Interviews Category

From mQ - The IMRO magazine
by Jackie Hayden - 26.10.05

These are busy times for Gavin Friday, what with his heavy involvement in overseeing the re-release of the Virgin Prunes back catalogue, his first substantial film role as a showband singer in Neil Jordan's version of Pat McCabe's Breakfast On Pluto, writing songs for his own next album and a daily starring role as one of Bono's best and highest-profile mates. Jackie Hayden managed to interrupt the busy schedule of the artist formerly known as Fionan Hanvey for long enough for a quick chat.

The Virgin Prunes were a band of Dublin eccentrics who adopted bizarre, sometimes androgynous, names, and with a predilection for songs, records and stage performances that challenged the conventions of 1980s Ireland. So does Gavin see a different Ireland today?
"Well there's the greed," he says, "we've gone from poverty to what I call the pierced beer-belly, x-factor greed, but hopefully that'll calm down in a while. It got a bit manic because we had such an inferiority complex for so long. But most of the changes since the eighties are for the good. The mass-emigration is gone. It's better for music too. Back then there were hardly any places bands like the Prunes could play. We've also become much more multi-cultural. But I'm not a fan of the corporatism that plays such a dominant role in the music industry as well as the movie business today."

Gavin admits that the main impetus for him to get into a band originally was to get out of what was then "the nowheresville of Ballymun, as well as a love of music and a desire to express myself, including the anger I felt. But nowadays there's so little spontaneity in music. Bands agonise over every detail of what they're going to do and it's all so contrived that the music suffers accordingly. Kids are forming bands because they want to be stars, not because they have something to communicate or any real need to express something. Since the arrival of Whitney Houston twenty years ago, everybody seems to thing there's a certain way you have to sing, so instead of a singer sounding like him or herself they all sound like second-hand versions of somebody else. At the same time there's some truly great music out there."

He expresses some surprise that nobody ever took over the Virgin Prunes' mantle, although many see the influences of the band in acts like Marilyn Manson, Bjork and maybe indirectly in Eminem. "Sonically, probably the closest would be My Bloody Valentine, or maybe the Nun Attax or Five Go Down To The Sea. But I was re-listening to our stuff recently and I was surprised to find how much more melodic and musical it was compared to how it seemed at the time. We even had Keith Donald on an album. But there were reasons for us being that angry at that time and maybe there aren't so many reasons these days. I don't think there'll be another Virgin Prunes any more than I think there'll be another punk rock or any more than there'll be a Virgin Prunes re-union."

It was while touring with the Prunes that Friday came under the spell of classic chanson and was exposed to the works of Brel, Brecht, Weill and others which underpinned much of his later work as a solo artist and in collaboration with Maurice Seezer. "Growing up a bit I realised there was more to music than just David Bowie who was huge initial inspiration and still is. When your heroes like Johnny Lydon start letting you down and you realise they're like bubble-gum you tend to look for something more substantial. If you look at the works of Brecht and Weill, and even Brel, you'll find they all have a bit of attitude and that always appeals to me. They went for the gut as well as for the romance. I believe you become more open to other music as you mature. I remember, Jackie, when your colleague, the late Bill Graham introduced me to the music of fiddler Martin Hayes and then Martin played at Bill's funeral and we struck it off so well that we later recorded together. That ignited my obsession with Sean O Riada and the Irish tradition. O Riada was a genius. He was our Miles Davis. "

Now 45, Gavin's movie role in Breakfast On Pluto sees him doing cover versions of Sweet's cheesy glam-pop hit 'Wig-Wam Bam' and 'Sugar Baby Love' by The Rubettes, songs several planets away from both the continental cabaret scene and the orbit of the VPs. "I find the discipline you need for acting is much harder than performing music. It can be a long slow process. Two minutes on screen could take eighteen hours to do, whereas as a musician you could do a whole show of your own songs in two hours. But I love acting. It's a different craft, like putting on a mask, but we all put on masks, even if it's only The Undertones wearing anoraks", he reckons.

Speaking of masks, then, was changing his name from Fionan Hanvey a putting on of a mask? "Absolutely", he admits, "but I've been Gavin for longer than I was Fionan. Only people like me ma call me Fionan. But it's like if you called Bono Paul, you might get a head-butt! Most people call me Gavin or Gav. Maybe it creates a barrier for me. I'm quite a private man. I'd never let somebody into the house to do a VIP-style thing with my family. But there's a lot of Fionan in me still. Maybe in a few years you'll see me doing Mise Eire as Gaeilge!"

With his work on the Jordan film now winding down, Gavin has also written two ballads with Sinead Lohan and has recorded a 40-minute show in Dingle for Philip King's tv series Other Voices for which he's accompanied by Maurice Seezer and a banjo-player. He's re-started work on his next solo album, about which he says "who knows, maybe it'll bring out the showband, glam-rock side of me."
Such is the musical eclecticism of the man, and the sense of adventure he brings to all he tackles, I'm not quite sure if he was joking.

The Virgin Prunes albums A New Form Of Beauty, If I Die, I Die, Hérésie, The Moon Looked Down And Laughed and Over The Rainbow are now available on CD from Mute Records.

Download a 1996 Kink FM interview in two parts from Toazted.com.

After the work on the re-releases had been completed, Virginprunes.com caught up with Gavin in late August to find out how the project had progressed from initial idea to final execution.

Keen to explain the process, in this first installment of the interview Gavin takes us through the building of the relationship with Mute Records and explains the detailed thinking behind the sleeve re-designs.

Virginprunes.com: Mute Records has struck me as the ideal home for the Virgin Prunes' back catalogue for many years. In fact, in 1986 I heard through the grapevine that they had been interested in releasing The Moon Looked Down And Laughed, though this never came to fruition - is this true?

Gavin: Mute are the perfect resting place for Virgin Prunes. In 1986 as far as I can remember there was interest from Beggars Banquet, but they only wanted to release an EP. I rejected the idea and foolishly went with New Rose.

How did the 2004 re-releases come about? For example, who contacted who, when did contact begin, what were the stages of the process from initial contact to final versions of the CDs in your hands?

