Whipping Boy have returned.
The Irish alt-rock legends proclaim they have once again found their rock ‘n’ roll animal, vowing to pursue the beast the length, and breath of the land.
The band played a series of live dates around Ireland in the past few weeks — and in what promises to be a great night — will perform the classic Heartworm album (in full) at The Academy, Dublin, on Saturday the 17th September.
I met with Whipping Boy vocalist, Fergal, and guitarist, Killian in Dublin’s Westbury Hotel recently to discuss the current tour, Heartworm album, and the possibility of new material being released by the band.
Q. Heartworm is regarded as one of the great Irish rock albums. Why do you think that is?
Killian: It’s real. There’s no bullsh*t involved …
Fergal: We didn’t try to make a great record: we just made an album. We didn’t try to do that with the last album [the eponymous ‘Whipping Boy’ (2000)]; we didn’t try to make Heartworm part two. We wanted to make another kind of album. It’s the same what we’re doing now, music-wise. The only difference is we have a new band, so if anything we’re going back to the days of ‘Submarine’, and creating something new again.
Q. Oscar Wilde once said that music is ‘the art most nigh to tears and memory’, do you think this is true for Heartworm?
Fergal: Yeah, I suppose so. You’re always trying to find a sense of the memories you collect, as you travel through your life. And, if you have any energy and can put them to music — and have a form to express those memories — you can’t go wrong.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLDXeiMoZe4
Q. How great an influence have songwriters such as Lou Reed, and Shane McGowan had upon your lyrics?
Fergal: I just try to get my own thing going. It’s how I speak, but at the same time, you would have those influences. You have to understand that what they did was great also, and you have to find your own tongue to unleash that stuff. You just let it go, in your own head. A lot of drink helps [laughter].
Q. Will there be cross-dressing or self-mutilation onstage on this tour?
Fergal: No. Just friendly banter! [more laughter]
Q. What’s the most rock ‘n’ roll thing you’ve ever done?
Killian: Can we mention some of the things I did over the weekend? [even more laughter] ….
Fergal: One of the most rock ‘n’ roll things I’ll be doing is to help Ballinamore Free Fringe Festival [it’s on the 25th-28th August, folks]. That’s where everybody comes up to play for free, with donation boxes all over the town. Free camping, free music, free energy; we’re gonna have a car that runs on water leading the parade. We’re trying to get as many people as we can to this town in Leitrim. It’s a question of seeing what you can do for free. That’s rock n roll, man.
Q. Have you a musical philosophy in mind when playing live, or writing new material?
Fergal: If anything we share a philosophy of being yourself, and being creatively true to yourself. It doesn’t matter how you start, just start it.
Killian: There’s no conscious effort. At the moment, we’re trying to put some new stuff together, and its coming straight out of us.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HEVYU46giQ
Q. Where do you find inspiration for Whipping Boy material?
Fergal: It’s usually when you’re on the tear after a gig. There’s a bit of banter going around, and you say: “that’s great, that’s great!”. And we finally got one, we might have a song called ‘Imperial Venereal’, which will be our new single, hopefully. The idea of venereal imperial is just [more laughter ensues] ….
Killian: [to Fergal] You met the Queen when she was over ….
Fergal: I’d a private audience with her.
Q. You once said of the major-label experience, it was ‘a valuable experience for the fact that you found out how they destroy music and how they destroy bands’, do you still agree?
Fergal: Completely, yeah … I think once a band knows how to make a record, they know whether it’s good or not. Once you start bringing the mechanics of business into any creative situation, its usually going to tamper with it […] and interfere with it.
Killian: It’s an oxymoron really: the music business! I think [record labels] are becoming more and more irrelevant, from the point of view of bands. If the band thinks something sounds good, they’re not going to have someone say, ‘those are the singles’.
Q. Who are your favourite Irish bands at the moment?
Fergal: The North Sea.
Killian: The Riptide Movement. Dead School.
Fergal: The Minutes. Not Squares.
Q. What’s the main difference between the Irish music scene now, and when Whipping Boy began?
Killian: Now, people are looking for the new Whipping Boy, more than they are for the new U2. Back in ’88 everyone had more hair: it was all about big hair. You knew all the record companies were looking for the next U2.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7b124QRxxo
Q. Are there plans to release new Whipping Boy material in the future?
Fergal: Yeah, absolutely…. [lists new song titles] Imperial Venereal, No One Takes Prisoners Anymore, and F**k Off Bad Energy! ….
Killian: It’s in the pipeline at the moment. We’ve been touring for two months [and] we’ve very little time to rehearse, so it’s only now we’ve a bit of a break
Q. How are you finding touring with the new Whipping Boy line-up?
Fergal: Great! It’s the same as the old one, it still has the same spark, y’know: that same energy. There’s a purpose for doing it, and there’s a demand for us to start making new stuff. We’re playing the way we’ve always played, which is with energy and guts!
Whipping Boy play Heartworm (in full) w/special guests at The Academy on Saturday 17th September. Tickets available from Ticketmaster.ie, priced €21.50, incl. booking fee.