Interview with Michael McKeegen and Andy James Cairns

Therapy? Have tried it all in their twenty year long career. Be it commercial ups and dons, lineup changes, numerous label changes and basically just abaout anything else you can think of.
However one thing that never seemed to change for Therapy? Was the fact that this band loves playing music, which I have experienced many times I have seen the band live.
Another fact that supports this statement is that no matter which direction the band took on their albums something genuine always shined through their music and the music it self was never following the trends, but rather their harts.
The band has just released their tenth full length studio album, Crooked Timber, sees the band at top of their game and it isa harvesting fantastisc reviews all over the world. We caught up with band's bassist Michael McKeegen and guitarist/vocalist Andy James Cairns for the talk about the new album, playing live and of course…that Bad Mother CD single. Band’s drummer Neil Cooper also joined in for our Quick Five.

MR: Three years after the release of One Cure Fits All, you have just release Crooked Timber. The album sees the band taking a bit different approach to music. Can you tell us how did that come about?
Michael McKeegan: We normally try to have a different approach to each album as a starting point and then see how the songs develop from there. It’s not really a conscious thing, it happens pretty naturally.

MR: Was the recording process different this time abound?
MM: It was actually. The last couple of albums we recorded and mixed in one ‘chunk’ of time which although, exciting and enjoyable, sometimes was a bit stressful as we tend to give ourselves unrealistic timescales. This time we spread the recording and mixing over a longer period of time and used a couple of different studios. In total it was probably the same length of time, just spread out a bit more so we could change and revisit anything we weren’t sure about.

MR: As mentioned above, it is three years since the release of the latest album, did it take longer for time for you to release a new album this time around, because of the long recording process or is the reason something else?
MM: As I said the recording was pretty much of a similar length as before, just broken up a bit. We finished touring One Cure Fits All end of 2007 so we just wanted to spend time writing and recording with no ‘deadline’ to try and make the best songs and record we could. It also was nice to get a bit away from the ‘album/tour’ cycle we’d fallen into over the previous years, sometimes I think certain fans and parts of the media ‘take you for granted’ if you’re always touring and releasing stuff. You know, I’ll not buy this album/gig ticket this time ‘cos I’m sure good old Therapy? will be doing another tour/album in a few months etc…I’m guilty of it myself even with bands I love!

MR: You’ve chosen Andy Gill for a producer this time around. How did that come about and how was it recording with him?
MM: We’ve been very aware of his music and production work over the years and his name had been on our producer ‘wish list’ for a while. Thankfully we had songs ready to record at the same time he had a gap in his schedule. It was very interesting working with him, he had many interesting production ideas and ideas about life in general.

MR: The artwork for Crooked Timber is extremely minimalist, can you tell us bit about why have you chosen this approach?
MM: Originally it was going to be a lot more ornate and busy but as the record began to take shape we felt something more bold and stark would suit. The idea of the ‘Gemil’ was the one we kept coming back to.

MR: As always the lyrics on the album are interesting and edgy; could you explain them a bit to us?
Andy Cairns: This album starts off questioning consciousness and it's perception. Moves on to accepting life in all its given forms and ends up with a comforting note of resignation. Something for everybody.

MR: Is there a specific process for writing Therapy? music? Do you each come with ideas for the songs or are you more of a jamming band?
MM: Depends on the record really, ideas can come from any number of different processes. This record musically we all wrote together from jamming in our rehearsal room starting ‘from scratch’ on each song, it was quite a challenge and very interesting to do it this way.

MR: It is clear to see that Crooked Timber has received some outstanding reviews from the most of the critics, but I was wondering how did fans response to it?
MM: The fan response has been great! That’s always good to see, I think our fans are a lot more open minded than some people think. That’s a cool feeling as we know we can try some different things with each record and people seem to ‘get’ what the band is trying to do. Sometimes records more than other others, I might add..

MR: With the latest album Therapy? Seems to be in great shape and also taking into consideration all that the band has been through in past almost twenty years, how do you find strength and inspiration to keep going and creating something exciting?
MM: I suppose just keeping things fresh and listening to lots of new music (not just rock) and trying to find different ways of expanding the Therapy? sound. It can be hard work and a big challenge to not repeat ourselves but the end result is very rewarding.

MR: I feel that Therapy? is at their best when experimenting, does this aspect of your music comes naturally or is it something you are trying to do?
MM: Well, we never sit down and decide “Today is experimental day!”. Normally we just work on ideas and the full picture isn’t apparent until the songs are recorded and mixed. For example our cover of “Diane” by Hüsker Dü was a big hit and I suppose if you think about it, at the time, that was a big ‘experiment’ for a noisy rock band to record a song with only cellos and voice.

MR: Looking back at your career, what are the moments that truly stand out for you?
MM: Hahaha…far too many to mention, you’ll have to wait for the book! Or the movie, Sean Penn’s going to play me…

MR: Experiencing band live six times, one thing pops into my mind; you seem happy to be playing live no matter how many people you play in front of. Is playing live important for you and how so?
MM: I think we all get a big thrill from playing live and it’s a great way to present our music to people. You tend to get an ‘immediate’ reaction which is a pretty amazing feeling.

MR: According to your official website there are no shows in Denmark planed yet? Also generally looking for the past few albums Denmark wasn’t high on your priority list for playing live. This was not the case before, so I was wondering what happened?
MM: To be honest we don’t prioritize where we want or don’t want to play, as you know we enjoy touring and doing live shows. The case is that no-one has invited us to come play in Denmark the past years so we don’t want to be the ‘uninvited guest’ at the party so to speak..;)

MR: Are there any specific plans for playing Denmark this time around or will I again be forced to travel to some other country to experience the band live?
MM: Sorry, no plans as such.

MR: Thank you for your time. Any closing words or a message to Metal Revolution readers?
MM: No big message, just thanks for everyone’s ongoing support and goodwill. Rock on friends!

Interview done by Zoka