It was about four years ago I discovered that the band had very slowly over the years got back the masters of most of our recordings. I contacted Daniel Miller at Mute Records, who said he was very interested, but Mute was far too busy at that time. About a year later Daniel contacted me saying he wanted to go ahead with the re-release of the back catalog, so roughly over the last three years.

Why so long? Many reasons. Mute went to EMI [via acquisition] which held things up at bit. Then legal affairs, missing artwork, re-mastering and digital restoration took a long while. Then my illness [Gavin underwent back surgery in February 2002] and my own work held things up. So, it took about three to four years.

Did you experience any major problems or delays while bringing everything together?

The case of missing artwork and tapes that I was told we had, but then could not be found??? The most distressing thing was that ALL THE ORIGINAL ARTWORK FROM ALL THE SLEEVES HAS GONE MISSING, along with many many pictures, not to mention some multi-tracks. I am still searching. Who mislaid them? Somewhere between Mary, Strongman and New Rose? I tried so hard, it held up things for close to a year. I finally decided to go to my own 'small' stash of VP images and work from them.

Tape transfer was complex. A lot of the tapes had to be 'baked'. Don't want to go all serious on ya, you would be better off asking an engineer. In short, the getting together of this took a lot of time - it was at times like shitting a football. But then all good things take time... isn't that right?

What is the expected audience for the An Exhibition promotional compilation - is it for the press, or will it also be released for fans to buy? Who chose the tracks and how were the choices made?

Press/promo at the moment. Yes, I understand it will be 'available' to fans and not at £250. We decided on two tracks off each album. I couldn't choose, so Olivier, Our Blessed Curator, did the deed.

Mute is calling these re-releases the first "official" releases on CD. Does this mean that the Rough Trade and New Rose CDs were released without your permission?

Rough Trade released only ...If I Die, I Die and it disappeared almost as quickly as it was released. It never was distributed as far as I could see, so a half-hearted effort is not an official release in my mind. New Rose... these re-releases had nothing to do with most of the band except for Mary and Strongman. Once again they almost disappeared as soon as they came out. Were they actually released? No distribution as far as I can tell, a total joke. Then within a month or so New Rose went bankrupt and the back catalog disappeared up the arse of God knows who...? As for the artwork and sound quality on the New Rose effort, don't get me going... shameful. So yes, I see this as the first 'official' re-release of Virgin Prunes.

The most initially striking aspect of these re-releases is the new sleeve designs. Only "... If I Die, I Die" is faithful to the original release and the others have changed quite radically. For some long-term fans it has been disorientating to see "the Pagan Lovesong cover" used for A New Form Of Beauty and "the Baby Turns Blue cover" used for Over The Rainbow. Of course there's a logic to this - the picture used on A New Form Of Beauty is of Guggi in the Pig Children performance, for example, which is clearly relevant to A New Form Of Beauty - but why redesign in the first place rather than just use the original covers?

All the original A New Form Of Beauty artwork is gone/mislaid/stolen/destroyed - who knows? I have seriously spent the last two years searching. It breaks me heart. I had to resort to a small collection of photos I had kept. My hands were tied - the original drawing by Guggi was badly damaged and sadly, as we say here, 'fucked'. So where could I go? 'Pig Children' was my first thought, which lead on to the Guggi shot a la Pagan Lovesong. The original shot looked too glossy for the feel/sound/vibe of the music, so it was treated.

Why orange??? Maybe it has got something to do with the Catholic in me, I don't know. It just felt right and we did tend to over-do the Blue vibe. Believe me, I am a purist at heart... The inner shot was taken at Futurama 1981, the only time we ever performed Beast (well, what we were allowed to, as they pulled the plugs after five minutes, etc.) So that shot was in context. Also, I wanted all the sleeves to have their own unique look.

Pagan Lovesong ended up on the ...If I Die, I Die CD, so I felt the picture of Guggi was too strong to be completely lost. The only other option was a plain white cover - we tried that and it felt all wrong. I am talking weeks of trying out covers - I broke Slim [the sleeve designer] Smith's heart. What we ended up with is GREAT in my mind and so far it has blown a few minds. Sorry if it offends...

We never felt the 12" ANFOB sleeve which was used by Strongman and Mary for the New Rose CD looked right, it just didn't transfer down to CD size very well. That's not to mention the unbearable quality of the transfer from 12" cover to CD cover that New Rose did. Jesus, talk about bad artwork... Anyway, this the first time the complete musical side of ANFOB has all been released on CD. So it is ANFOB. The typeface was hand done, and rather beautifully I must say, by Slim Smith

For ...If I Die, I Die, once again the original went missing, this was the closest image I could find. The blue border may have worked on the original, but we decided it was stronger without the border on CD format. I tried to re-create the Brown/Blue vibe within the booklet using many never before used photos. Slim did a wonderful job on the booklet. Thanks man!

On Heresie, the photo of me and the photo of Guggi walking up the stairs, these photos we had originally planned to use on the cover, but the French label L'Invitation au Suicide went with the still from a Gothic 20's movie. We never liked it and when it came about to re-use it - even way back when it was released on vinyl in the late 80's by New Rose - we were not allowed the rights to use the image. We had no ownership of the copyright of the writings in the original boxed set, so we had to re-invent. I used photos in the booklet that tried to capture the mood/intensity of the music and the image of the Kettle Woman [in the centrefold of the CD insert booklet] sits perfectly along side the vibe of Deirdre and Memory Lane. Most are photos never before used.

As for The Moon Looked Down And Laughed, this was ALWAYS from day one the cover for the album, originally to be called Sons Find Devils. When Guggi left, followed by Dik, chaos and confusion followed. We had such legal and money problems way back then. A nightmare... The album was released in 1986. My spirit was broken... We did a photo shoot with four remaining members - The Butlins Session, I now call it - a mistake, but I wanted the album released and the struggle to finish it was murderous. The end was nigh!!! As with some of the mixes and the running order, I tried to make the visuals into what the original line up had originally planned. Now, tell me what cover suits the music better? The Butlins shot or the G&G lace shot?

