Therapy?

When I was 20, Therapy? released Troublegum, perhaps one of the most influential albums in my life at that time and on the “alternative” music coming out of the UK. The trio from Northern Ireland still manage to put into their lyrics and music the same frustration and pain that many feel in their hearts, and do so genuinely. The band have, to date, released 13 albums and their latest, Disquiet, has been named as a sort of successor to Troublegum, albeit 20 years later. Therapy? are playing at the Waterfront this month, so I spoke to Michael, their bassist, who’s been in the band for 25 years, about how they’ve managed to stay the course and how nice it is when fans bring their kids to their gigs.

Can you tell me briefly how you guys originally met and got together?

I was at school with our first drummer Fyfe and we were both in separate bands. He had played in a different band with Andy, Therapy?’s singer and guitarist and they realised they had more in common than they did with their respective bands. So Therapy? formed in 1989 but in order to play live they needed a bass player, and I knew Fyfe so we got together and hit it off straight away. We had a lot in common and liked the same music so it was great from the start.

You’ve never split up, unlike most bands who’ve been around for 26 years. What’s your secret?

I suppose it’s quite intangible. When you’re in the middle of it, it’s hard to work out what you’ve done right or wrong. I think we’re just really into what we do. We formed the band to play music because we didn’t hear any music we liked around us locally. Different people get into music for different reasons…we’ve never had a plan, like “In five years I’m going to have a mansion and a red sports car”. Obviously we’ve had our pitfalls and the music business can go up and down, and some members have left. It’s the whole drama of stuff that happens in life generally over 26 years, but we still have a passion for what we do. Why would you knock it on the head just because you haven’t got a red sports car? I don’t really understand why bands carry on when they have fallen out or aren’t prepared to talk problems through; you have to do that if you spend so much time together.

You and Andy are the only two original members of the band. Do you hang out together when you’re not working or do you lead very separate lives?

I live in Northern Ireland he lives just outside Cambridge now so we don’t get as much chance to do that so much now; we played a show over in Northern Ireland in November and we hung out for a couple days. We hang out on tour, and go to the cinema and stuff. I think you have to be friends. As I have got older I just try to focus on the positive people; life’s too short!

Do you have a lot of younger or newer fans who weren’t around at the beginning in your audiences?

It’s a mixture of both. There are a lot of people who are around my age, 44, who maybe have a bit more free time now, their children are a bit older and they can go out to gigs. We see a lot of people who only got into us in the last two or three years. Sometimes people bring their kids along which is cool! But we’re quite lucky in that we get a lot of different people from different age groups who are into different aspects of the bad; some more into the lyrics, or the heavier songs, or the slower, moodier songs.

You’ve got a new album out in April, Disquiet, your 14th studio album, which has been described as a sort of sequel to Troublegum which came out way back in 94. In what way is it a sequel?

I was joking the other day saying only Therapy? could release a sequel 21 years later! There are elements from the last couple records, sonically…we didn’t want to make a record that sounded like it was from 1994, that would be a ridiculous concept, but we wanted to streamline the sound a bit, more in keeping with the Troublegum era of the band and used all the things we’d learnt from making our more experimental work to beef it up and make sure it sounded contemporary as well. Troublegum is written from the viewpoint of one angry and confused teenager; some of it is quite dark but some of it’s tongue in cheek too. For the new album we imagined what that angry teenager from Troublegum might be doing 20 years later, which then relates to what are we are doing as a band 20 years later. I think a lot of people could really relate to the character on Troublegum at the time, and so they really got this concept.

What was your song writing and recording process for this album?

For this one Andy wrote all the songs and it was just him and the guitar, then we arranged it, rehearsed it and “Therapised” it. One of the songs Andy wrote in the studio, so we arranged it there and then. So sometimes we do that too; it doesn’t have to go down that traditional route of songwriting, rehearsing, demo, pre production, recording. There are a couple wild cards for this album, which we wanted to develop as well and they ended up on the record.

Last time you came to Norwich you played your classic album Troublegum in full as it was its 20th anniversary. How did that feel?

We learnt a lot of the old b-sides as well for that tour, so if you came to see us back in 1994 you would have had the same experience last year! It was a lot better rehearsed and paced this time around; we were a bit more chaotic live back in ’94. It was really good; we know the album means a lot to people and we’re very respectful of that legacy because the success of the album has contributed to the fact we’re still here 20 years later. So it was good to do the shows and I think everyone enjoyed it. When we finished that tour we were in the studio recording the new album two weeks later so that energy translated onto the new album.

Troublegum came out when I was 20, the perfect age I would say! Rock, punk and grunge haven’t been as massive since then, really, but seem to be making a come back with bands like Royal Blood and Foo Fighters doing really well. What do you think has happened that has meant there’s more of an interest in rock music again?

I think you’re right, the mainstream has a bit more of a focus on rock at the moment, bands like You Me at Six and Bring Me The Horizon are doing big shows and doing really well. It’s great to see them in the charts and hear them on the radio. Rock’s always been there, but I’m immersed in it so it’s always big for me. When rock first started it was a thing you listened to until you were 30 years old and then you got a real job and had a family, but it’s not really like that any more. There are a lot of young people getting into it now for the first time and getting into all those original acts like Led Zeppelin, which is easier now there’s the Internet. I think it’s great. When we were young, we got into Venom and early Metallica and Slayer; it was the end of the 80’s and we were tired of really glossy records at the time. Maybe the way economics have gone in Europe has made people respond more to less complacent music. I don’t listen to smooth jazz when I read the newspaper; I haven’t mellowed at all! I bet in two years time they’ll be like “Rock is dead” though!

When you play in Norwich this month will you be playing mostly songs from Disquiet?

We’ll play some tracks from the new album but won’t ignore the other 13 albums as that would be madness and unfair to our fans! It’s going to be an overview of the last 25 years. We’ll play some older songs we haven’t played in a long time as well; that always keeps it interesting for people who come and see us play regularly. There might be a few wild cards thrown in there!

Therapy? play at the Waterfront on 21st April. Tickets from www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk