Interview taken from HermAphrodite #10

Yeah yeah yeah. They’re Irish, well-read, and only just out of their teens. They adore the Manics, Joy Division and Nirvana. They’ve had it ‘easy’ in the business, getting a record deal on the basis of one demo tape adored by Mark Radcliffe. JJ72 have heard it all before, and so have we. But in the press – rather’n the gushing Letters Pages – there’s never quite enough enthusing about the music, the impactive rolling chords and Mark’s soaring angel voice. Why talk about the music, when you could wonder at Hilary’s ‘kohl-rimmed Egyptian eyes’ (a phrase which is, as the NME seem to’ve noticed – and here with no exception – © to every JJ72 feature ever…). Or speculate that the band took their name from the weight at death of Janis Joplin. Or even just gossip about the fact that Mark is going out with Hilary’s non-identical twin-sister, and tracks on the album were written for her. Yawn yawn yawn. There are far more interesting things to natter about. And here we will find them. Oh yes…

Backstage at the Fleece And Firkin is an illiterately-graffiti’d attic-like space, with a pub bench ‘n’ table set, a sofa, and a full length mirror, as well as an inescapable all-pervasive smell of a deeply unhygienic swimming pool. There’s also Fergal, quietly enjoying a cup of tea and some nice biscuits. The others arrive. And from my first question, I realise that yes, the band’s existence is solely down to an eye-catching bit of outer-wear. If Mark hadn’t put on a nice jacket the day he met Fergus, the band would not have got together. JJ72 is solely down to his portentous wardrobe. Had he be been wearing fantastic socks, Fergal would just not have spoken to him. (He says.) And no, the jacket will never be consigned to the cabinets of the Hard Rock Café. Not for the sake of any principle. But rather because Mark’s lost it. Ah well. Let’s move on…

Now. From my day of research – JJ72 fans are nothing if not organised, and every single interview the band have ever done seems to be archived on the web (www.jj72.org) - I’ve found the band to be searingly honest in conversation, as well as in their lyrics. And the same thing is happening now – asked to open up and share with a total stranger, they do so. Though they claim they never catch themselves sharing too much.

Mark – “Not really, no.”

Really?

me – “You’re very much bearing your breast for the world to see.”

Mark – “I suppose, compared to a lot of other bands, we are, yeah. But I’m not as honest as I could be. I think anyone who writes poetry, or lyrics to a song, they’re obviously going to disguise themselves. It’s sort of a cat and mouse game for the listener and the person who writes, putting in sly little digs here and there.”

Which is very much what he finds works best, for himself at least.

Mark – “It’s not full-on ‘I think this, I think that’, because that would just be an essay, you know? “It’s not full-on ‘I think this, I think that’, because that would just be an essay, you know? You’re going to have to embellish it, leave some things up to the imagination, otherwise it’ll just be really boring Black ‘N’ White.”

Though he does concede to some lyrical honesty.

Mark – “We’re honest compared to Westlife. We are deities compared to Westlife. But really, on the grander scale of things, we’re not honest at all.”

Ah yes. Westlife. Another young group of Dublin lovelies (ahem). Strangely, rarely mentioned in JJ72 interviews as influential artists. Unlike folks such as Jeff Buckley, Nirvana, Joy Division, and the Manics. Who also provide media types with an easy spring-board for comparison. And yes, that is lazy journalism to just keep on trotting out those 4 as standards. No, the band never adored the Wombles (and so can’t give me an exclusive on the impact of the furry ones on the band’s stage presence). And JJ72’d also like to stress that there’s more to influences than just authors and song-meisters.

Mark – “It sounds funny, but it can just be… a roast chicken, or the way two trees look, or the shape of the car door that you stared at every day. Little things.”

Beauty is there in odd places.

Mark – “And that all has an effect on you.”

So, in that it’s always been in there for Mark, was it always what he wanted to do? No. Despite a childhood love of the violin, he never saw himself laying music professionally. Similarly, Hilary was apparently torn between Russian scholar and ballerina, when she was little. (And can now dance, really very well. I didn’t ask about the Russian.) She wasn’t the only one with dreams though…

Mark – “I wanted to be a footballer.”

Though now he can see himself moving off in a slightly different direction.

Mark – “I could be a landscape gardener. For about a week. I’d like that.”

Not so for Fergal.

me – “And what about you? Did you want to be a footballer?”

Fergal – “Oh no.”

But the rumour I’d read about him wanting to be a wood-carver is slightly more true to life. Not that he can see himself living in a forest.

Mark – “I can see you living in a forest. In a lumber-jack shirt.”

Fergal – “Like a hermit, yelling ‘don’t even look at me’…”

That’s about as far as his future plans have got.

Fergal – “I don’t know.”

me – “So this is where you’re happy?”

He pulls a face.

me – “This should be where you’re happy, it being your paid employment and all…”

Fergal (plaintively) – “I thought we were going to go home today!”

And instead he’s stuck in a pungent dressing room, being asked to contemplate a future of hermitude.

Mark – “We were full of youthful exuberance and naivety, did well in our exams at school, gave college a shot for about three months, and then though ‘ooh, we’ve got to make a decision here. Are we going to go off on a little adventure, or are we going to stay at college?’ I’m not saying that college isn’t an adventure, but it wasn’t to be for us. So we said we’d give this a go.”

And here they are. Not that that means they’re assured of their future.

Mark – “We don’t know where we’re going.”

Fergal – “And we’re in a bit of a limbo at the moment.”

In a pungent dressing room, missing his own bed.

Fergal – “Yeah, there’s a lot of missing.”

Mark – “It runs a little deeper than that. It’s more to with fresh vegetables. Plus the longer we do this, the more the line between good and evil becomes blurred.”

Which in itself is not wholly to do with carrots and peas, though they can play a part…

There’s also the shower-issue.

Mark – “The only reason I don’t want to camp at festivals is that I have to have a shower every day. That’s what you miss on the sleeper-bus, it doesn’t have a shower. So I feel… dirty.”

Though they are staying in hotels. So that isn’t his biggest worry at the moment.

Mark – “You know when you eat too many peanuts, you get a big grease build-up on your nose? I hate that…”

me – “If you cut down on the peanuts that would probably sort out the peanut problem. Or go for jam instead."

It’s not all unhappy touring though this pop-starr malarkey. You also get to meet certain people. And be on Top Of The Pops. But JJ72 don’t like meeting their idols. Or even people important to them. Because they will invariable turn out to be human, and below expectations.

Mark – “We met Michael Stipe last week.”

I make appreciative awed noises. But it was apparently disappointing. Though some folks have been pleasant.

Mark – “James Dean Bradfield. Because he’s just a nice man – he likes his whiskey and coke. (pause) Coca-cola, not anything…”

Naughty? Heaven forfend. James doesn’t even seem to go in for smashing up his equipment. Unlike, hmm, Mark Greaney. Who claims that the guitar death toll for this tour hasn’t been too bad. Thus far. Since the summer months he seems to’ve gained a leetle more restraint.

me (to Fergal) – “And don’t you wanna just DESTROY too?”

Fergal – “Our sound-engineer’s microphone’s on the drums. And he’ll go nuts if it gets damaged.”

And he hasn’t yet tried crowd-surfing over the drums.

Fergal – “If someone started tickling me I’d go mad.”

Best not then. Particularly as he can start to feel ill if he’s tickled too much. ‘Drummer spews while crowd-surfing’ not being the kind of press they’re out for at the moment. Not that they currently seem to be courting controversy (or the label ‘gob-shites’) in their press…

>>> Part 2

Last revised: 26/07/01