The Over The Rainbow art work for the vinyl version was a shot used from the original Moon/Devils sessions. As I made the choice to go back to the G&G lace picture for the Moon re-issue, it meant we could not use the original image - they are way too similar. I also took into context that this is a very different album to the Original Album. It has never-before-released-on-CD remixes etc. Also, it's a double CD. A lot of the recordings on Over The Rainbow were recorded in the Beautifull House and that's where the front cover photo was taken. Yeah, it was the cover of Baby Turns Blue, but it's a great shot and I didn't want it lost forever, I wanted people to see it. We tried the 'Girl with Rabbits' image on the front [from the Twenty Tens EP] but it didn't feel right alongside the other four CDs. In the booklet I used images that are natural and unstaged and unused. There ya go...

Sorry if any offence has been taken, but to quote the band... 'Nothing is ever the way they say it is... Nothing is ever the way you want it to be...'

In this second part of the interview, Gavin explains more about the process of remastering the recordings and takes us through some of the other changes in the format of the material.

Virginprunes.com: For Virgin Prunes completists, one of the most exciting things about the new CDs is the appearance of the previously unreleased track Fádo. It seems to be similar to the track Apologia that you recorded for RTE's Dave Fanning show in February 1982. Why was this originally not on the album and why have you chosen to include it now?

Gavin: Yes you are right, it is similar to the track 'Apologia' from the Fanning session. We planned to record it fully but never completed the words. It was performed only once at The One Show, Project Arts Centre, with the line 'Heaven holds a place for you' repeated numerous times. In the studio we even tried to get Dave-id to sing over it but all he came up with was 'A long time ago...'. We mixed the track in a 'dub-like' manner and put it out as the B-side to Baby Turns Blue. When I was working on the restoration of the tapes, I found this mix. I thought it was beautifull [sic] and renamed it Fádo, which means 'a long time ago' in Irish. To me, it bookends the start of the Blue side and the album ends with Yeo.

Apologia as mentioned above has nothing at all to do with the Friday-Seezer song of the same title... Blame Oscar Wilde!

The sound quality is excellent, which I presume is down in part to the re-mastering and in part to more modern compression techniques. Sometimes older recordings sound disappointing on CD when played alongside newer material, but this all sounds great. For example, even allowing for the poor quality of the original cassettes, Din Glorious sounds much sharper than expected. How much work was put into polishing up the recordings and was this a fairly standard process with today's technology or did you have to employ any special techniques?

I spent about six to eight weeks on the restoration and re mastering. Most of the tapes were damaged; seemingly a lot of 1980's recordings are so because of a bad batch of multi-track tape. So you gotta 'Bake' - as I said, talk with an engineer... I wanted them to sound as fresh as the day we recorded them. Andrew Boland is the man who I put through the mincer to restore and what a great job he did - thanks Andrew. Not sure if he has recovered yet from spending three days working on Din Glorious... The Guys at the Exchange also did a great job at mastering. Brilliant Guys. Also THANKS to Mute, who went the whole hog regards the restoration and mastering. Not many care... they do.

There is some noticeable tape hiss on several tracks. Was there a conscious decision to leave this in place, or was it technically impossible to remove without compromising the clarity of the material?

It drove us fuckin' crazy. It was technically impossible to remove the hiss. The early recordings were made so quickly and cheaply and in the strangest of ways - you wouldn't believe if I told you... I had the choice of making them sound big and bold with hiss, or small and dead with a tiny bit of hiss. I went for the former. I was told by a cutting engineer once that if you hear the hiss you are not getting lost in the music. So... what hiss?

Out of interest, where were the original master tapes of the material stored - is it somewhere as basic as the top shelf of your wardrobe, or are there specialised storage facilities for this kind of thing? Did you have any difficulties locating any of the tapes?

Most are stored in Dublin, some with Mute. They are in a safe place. Some multi-tracks I am still trying to locate, along with the missing artwork. Yes, there was difficulties in getting them all together.

In Rolf Vasellari's book The Faculties Of A Broken Heart, Dik explains that the band was unhappy with Colin Newman's production of the tracks on the "blue" side of the original vinyl album version of ...If I Die, I Die. Why choose him, of all people, to remix Baby Turns Blue if you hadn't been happy with his original work for you?

Yes, at the time we were unhappy with some of the Blue side, especially Walls of Jericho and Caucasian Walk. We always loved Baby Turns Blue, as we saw it as a pop song. We all loved his production on it. The brown side is magic. It was the band's aggressive vibe we felt was tamed down. Still, listening to the CD today, it's pretty vibey. Colin did an amazing job all those years ago. It was no easy task working with the six of us way back then. Theme for Thought sounds amazing. So as regards the re-mix, he did a great job then, so better the devil you know... And the new re-mix is fantastic - simple, very stripped down and addictive. I love it.

On the re-release of ... If I Die, I Die the "blue" tracks sound much stronger. Did you make a conscious effort to change the sound of these specific tracks, or was this just a side-effect of the overall sound enhancement process?

I wanted all the music to sound strong. It's all down to the restoration and mastering. In many ways I feel the work in general was never properly mastered in the first place. To me, making the music sound the way we wanted it was by far my biggest goal with the re-issues.

Who is the "ILOVEYOU" woman in the Heresie CD insert's centrefold?

Her name is Alice. She worked in the Iveagh Markets. Myself and Tommy the Bottle of Milk [a fellow Lypton Village member] befriended her. We used to buy second-hand clothes off her. We christened her 'The Kettle Woman'. And yes, the only-performed-once (at The One Shows) 'A Song for Alice' was written about her. She is what we call in every sense a true 'Virgin Prune'.

There was an early version of I Am God played in a 1983 BBC Radio One interview that included Guggi's vocals rather than Lady Blennerhassett's, did you consider using this mix or was that always just a demo version of the song?

Don't know what interview that is, I'd love to hear it??? WOW? Burn us a copy? This was the only mix remaining that I could find. Guggi was no longer with the band when we got to [the] mixing stages. A very difficult DIVORCE album was the Moon...

