One
of the more interesting things to note is that Dublin’s
JJ72 were still in high school when they wrote the tormented
rock songs comprising their self-titled debut, but there's
more here than simple teenage angst. After selling more
than 200,000 copies of JJ72 upon its release in the U.K.
last year, the trio - guitarist/singer and main songwriter
Mark Greaney, hard-hitting drummer Fergal Matthews and
bassist Hilary Woods - further strengthened its already
solid fan base with a searing and sonic live show. I heard
the record soon after it came out and was very intrigued.
Songs like "Snow" and "October Swimmer"
seemed to show a maturity and a development beyond their
years.
Columbia
Records released the album around the time of 9/11 and
JJ72 finally came to the US in November 2001, playing
with Pete Yorn, Remy Zero, and Coldplay. I came to Hollywood
to see some of their first American shows, since the original
one at CMJ was cancelled. JJ72 surprised me how heavy
they were as a live act. They definitely delivered. We
were able to hear some new songs that will be on the next
record. As I met them the next day in their hotel on Sunset
Boulevard, we were also all surprised to run into Little
Richard, who gave us all some religious books. It was
a thrill to have lunch with this new band on the winding
roads of Hollywood.
JJ72
will be back in America playing some show in early 2002.
AL:
You have already conquered the British. Now you are here
to do the same thing.
Mark:
It’s very exciting doing this. Playing in Britain is fairly
obvious because it’s right next door to us. Playing Europe
is obvious as well, because we had been in Europe a lot
anyway, apart from the band. The first time we go to Japan
to do gigs, or the first time we come here (to America)
it’s a very strange feeling going to the other side of
the planet to play songs that you have written. You can
think about the amount of people here. We’re doing a four-week
tour. It seems like nothing compared to a four week of
tour of Britain, which would be a very extensive tour.
That would be taking it to a lot of people. We are going
to be playing to quite of a lot of people here, but it’s
a small percentage.
AL:
If you are a band who lives in London, you can drive out
to Liverpool or Sheffield, do a gig, and pack it up and
come back the same night. Are you going to be in a tour
bus the whole time or on planes?
Mark:
We have a bus, but I think that we have a few flights
in between. The shows have been great so far but it’s
hard to gage. We don’t really know how the way music works
here. We know American music obviously. Whether you like
it or not, being in a band over a certain period of time,
you will learn a little about how things work. You find
out about the cogs in the machine of the music business
in Britain. You know what a good live response is. You
know what it means to be A-listed at a radio station.
We know what Rolling Stone Magazine is, but we don’t know
about anything else.
Fergal:
KROQ and Rolling Stone.
AL:
America has tons of independent magazines and local newspapers.
I heard your first record about a year ago soon after
it came out and immediately, but had no idea what the
live show was like. It seems that many people here are
going to be surprised how exciting you guys are as a live
band. There is a lot of thunder and lightning in the live
act that you wouldn’t know from the record that seems
more intimate after seeing the show.
Mark:
When we made the first record it was really our first
time in the studio properly. It was quite daunting for
us. We knew that we could make noise live but we had no
idea how to do that in the studio. The record came out
maybe a little differently than it should have in one
way, regarding the way we play live. We were happy with
that actually because the record is different than how
we play live. There are more layers in the record. There’s
more strings and other things. As you heard last night,
we replaced the string section with sheer noise. I like
how that turned out.
AL:
Some people are just headbangers. They would like what
you are doing. Maybe they couldn’t understand what you
were singing about, but they can relate to the noise.
They are into thrills and getting a sonic buzz. Having
a drink and having a good time.
Mark:
I like that kind of music sometimes. That is what rock
music is here for in one way. If you are straight away
thinking that your audience should be a certain way then
there is no point in writing music. You have to give people
the option. If they want to come along to one of our shows
and shake their heads and run around like mad pigs, they
can. That’s cool. As music fans ourselves, that what we
want to do sometimes when we go to gigs. We don’t want
to be listening to every lyric. Some people want to think
about what you are singing. That’s fine too. We’re not
selective in that way to what reaction people should or
shouldn’t have. It’s interesting. Any reaction.
AL:
What exactly is the reaction in Britain? You have had
a successful record. Now people are following you around.
Mark:
Yeah. We filled the void. The Manic Street Preachers sort
of left and did this other thing. At that point we came
in Britain, we attracted a lot of their extremely devoted
fans, who followed us from gig to gig. We became used
to that at an early stage: that there were people who
wanted to see us play every night. The same people. It’s
strange in one way but we appreciate it.
AL:
What about the local Irish music scene that never gets
out? Over here we only about U2 and The Coors, and yourself,
and a few others, but we never hear about the bands who
stay there and never get known outside Dublin. Are JJ72
hated locally because they never had to play the small
clubs there, and went from nowhere, to being internationally
known, and playing with U2 two years later?
