal fan base, who’ve been patient and waited for us. You can see that at the gigs, we were chuffed to hear so many people were going to these gigs. They’re patient and they’re giving the songs a chance, I mean, as a band, what more can you ask for?

F: I think when you listen to the new stuff, it has loads of energy and we show our passion for it. We know the old tunes will work, we’ve just gotta get stuck in there and show our energy and passion for the new stuff.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in JJ72?

S: We’ve discussed this before, but we didn’t come up with anything. Can I answer for Gus? Gus would be one of those guys who rides a motorcycle on a tight rope, in a circus, that would be Gus.

F: It’d have to be something to do with showing off and danger.

S: Yeah, showing off, dangerous and tight pants!

Do you do a lot of bike riding?

F: Well…

M: I’ll tell you the truth on this! A while ago, we had two nights at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire and just when we were in the studio with Flood, doing songs for the second album. Fergal walked in with his arm all twisted and mangled and we were like, “Are you alright?” and he was like, “I’ve had a bit of a fall on my bike”, so we told him to go to the hospital.

F: I’d broken my wrist and dislocated my shoulder.

M: He was walking round, saying “I’m grand, don’t worry about it”, but we had to cancel the shows. Everybody has been telling him since, “Don’t go fucking riding your bike before the tour!” And just before this tour…

S: Three days before this tour…

M: He tells us he’s had a bike for the last year and a half and he’s been going to rehearsal every day and leaving it a few streets away and walking in going “Oh, that bus!” and us feeling all sorry for him.

S: Oh poor Gus. 

F:  Before the tour, we had a big heart-to-heart and I confessed (adopts an exaggerated bubbly voice) “I’ve got a motorbike!”

What music are you all listening to at the moment?

S: There’s a lot of stuff we always listen to, like Joy Division and the Pumpkins, but new bands it’s The Arcade Fire from Canada and Mars Volta.

M: I’ve been listening to John Frusciante’s solo album, The Wheel To Death. I love his guitar playing. I think he’s got a weird voice, it’s kinda weak, but that’s what makes it attractive. It’s always teetering on the brink of just breaking down. It kinda reminds me of Neil Young, but he’s a great guitar player.

F: I liked The Bravery until this afternoon. We were watching TV and they came on this programme on Channel 4 and have got too cocky already. I mean, I know their style is kinda cocky ‘cos they’ve gone mental in America, but the song wasn’t even that good.

S: Good hair though.

F: So, I’ve gone off them now. I’m currently not listening to anything.

Do you feel like old timers now? Five years in the game and onto the third album.

M: Yeah, kinda.

F: You know what’s gonna last.

M: It’s strange, when we released the second album, it was at the height of the White Stripes but was out of place. You can’t argue with the taste of music taste but it just wasn’t our turn. The thing is, that there are so many bands around. When we arrived on the scene in 2000 there was Terris, do you remember them? And they were meant to be the biggest new band and they were gonna be bigger than Coldplay. There are loads of bands like that, who’ve vanished. I’m sure lots of people think we’ve vanished, but we’re back.

S: Yeah, WE’RE BACK! 

M: If the belief is there and you can write songs, you’ll be fine.  

Sarah, what’s it been like stepping into Hilary’s shoes?

S: Did I step into Hilary’s shoes? I don’t think that I did. I think Hilary left the band and they got a new bass player. I’m not the new chick in the band.

M: I don’t know if people really buy this, when I say it, but when Hilary left, myself and Fergal sat down and said, “What do we wanna do? Are we gonna keep the band going? Yes, ‘cos both of us believed in it and we feel we still have a lot of good music to give people. The good music we have, might not be really cool for all this year or next year or the next year, but we know we can write really good music.

S: If anybody’s ever been in a band with a girl, it’s a bloody nightmare to be around, most of the time. (laughs)

M: We really didn’t want to get a girl, ‘cos we thought it’d look cheap, like we were trying to replace Hilary. So we rehearsed with a few guys and it was really interesting and we were thinking “Oh my God, how are we ever gonna sound good again?”  

F:  Some of them were so out of place.

M: A lot slap bass and stuff. (laughs)  

F: We went along to this gig and saw Sarah and we just thought, “We have to steal her from that band”.