Why rename "Don't Look Back" to The Tortured Heart? It sounds slightly different, is this just down to the remastering or is it actually a different version of the song?

It's a slightly different mix, only very slightly. It was originally called The Tortured Heart and for some stupid reason I changed it to the other. When I found the master tapes, written on the cover of the box was The Tortured Heart. So like the [album] cover, I went back to how we originally wanted it.

Why use the 12" of Love Lasts Forever on the re-release of The Moon Looked Down And Laughed and put the 7" single version, originally on this album, onto Over The Rainbow?

'Our love will last forever until the day it dies' was never a 12" mix, it was the first and original mix Flood did for the album. It was how it was written. We loved it. Regards the 'Moon', this is the closest to how the whole album was to be before the band started to implode. I truly wanted the music to be as we as a band - a six piece band at that time - wanted the album to be. When we were finally putting the album out - and at that time not only Guggi had gone but also Dik - it was decided to put the edited version/more standard version on, for what fucked up reason I don't know. Maybe the same fucked up reason that has me in a Butlins uniform on the cover. This was a very difficult time for the band. So 'Our love will last forever until the day it dies' is back where it really belongs, like Guggi on the cover - where he really belongs. And it sounds fantastic, don't ya think? I put the single version on Rainbow in case anyone missed it.

Who is the girl/woman in the white dress in the centre spread of the Over The Rainbow CD insert booklet?

It is Guggi and Strongman's sister Gwen, taken on Cedarwood Road. The event, her reaction to first hearing Twenty Tens...

Some of the titles of the Din Glorious tracks are different to the titles given on the Italian vinyl re-release of Din Glorious from the 1980s (e.g. Bo-prune as opposed to Bodhran). The original cassette never contained any titles on its insert. Were the Italian album's titles inaccurate, or have you chosen to rename certain tracks due to the fluid nature of the performance?

To be totally honest, I couldn't get my hands on the Italian version. Anyone out there want to give Gavin a copy? [Before a million offers start flooding in, Virginprunes.com has subsequently obliged.] So all the titles came from memory. Put it down to me getting old, sorry about that. I was tempted to have no titles.

The baby's face that you used as the logo for the Baby Records releases also appears in the Over The Rainbow insert. Is this a picture or a drawing? Where is it from?

Virgin Prunes 'BABY'... It is an original Victorian painting I bought twenty-five years ago. It was first used as a flyer to promote early Project Arts Centre performances. We called our one off label after it. Basically it was the band's mascot, it was always with us, on our stages and in the tour bus and in the recording studios. It survived a very extraordinary and difficult youth and now happily lives on the wall of my hall and it hasn't aged at all.

What do you understand to be the commercial proposition for Mute re-releasing Virgin Prunes material in 2004? Is it expected to make a profit in its own right, or it is more a case of bolstering their overall brand value by enhancing their back catalogue? (In other words, are they doing it for love or for money?)

Who knows if the re-releases will make a profit or not. I am just so happy we found a true resting place for this work and that it looks and sounds GREAT and that it is available to all who want it. I am very proud of our past. Mute have been fantastic, it has been a true pleasure to work with such a professional team WHO LOVE MUSIC. Olivier, the project's curator, has given his fair share of blood, sweat and tears. He's a saint, a hero. Huge respect! A LABOUR OF LOVE. I think we fit in fairly comfortably with the Mute catalog. The rest is in the lap of the gods. If it does make money, well and good... and that will be a first for Virgin Prunes.

In the final part of the interview on Friday, we find out more about some of the characters and the "bo-prune" language in the songs, talk about what might happen next and ask Gavin for his thoughts on the band with twenty years' hindsight.

If you've ever wondered about Jennifer and Mary Coote, or puzzled over the difference between a nisam lo and a vibe-akimbo, today your prayers are answered as we get stuck into the wonderful and frightening world of the Virgin Prunes' songs.

Virginprunes.com: Time for some rapid-fire questions about the content of the songs. What was the argument about in Abbagáll? (It sounds like some kind of concern about harsh treatment of a glockenspiel.)

Gavin: It's a row between myself and Strongman. As I was playing the glock, he kicked it over - on purpose - so the glock got thrown in the direction of his head... I missed... and Dik caught it all on tape. Strongman used to get off on making me lose the head in them days...

What was the "Emancipation Act 72/3/4" mentioned in Caucasian Walk?

A date/quote a good friend/mentor of the band used very frequently in conversation. We never knew what it meant and still don't. The late and great Bill Graham. We dearly loved that man. A true genius.

[Virginprunes.com suspects that it might be influenced by the infamous Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.]

Is Jennifer/Mary Coote (from Down The Memory Lane) a real person?

Yes, they are both sisters. They live in an area called Bonnybrook, next door to Mrs Phillpots. Myself and Guggi were, and still are, massive fans of the Cootes and the Phillpots.

What does "Bau-dachöng" mean (and why the umlaut)?

It was part of a language myself and The Bottle of Milk invented, the language of the Beautifull People. Bo-Prune, we called the language. Bau-dachong... It means having the 'knowledge', a prune/village invention/ism. Very very complex, so can't really go there.

What does "Ulakanakulot" mean?

This is the name of the 'land' where the Beautifull People first came from. An imaginary land, our Atlantis.

Was Abbagál the name of someone specific who you knew?

No. It means 'curse', or to put a spell on someone.

What does "Yeo" mean? (I note that it's been used as the basis for the re-release CD catalogue numbers.)

Yeo was a phrase Dave-id always used and still does, especially if he is/was greeting you. Way, way before Hip Hop.

Was Deirdre the name of someone specific who you knew?

Yes, she was the little sister of Sean d'Angelo. Someone myself and Guggi took very fondly to, was little Deirdre.

What does "Nisam Lo" mean?

This means to have a dream or a 'trip'.

While the meanings of "vibe" and "akimbo" are well-defined, can you offer any help with interpreting "vibe-akimbo"?

