Interview With The Answer

Rebecca Brayton: These Irish rockers are bringing the soul back to rock and roll. Hi, I'm Rebecca Brayton and welcome to watchmojo.com. And today we’re speaking with The Answer. Cormac Neeson: I’d like to see us as continuing a rock tradition. I have said it many times in order to bring a forward you have to have full knowledge of where you're coming from. Rebecca Brayton: Tell us how you originally got together at the band? Cormac Neeson: It’s a balance put together with Micky and Paul. We have played in numerous bands through their youth. When they got in touched with me I was actually in America working on a pizza place in New York. Shortly after that I came home and I enrolled in a University in Belfast and Paul, our guitar player, was sitting in the same first class in the first day. So some call it fate and we organized a practice. It went very well. We really clicked together. We got Jim as our drummer on board shortly after that. We spent three years touring around Ireland from then on it really hasn’t stop. Rebecca Brayton: You guys have any influences that we might be surprised by? Micky Waters: We’re definitely influenced by a lot of classic rock bands but also grunge bands, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and some country music. The kids stuff too. Rebecca Brayton: How would you guys define this sound of The Answer? Micky Waters: I guess it’s a combination of hard rock with a bit of blues edge. You know like Cormac is saying where Paul plays guitar and Jim hits the drums—it’s just the way it came together. We do believe that that is one the most enjoyable forms of music to perform on a stage. Cormac Neeson: It may have something to do with how the North Irish sing as well. I think the northern Irish personalities can naturally straightforward and honest to a certain extent and when you get four guys in a room you know and blast in their rock music it doesn’t get much more honest and pure than that. Rebecca Brayton: What do you think makes a current band a classic rock band? Cormac Neeson: I don’t think there is such a thing as a current band being a classing band. You know we’ve been labeled classic rock in the past, but I can’t agree with it because by definition surely you have to be in around for a while and you have to have you know tons of albums under your belt and you know get your picture up in the hall of fame in Cleveland. None of which we have done as of yet. You need to be around for a while in order to get that classic tag basically. Micky Waters: We’re a modern rock band the way we see it. Rebecca Brayton: Now you’ve mentioned the northern Irish music scene, why don’t we talk a bit more about that. Cormac Neeson: I remember when we first appeared on the scene it was very Indie oriented. You know a lot of bands were more concerned with their hairstyles and the songs that they were writing and we thought this has to change. And its one of the reason we called ourselves The Answer was to kind of stick two fingers up to these pretentious bands you know that really weren’t doing the same much good at all. There is the death bell of Indie-rock. To be personally concentrated very hard on staying away from rock clichés in this album and doing stuff which is you know unique to style of music. Rebecca Brayton: Are you sick of people asking you what The Answer is? Cormac Neeson: Very sick. Micky Waters: I never heard that before. These church bells couldn’t come a better time. Rebecca Brayton: Thanks guys. Thanks very much. Corrmac Neeson: A pleasure. Thank you. Micky Waters: Thank you.