M: We never said you’re in the band, we just kept on rehearsing. Oh by the way, you’re in the band.

S: Am I? Thanks (laughs). It was like, we’d rehearse and it’d all click, but it was just as important to go out and have a drink and get on, ‘cos being in a band is like being in a relationship.

F: A bit like a three-way marriage.

S: So in answer to your question, it’s been fun joining the band.

M: I sound like a pretentious idiot when I say it, but I really believe that for us it’s beneficial for us to have a female member in the band; we don’t write songs, just for guys. It can be a nightmare at times though. 

S: I also think our musical styles really compliment each other, ‘cos I come from a different background

M: Motley Crüe?

S: Yeah, cock rock, but our voices work well together. It’s all about the energy.

What’s the strangest thing, a fan ever done or given you?

F: We’ve had a few weird presents before.

Like what?

M: We’ve had some fans who’ve had JJ72 tattoos and we felt really bad, when we changed the logo for the second album. That’s pretty hardcore devotion. Also, it’s a thin line between being flattered and freaked out. I think a lot of hardcore fans of a band can actually see something in the music that you intended or something you really wanted them to see. I’d hate to think it’s just their latest fixation. I think the aim when you write a song, is for it to fit into their lives. Then when it does happen, it really happens! People keep coming back and back and really get into it. It’s good to have our freaky fans, it’s nice to know they’re still there and haven’t moved on to someone else.

You’re drunk in the pub and someone suggests karaoke, what do you sing?

M: ‘With Or Without You’ by U2. 

S: ‘Eternal Flame’, The Bangles.

F: Andy Williams (starts singing) “I love you, baby….” (‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’), but it depends on how much I’ve had to gargle.

M: I can do a good Bono. 

Is Bono easy to pull off?

(Band erupts into laughter while interviewer realises HUGE Freudian slip)

M: I’ve never tried!  You set up em up Ry’, I’ll knock em down!

Fergal, what was so great about Mark’s jacket?

F:  I don’t know what it was really; it was just this suede jacket…oh fucking hell!

M: I think the key to all good jackets, is well fitted.

F:  It fitted Mark really well, he knew I really liked it and he said that I could wear it. Maybe I was meeting a girl.

M: Yeah you were.

F:  I just wanted to look as smart as possible for this date, in the middle of the day, at the shopping centre, I was 15 or something. Got the jacket and I just wasn’t giving it back. I wore and wore it, till there was nothing left.

M: It fell apart, no idea what you were doing in it.

Are you divas or more Spinal Tap?

M: No divas in the band, but we definitely have our Tap moments. More getting lost trying to get to the stage.

F: Silly funny stuff like, changing mikes during gig, or I’ll sweat so much, I can’t see Mark when he turns to me for a change or a drumstick goes flying.

S: Definitely more Spinal Tap than diva. Lots of falling over and dumb things.

Tell us your favourite joke.

S: What did the circle say to the 8?

R: I have no idea.

S: Nice belt! I love that joke.

M: I don’t get it.

S: Oh my God. OK, what’s brown and sticky?

All: Eh?

S: A stick!

(Collective groan)

M: A man find a magic lamp and rubs it and a genie pops out and tells the man, he’ll grant him three wishes. Man says I want a million pounds, genie says no problem. I’ve started this completely wrong.

S: Yep, you’ve made a balls of it.

F:  Let’s just stop it there; otherwise it’ll go on forever. 

M: Do you remember my Porky joke about the dog that fucks pigs? 

S: Have you just ruined it?

M: Err, yeah I have. What about you, Gus? 

F:  I don’t have a favourite joke. I’m more visual humour, in the moment. 

M: Can I do mine again?

All: NO!

What have you done, that was only kinky the first time?

S: Only kinky the first time?

F: Say, ‘my girlfriend’!

S: No, Gus! (laughs)

F:  When I first started going out with her, it was really passionate. And once I tore her underwear off her, the next time I did it, she was just like “For fuck’s sake, here you go. Just take em off.“ 

S: Only kinky the first time, I like that.

M: Good album title there.

S: We should steal that one.

Check For Live Dates  Photos: Kathryn Slight