It is what it is: a vibe - akimbo.

Is Loved One named after the Evelyn Waugh novel of the same title, or is that just coincidence?

Coincidence. Didn't read the book till the late 80's.

The Mute biography says that Come To Daddy is "a frightening tale of incest", but one of your interviews of the time seemed to suggest that it was about a housewife instead ("Come to Daddy looks at the things a woman has to go through - women who have had loads of kids and who find that love is now gone")? Can you clarify this?

Not really about incest, more about sexual/mental abuse, but I like and always encourage people to think what they want.

I believe that the spoken section at the end of True Life Story is Fabienne Savoff, Mary's wife. Which language is she speaking and what is she saying?

Yes it is Fabienne. She is speaking and singing in Chinese, a language in which she is fluent. The singing is an old Chinese love song. The angry narrative is pretty profane, like 'your mother is a whore and she sucks dogs' cocks'. Can't remember exactly, but that type of thing...

The most obvious omission from the re-releases is the live album, The Hidden Lie. Why was this not included? Is it likely to be released in future?

Most of the band had nothing to do with this album. It was put out against my will. It is, in my mind, not really a Virgin Prunes album. Guggi and Dik had gone and the rest was dying on its legs.

Do you have much currently un-released material left from the original recording sessions? Would you consider releasing any of it?

Some unfinished works, some demos, various live recordings. Don't know... Let the re-released albums spread their wings and see what happens. Time will tell...

Do you have any access to the tracks that you recorded for the Dave Fanning show on RTE, some of which have never been released in any form? Would you release them if you could, or were they works in progress that were never intended to be preserved for posterity?

As above. Maybe... Not negative. Not sure if RTE will let us have them. We'll see.

It's really great to see A New Form Of Beauty 4 (Din Glorious) being released on CD at last. What happened to parts six and seven of the project, the book & video? Were they ever completed or do they remain unfinished? Are they ever likely to be released (finished or unfinished)?

The film may see the light of day, it was never finished. We have all the footage. We handed over to Mute a lot of visual footage of the band. There is talk of DVD release. Time-wise, I couldn't say. There is a lot to sort out. There will be a DVD, just don't know when.

The book... Never finished and may never be. Jesus, that's a frightening thought??? Who knows...

What is the situation regarding the Sons Find Devils CD and video/DVD? Do you anticipate the rights for this transferring to Mute in time?

No comment, the affair is in the hands of our solicitors.

Was any material ever recorded after the Sons Find Devils / The Moon Looked Down And Laughed sessions? I'm thinking of songs performed live, like She, My Dependence On You or Song For The Heartless. If so, would you consider releasing this?

'Song for the Heartless' was an unfinished song from the 'Moon' sessions. Not sure if we would release demos. We'll see. Demos/work in progress, I see as very private affairs. The other songs were only ever played 'live', never demoed or recorded.

Are there any plans for Mute to release any post-Prunes work (e.g. Gavin's & Dave-id's solo albums, The Prunes' albums)?

No plans at the moment. That's not to say I don't like Mute. Mute have been amazing, a real joy to work with.

Most of the pictures and video footage of the band are now over twenty years old. How do you feel, looking back at them?

OLD... A difficult one, very personal, lots of memories. I am a romantic fool. Surprised by the music, it has aged well. Visually I think we look pretty GREAT, especially when I see how most bands nowadays look...

Earlier this year, the team behind Virginprunes.com purchased on Ebay the paperwork for a development deal contract that you and Guggi signed in 1979 with an organisation called World Showplace Music, Inc. Can you tell us more about this? What was the proposition and did it lead anywhere or was it a blind alley?

Yeah, we signed some bullshit proposition way way back in '79, I think. The guy was a con man, it led nowhere. We didn't get ripped off, actually I have a memory of myself and Guggi being treated to a very posh dinner in the Shelbourne Hotel.

What do you think were the Virgin Prunes' best and worst moments?

Best? Don't know, not for me to say? Worst? The fucked up way we all dealt with the band breaking up.

What are the various ex-members of the band doing these days?

Guggi paints. Dik works with computers and makes music. Dave-id makes music. Mary teaches and makes music. Strongman works with antiques.

Where, if anywhere, do you perceive the Virgin Prunes' legacy and influence on contemporary music to lie?

In an Irish context: the most important band ever to come out of the country. As for the rest, not for me to say.

Complete this sentence: everyone should buy the Virgin Prunes re-releases because...

No, no... can't do that???????????

Gavin, thank you.

Thanks.

From Ireland Evening Herald, April 2003

FROM LA TO INNER CITY : Band's stunner teaches tin whistle to kids

ANDREA CORR'S THE QUEEN OF SHERRIFF ST.

Andrea Corr has been shunning the high life of late to give inner-city kids music lessons, the Diary can reveal. The Corrs singer has been accompanying her friend singer Gavin Friday on his regular visits to Sheriff Streets After Schools Education Project, an initiative aimed at discouraging local children from using drugs.

"Andrea has been down to Sheriff St with me a couple of times." confirmed Gavin "She's come down to give the kids lessons on the tin whistle and then hang around to chat with them. After a while, everybody forgets she is famous." Despite being one of the worlds biggest pop stars Andrea didn't arrive in Sheriff St with a team of bodyguards. "Andrea has never brought security with her or anything like that. But then again nobody needs security when they have Gavin Friday with them," Gavin said.

The former Virgin Prune singer first became involved with the after school education project when he was contacted by local community leaders "Attendances were down and they hoped by getting someone like me involved it would bring more kids in," he explained about the programme aimed at keeping young people aged 12-15 years off the streets and away form drug pushers. As part of the workshop youngsters are encouraged to make up a play on the spur of the moment and then act it out in the classroom.

"It could be something like Joan is pregnant but Mick wants to go to a nightclub and do some E's - how do we stop him taking E's?" "I've ended up playing the role of the bouncer at the nightclub" Gavin and Andrea work with the project came about after they teamed up for the soundtrack of Jim Sheridan's new film, In America. The pair collaborated with Bono on a song called Time Enough For Tears.