Fergal:
They may be annoyed because we did it properly rather
than in some compromised way. They don’t have the balls
to really go for it.
Mark:
That happens in every city all over the world where there’s
some music scene. There’s usually some clique of people
who are scared of going for it properly. They will use
their "indie" credentials as an excuse. That’s
what we found in Dublin, and in Britain. There are plenty
of good bands that have good songs, but they won’t do
interviews because they think it’s beneath them, in some
way.
AL:
When you go back to Dublin do you have some of the local
bands play as a supporting act?
Hilary:
We have played with different support bands all the time.
When we go back to Dublin, there may be a lot of envy
going on there, because there are musicians who have played
a lot of gigs. We came along and had good timing. Now
we are playing long tours with several different bands
in different countries. I think that there is no chance
of gaining any recognition in your own town. You have
to go away first and leave yourself to circumstance. Especially
in Dublin, because they are very skeptical of the bands
and very slow to say anything is good. They don’t dare
say anything.
Mark:
Luckily for us, we didn’t have to spend too much time
in Dublin doing a circuit of local pub gigs. We worked
with a sort of useful type of naivete that made us just
go for it and appeal to a larger audience elsewhere. It
just seemed logical to send a demo tape to a record company
and expect a reaction.
AL:
What do your parents think of the records?
Fergal:
They love it. They sense our dedication.
Mark:
It made sense that they would be supportive of it, because
they saw it being born.
AL:
What are your plans about touring and doing a new album?
Fergal:
This is our "American" tour.
Mark:
After we finish this tour, we are going to demo some tracks
for that next album. We played three new songs last night.
We decided that this would be a good time to try out new
ideas. That’s all they are, as opposed to definite songs.
We figured that at some of the bigger venues where we
are supporting Pete Yorn many people wouldn’t know who
we are. So we can afford to give it a go. We are going
to record the new album in January 2002. Come back and
tour here in early spring. We are going to keep it going.
AL:
Have you played with any American bands?
Mark:
We did a tour of Britain with The Dandy Warhols. We supported
them. It was just before our album was released. It was
nice. It was a weird matching. We are not the same types
of band. That’s what was interesting. You learn to get
along with people and you learn a little from people.
That was good. We played with some other less salubrious
bands like Embrace and Ocean Colour Scene.
Hilary:
We have played with Coldplay too.
AL:
Are there any bands you would like to play with or like
to meet?
Hilary:
I can’t really think of anyone in particular, but I would
like to meet Billy Corgan.
AL:
When can he play onstage with JJ72?
Mark:
Oh God, I wish. I remember writing a letter to the Smashing
Pumpkins when we first started JJ72: "Please, let
us support you!" I think he is now doing gigs with
his new band, Zwan.
AL:
On the way over here I was reading about the time you
met Michael Stipe. You are not a big fan of REM?
Mark:
It was the first time that I was told to "fuck off"
by an international rock star. It was quite an experience.
AL:
You wrote most of the songs on JJ72 when you were in high
school?
Mark:
Yeah, about four or five years ago. I am 21 years old
now. I wrote all the songs on acoustic guitar. Last night
I played a new one. That’s how things are now panning
out. It’s similar to the first album, where I write the
stuff at home, and then I bring it in to these guys, and
then, that’s where the band exists. They put their own
feeling into the song and that’s how a JJ72 song comes
about. It’s the way things unravel. Anyone is welcome
to write a song, even you. Flood is going to produce the
next album. He did stuff with the Pumpkins and Depeche
Mode. There will be less smacking people in the face.
There will be less bombast. I want the next record to
be as powerful in a slightly different way. A little more
subtle. We are going to steer away from the "quiet,
quiet, quiet…. LOUD" sort of stuff. I don’t know
how to describe it. I don’t know what we are doing.
AL:
Do you have any hobbies?
Fergal:
All we do is play. Not much else.
Hilary:
We don’t have time for it.
Mark:
When I am not playing with the band I am at home writing
songs. Some of the stuff we did before the band, like
playing football, you can’t really do at home, and I would
be a prime target to get my legs broken anyway. It’s weird.
When we get home, we spend a few weeks sitting there doing
nothing, and then we start getting fidgety and start going
"oh shit" and then we are off on tour again.
I relax when we sell ten millions records.
AL:
I wanted to ask you about the song "Snow." Is
there a James Joyce (see quote below) influence on that?
It reminded me of the last part of "The Dead."