"It's a beautiful number with a jazzy feel, perfect for the mood of Jims film" raved Gavin about the track on which Andrea sings lead vocal. The recording may well get an early spin tomorrow night when Gavin and his pal Guggi man the record decks in Lillie's Bordello for a benefit in aid of the Sheriff St Project. "We'll be doing a special DJ set from 11 onwards. The money we raise will go towards buying the kids a new computer because the one they've got is banjaxed"

The kitty is sure to be swelled by the auction of two paintings, one by Gavin and one by Guggi towards the end of the night. "I don't know who'll be dropping in but I can tell you this: the music we'll be playing won't ever have been played in Lillie's before and wont ever be played there again. And that's the truth."

An excerpt from a September 2002 Sunday Times' Culture Section interview with Gavin, Gavin and Bono - promoting Guggi's art exhibition in the Solomon Galleries in Dublin:

"To a large extent, all three of us are reactions to our fathers" says Gavin. "Bono has always spoken highly of his father, but he had the easiest time of the three of us when it came to fathers. In Guggi's case, you don't have to be Freud to see that the man with probably the longest hair in Dublin, who paints bowls, just might be a reaction to the father who inflicted the bowl haircut on him as a child. His upbringing and his partner, Sibylle have been his biggest influences."

"The most important thing about his painting is its religious quality, which can be traced back to his upbringing" says Bono. "There's a religious intensity to it, a monastic quietness, even in the canvases that look the least religious: a bowl is never just a bowl with Guggi-it's the most intense bowl you'll ever see."

Gavin regards Guggi's bowls as the equivalent of pop singles and can see him moving into more abstract work. "The bowls are immediate, they're easily digested. Guggi has done the pop thing: the concepts album awaits."

Guggi is not so sure. "Bowls are my language," he says. They are no more important to me than they are to anybody else. They're just shapes. But I've no plans to move out of bowls. I'd change tomorrow if I felt I should. But I see endless possibilities for the bowl."

6/10/2002

The Sunday Mirror interviewed Gavin about his DJ stint: ROCK star Gavin Friday may have launched his new career as a DJ but you won't see him dancing about for a while. The former Virgin Prunes frontman's record-spinning debut was at BP Fallon's second Death Disco Dublin event last week. Gavin said: "I had surgery on my spine at the start of the year and I was quite ill for a few months.

"I'm upright and that's about it but there's no way I'm able to dance - I'm all right for playing records though.

"I wouldn't call myself a DJ and I haven't done it in public before - only a few parties for friends.

"I've gathered a few records together from the punk era and some which have a punky attitude from other times.

"I like stirring it up - you never know I might throw Judy Garland in there.

"But I know my stuff and I love music and that's the most important thing."

1982 interview from U2 Info Service, by Geoff Parkyn

Apart from the fact that Edge's older brother Dik plays guitar in The Virgin Prunes, there are links between the two bands that go back to their childhoods, and recently Gavin Friday of the V.P.'s shed some light on their names: "The U2 connections were very strong at an early stage because I grew up with Bono, he lived a few doors down from me".

The friends duly formed into two bands, sharing early gigs such as the Prunes' 1980 UK debut at the Acklam Hall. Together, they invented a private universe for themselves, called Lypton Village, all initiates speaking "a second language"

""As kids, we used to be bored, we usen't to go out much. Bono went out and formed U2, and what they were expressing was totally different to what we were expressing, so when The Virgin Prunes formed, although there was this closeness, it was in friendship rather than attitudes and ideas... Like the names: Bono's name, Guggi gave him that name, and my name, and Davey's, they're all names from Lypton Village, and The Edge. It goes back ten years. But as the two bands developed we came to our own identities.

"People have always brought comparisons between the bands, musically. But we've never really gone together on musical terms. If I see Bono, I wouldn't really talk to him about music really. I'd talk about other things. We hate it when people bring it up, cos they say, Hey, you're in The Virgin Prunes, tell us all about U2. We get that a lot, so we hate U2 connections! It just gets a pain in the arse in this country.

"But there is a weird understanding between us. When we were younger one of our biggest pastimes was, Guggi and Bono were very quick with words, and they used to play a game. All these names, they were just because of the personality. Before the band was even formed I was called Gavin Friday. Most of us reject our names when we first get given them, like when Guggi got his name off Bono he didn't like it at all. But we have a feeling that we have to accept our names whether we like them or not.

"And I remember once, Bono was going through some way out trip in his head, wanted to be cool, and he kept on calling himself Paul Vox, and we said, Don't be stupid, Bono's a really good name - Bono Vox. And eventually what's natural you just have to accept".

Excerpts from an interview with Peter Murphy in the Sunday Independance, August 2000.

'[ painting was ] the only thing I was good at in school - it was the only thing I got an Honour in, I did crap in my Leaving. But when we were on tour in our mad days of the Eighties, if we had a day off, we'd go to the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate. It was the first time I saw the galleries of the world.'

On Bacon's Triptych, May-June 1973: [ It ] is probably the work I find the most powerful, even though I stood beside one of a Pope for your photograph. I was just trying to hang out with the Pope, seeing as it's what pop stars do nowadays...'

[ Triptych ] is like the things we don't talk about, you know? It's all the inside fears, the paranoia, the angst, the things we never see in people, or are not shown.'

RTE 2FM DJ Dave Fanning rang Gavin during his show devoted to 'celebrity auctions' on Wednesday. We caught the tail end of the interview, just after Gavin announced the Peter and the Wolf box set has already made 2 million Euro for the Irish Hospice.

• Listen to part of the interview (Windows Media)

.

from Hot Press, August 1989

Jacques Brel - Live At The Olympia 1961
Patti Smith - Horses
Elvis Presley - The Memphis Session 1969
Lou Reed - Berlin
T-Rex - Electric Warrior
Lotte Lenya - The Happy End
Edith Piaf - Hymne A L'Amour
David Bowie - Low/Heroes
Nina Simone - Nina Simone Sings The Blues
Miles Davis & Gil Evans - Sketches Of Spain
Television - Marquee Moon

from Hot Press, August 1990
by Joe Jackson

`A habit I have, is going back to three or four books I continually read, and which I treat like they are my favourite albums or poems. Books like Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront‰ -- I probably relate to both Heathcliff and Cathy! Wilde's The Picture Of Dorian Gray is also another of those re-readable books and Alice in Wonderland which I still love, I first read those books in my teens and I really saw no difference, say, between reading Dorian Gray and listening to Ziggy Stardust. I felt, and feel an affiliation with both characters.

Currently I am reading Brecht in America which is about the artistic realationships he had with people such as Charles Laughton and Peter Lorre before the heavy Red Scare -- and about how he tries to extend his political base into movies. I'm also reading A Ticket To Ride, a short novel by a writer I got into because of his series Pennies From Heaven: Dennis Potter. And, because I like poetry, I'm reading this book `90's by a young London poet, Jeremy Reid. It's all about how he feels he was let down by people like Bowie and Lou Reed. I identify with that because he grew up with the mind of influences I had. And finally there's Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood, which was the inspiration for Cabaret. A typical choice of mine, I'm afraid. And a bit of a clich‚! If you must know what my real trash reading is, it's a Dictionary Of Symptons, because I'm a hypochondriac!

An interview with Gavin Friday and the Man Seezer
Dave Fanning Rock Show RTE radio, May 2, 1989

What's an hour and five minutes of music?

[G]The album is.

Really? It goes on for 65 minutes, does it?

[G]Almost, yeah. CD-age... but ultimately, an album. Not a record, an album. Not many people are making albums, Dave, they are making records.

Yeah, that's quite true, I know. Well, Gavin and er...the man... The Man Seezer, you're both very welcome to the programme. So tell us, Gavin, what have you been up to... when was the last time you were on the programme? As a Virgin Prune was it, or?

[G]I think it was the Virgin Prunes, I think meself and Dave-id were getting phone calls, because of the f-word and things like that. Are you allowed to say that now?

Ach, there's no need. [laughter] So when was that, that must have been about four years ago?

[G]About four years, yeah.

Well, the obvious one, what have you been doing for the last four years? Where have you been all my last four years?

[G]Oh, around the world and back again!

Like, is this what it's all been leading to: the solo album, well it's not the solo album you are going tell me next, cause the Man Seezer's on it... but go on, is this what it's all been leading to, yeah?

[G]I think so, I didn't know it was going to lead to this. It was like the Prunes sort of fizzled out, and faded out. Not with a bang, sadly, it should have been a bang, cause we came in with a bang. It was around early '86, that we fizzled out, and I got totally freaked out, depressed, freaked out and all that shit.
Why? Cause you were out of a job, unemployed?

[G]Naaa... I'd never worried about that, I was unemployed even though I was in the Prunes, you know. The Prunes weren't about money. No, I was just, say: hey, I've been in this since I'm seventeen, there goes eight years of me life and it's gone, you know. A bit like you, back in your Radio Dublin days, say: `what am I gonna do?' If you know what I mean... [laughter]

Do you remember back in those days, yeah?

[G]Oh, I do!

Do you remember coming in for interviews?

[G]I do! See, I'm around a while.

Yeah, you are around a while, in fact, if you go back even further, nearly twenty years, which is really going back, say 1970, '71. Back to the old days of Lypton Village when the whole lot of youse used to hang around in North Dublin. One of the things you used to say then was: the whole lot of us gathered all together, because we s a w t h i n g s d i f f e r e n t l y ... Do you still see things differently, Gavin?

[G]Well, I suppose I do. But er, I don't know, I wouldn't er, that's very arrogant, you're asking me to be arrogant, Dave, to say: yeah, yeah, I'm really different to everyone else. No basically, when we were growing up in Lypton Village in the early seventies, the main thing was football, cider and mots. And we sort of were afraid of mots, hated football and had never experienced cider. And we all liked music and painting. Little poncy, arty people, that had a great sense of humour and hung around with each other. Then we discovered alcohol and mots and things like that later, so...`see things differently' in that was like, we weren't bootboys, if you know what I mean. I'm not being condescending.

No, because obviously an awful lot of those early days have come very much up to the surface with the world-wide success of the other friends you had in Lypton Village which basically were Bono etcetera. And if that is the case... I mean... I'm getting the impression that when I talked to you in the old Radio Dublin days that it was different, in other words like that... you were upper-class boys, I think, were you?

[G]I was never upper-class!

I get the impression now, looking back, that you had lots of money in those days, you were middle-class... that's why you weren't into whatever and whatever you were into, whatever...

[G]I wouldn't say I was middle-class, I mean, me ma...

Am I wrong to re-evaluate?

[G]I think you're very wrong, you're being snobby, just because you're a Southsider! [laughter] Which isn't like these up and coming Northsiders... we'd terrible trouble, I remember er, the Village, like, the Prunes and U2 going into town and being Northsiders and being into punk in '76-'77 and there was all yer so and so Southsiders, we won't mention any names, and they were saying: Who are they? Ah, they're poshies, cause only poshies can buy bondage trousers. But the truth is, if we wanted to get bondage trousers or records, an auld friend of ours and yours, Tommy the Bottle of Milk, whose da used to work on the B&I and we used to give him a list: Get us this record, that record, this record and a pair of bondage trousers and this and that and go over and... you know... we weren't poshies, I mean, my ma and da never had a car... you have to be posh to have a car, Dave...

Ah, that's true, you have to have a car to be posh.

[G]We were, what one would call, lower middle-class, but it is all bullshit, if you know what I mean.

At the end of the day.

[G]It is at the end of the day, I mean, I came from Ballymun, but I didn't come from the flats!

I see, so now it's the album, so tell us then, Gavin, what about this one. You got a lot of people together. I saw one review of it, in fact the only review I saw of it in Q-magazine and it compared a lot of the stuff to Tom Waits...

[G]That's bullshit.

Yeah, I think it is too, actually, complete nonsense, but anyway, you do have some Tom Waits people on the album.