Mark:
Yeah. Pretty much. People in Britain are really annoying
in interviews. They say: "He’s talking about the
weather." It’s an obvious metaphor for something
falling from the sky and covering the ground and making
everything magical and beautiful. It’s a quite special
thing. It’s like magic. I read Dubliners and the last
part of "The Dead." There was a description
of snow falling all over Ireland. What was cool about
it was it made Ireland sound like this huge massive land.
The snow falls on the "central plains" of Ireland.
Ireland doesn’t have any central plains. It’s so fucking
small. The description of it made Ireland, and being Irish,
bigger than it actually is. That why "Snow"
is the song it is. That is a huge chorus and making it
sound bigger than it is.
AL:
There is one video you did where you beat each other up.
Who won that fight?
Fergal:
Mark won the fight. It’s in his contract.
AL:
There are a lot of JJ72 websites. Many created by the
fans. Do you read any of them?
Mark:
Yeah. I just a computer a few weeks ago. We have an official
site. Then there is (www.jj72.org). It’s huge. People
write there all the time. They are on there for hours.
Stuff about us. That’s kind of freaky. There’s someone
sitting down somewhere thinking about us somewhere in
the world all the time. It’s like when this guy was on
the toilet was he thinking about us?
Hilary:
There are over 50 websites about us. We only set up one.
Ours is very functional. The other people have more time
to put up stuff.
Fergal:
Ours is shit. There is a fan website that is better than
ours is. I have to go to the loo. (leaves)
AL:
I heard some fans got your phone number.
Mark:
It’s weird. You might get sporadic phone calls. Four calls
will come in two days of each other, and then nothing
for months, as if they just lost the number or something.
Back home, you go out and give your number to someone
who you think is your best mate. Then at the end of the
night, your number has been passed on. You have to change
your number again. A few times when I went on tour, my
parents would get calls from places like Sheffield in
the middle of night: "We want to talk to Mark."
AL:
Melody Maker is no more? They voted Hilary "sexiest
person alive" and then went under.
Mark:
They couldn’t handle the response. They gave us a lot
of support. One of our first interviews that we thought
was very important was in Melody Maker. They certainly
helped us get quite a devoted following. They made us
into a hardcore indie band. And so did NME. These magazine
are an integral part of getting music out to people. Other
bands don’t see that way.
(Fergal
returns)
Fergal:
Little Richard gave me all these books. He’s upstairs.
He said "Give these to your friends, man." (laughter)
Mark:
No way.
Fergal:
Yeah. He said: "Where you from?" I said "Dublin."
He said" "I played there before, man."
(laughter) He had two massive guys with him. I shook his
hand. I like LA. You take it for granted here but you
actually meet these people here in LA.
AL:
Yeah, I just bumped into Dee Dee Ramone over at the Virgin
Megastore before this.
Mark:
I have to tell you something. Elijah Wood was at our gig
last night. He was with another guy, Dominick, who was
also in the film Lord of The Rings. So we end up drinking
with these guys last night. It was really weird being
with Elijah Wood, and drinking in LA, and talking about
films and music. That was an experience. I like that.
In London, we are seen as a cool band to see because we
are young. We get invited to things in London and Dublin
too, because we live there. They people want to get together
to pat each other on the back. Anyone who is involved
in music or film, they like successful people around,
so they can be in this exclusive club. Here’s it’s different.
There are genuine people here who are brilliant actors
or somebody. They are pleasant towards each other.
AL:
London has those exclusive clubs. The Met Bar….
Mark:
Oh God, yes. It’s ridiculous. We have went to all those
award parties with secret locations. The NME awards or
the Q Awards. The secret aftershow party ends up being
a shithole. It was really great hanging out With Elijah
Wood and his mates. We were sitting in a garage drinking
a beer and smoking a clove. That’s what I like.
AL:
What are your apartments like back in Dublin?
Fergal:
We all live at home with our parents.
Mark:
When we are on tour, our apartment is the bus. The apartment
on wheels. Then we get home and loads of times we think
"okay I am going to get myself a nice apartment."
Then I think what is the point? Might as well let my parents
watch my empty room when I am out on tour.
AL:
You live with your parents too?
Hilary:
I’m sort of in and out.
Fergal:
Go back and get a good meal.
AL:
Does the media follow you around back at home?
Hilary:
No.
Mark:
Once we were back at home. We were listening to one of
the main radio stations in Dublin. It doesn’t even play
our music. They said "In Dublin news today, JJ72
are at home having a break. Hilary is off having a holiday
in the Canary Islands. Fergal is home fixing his motorcycle.
(November
2001)
www.jj72.com
"A
few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window.
It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes,
silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight.
The time had come for him to set out on his journey westward.
Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over
Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central
plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the
Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into
the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too,
upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where
Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the
crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little
gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as
he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe
and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end,
upon all the living and the dead." - James Joyce
Alexander
Laurence