[G]Well, this is like, you know, typical reviews, they read the press-release, and see there is one or two Tom Waits musicians on the album, they say: ah, we won't listen to it, just write it off...

O.K., who are these people, and why New York and what happened?

[G]Oh er, you know who they are, it all came together with Hal Willner, who is the producer of the album, who we met up with and he came over and he spent some time with us in Dublin and we did some demos, and Hal is not what you would call a typical producer he is much more a conceptualist and a man with vision and we sat down with Hal and we explained we had all the tunes written, all the songs written and we explained what we wanted. And he simply has his fingers in a hundred pies in New York and he sent us over lists of different guys, says: maybe this guy, maybe that guy. And a couple of the guys we knew, Marc Ribot from Tom Waits, and Michael Blair, Fernando Saunders who did work with Lou Reed and a couple of guys we never heard of like Bill Frisell and Hank Roberts, the Flo and Eddie that we all know of, it was pretty like that. It was like we did an element of rehearsal in New York, but it was pretty quick.

[M] It's interesting, because in the club that we were in, the Blue Jaysus, we used to do a lot of songs taken from an album called `a tribute to Kurt Weill - Lost in the stars' and Hal had actually produced that album, so when we got to meet him and work with him it was a little bit like the Blue Jaysus turned full-circle, for us anyway.

Down at the Blue Jaysus club you did have people coming along like Phil Chevron who has done a lot of stuff like that. I've seen him on stage doing it actually as a support at the Stadium once. And also you had Agnes Bernelle which is the same again, so is there a scene of... I mean is it very trite to say:

Ah, Thirties' Berlin, Dublin, Blue Jaysus, Waterfront, bound to have the album, here it is?

[G]Yeah, I think it's very trite to say that! [laughter]

Well, hold on a second now, he said Kurt Weill, not me!

[G]I know, but we're into that, I think there is very few... I mean, Agnes is like, in her sixties and is the authentic Berlin thing. Philip is a bit like meself, like, an ex-Bowie freak that discovered punk and then started to educate himself, and anyone that is a little theatrical and into certain things will turn towards Brecht or Kurt Weill or Brel or Piaf, sort of a Northside intellectual thing, if you know what I mean? [laughter]

I see, right, what about Dagmar Krause, did you buy her album?

[G]Oh she... it's a brilliant LP, wonderful.

I thought you would like that... so, what is it this week, talking to idiots like me with pens or microphones and then next week it's Europe and next week?

[G]Yeah, we're doing all this talking-trip, trying to explain ourselves to people that don't understand us or think they do [laughter] Ah, there's some nice guys and then there's some real rent-a-people, do you know what I mean?

No, I don't know what you mean, do you think there's people out there sort of...

[G]There's people out there who are into free trips over to Dublin and there's people who just read press-releases and put any bullshit down, like, the days of opinions are going in my mind, you know? Everyone wants to have a good time, but they're not interested in good music anymore. I'm generalizing now.

You are generalizing. You say that the two of you had your first gig at an aids benefit at Hawkins House, that was in October 1987, do you not call what you were doing back in the Waterfront the year before as that?

[G]An AIDS benefit?

No, I mean as a concert, like in other words, what's gonna be on the road, when you do take this on the road, what's different?

[G]Well, the Blue Jaysus was like er, a post-Prunes exorcism for me in some ways, and it was only post-... after we kicked the Blue Jaysus in the head that we decided to start writing together and it was when we recorded a couple of songs and started demo-ing them, it was then, I would call that our first real gig... because the Blue Jaysus wasn't a gig. It was an experience, a headtrip... [laughter]... if anyone was there, they'd understand. So er, when we go out on the road... the road... I can't even handle that word, Dave, but when we go o n t o u r ... [laughter] we're going to Europe first. What we decided was, rather than going into this horrible aul' rock 'n roll dingy, dingy scene, that's been there for a long, long time, was to go into a new area, not new, it's older than rock 'n roll, but it's a little more exciting, and that's sort of Soho... we're into stripping ourselves down. The album's quite big, in that there's about five or six musicians playing with us, so myself and the Man here, along with a double-bass player and a cello player are doing a four week tour of Europe, sort of like little residencies in Pigalle and Soho of London and the redlight districts of Amsterdam. Sort of like er, jazz headfuck, if you know what I mean.

I see, I know exactly what you mean. Well, isn't that what you've done before in some ways?

[G]Never as beautiful and articulate as we were before, Dave.

No, but let's get down to basics here, you did that before basically with the Prunes in ways, it's nothing necessarily new for you is it?

[G]Er, oh... well, nothing's new in life, I mean, all you can do is pick yourself up and be better at what you were and find out where you were crap. The big thing about us all, Dave, I think, is that we have ideals of what we think we're good at, you find out what you are good at... whaddaya mean, are you trying to say I'm repeating meself?

I'm trying to say it's not necessarily the newest thing in the world, but you usurped me by saying things like: `well nothing is new anymore', so I suppose you got out of that one alright before I could...

[G]I'm not getting out of it! I'm just, I just feel that er, I mean, what do you want us to do? Start going the mouldy Mean Fiddler up to the sort of like the SFX-hall, that's more boring than anything at this stage, for me.

For you, yeah.

[G]Ah, for us all, ultimately, Dave. I'm sure you're sick of getting demo tapes of bands who see the SFX as `it', you know. The ultimate thing is to make great records and play great gigs, whether they are in the SFX-hall or in a Soho headtrip, that doesn't matter.

O.K. but there is another ultimate thing as well, and that is that in order to be able to make records, especially as expensive as the one that you've just made and as lavish and as New York and as hiring major musicians as that you've made, is to make sure that it's somewhat successful to be able to afford another bloody record, right?

[G]But I... what, whatcha mean?

The success is part of it, too. I mean, you wanna be successful as well...

[G]Oh, we don't buy champagne in the Pink Elephant, or have a limo! It's not indulgence...

Is that an answer? Wait a minute now, hold on a sec...

[G]I mean, it's not a lavish album. We recorded that in fourteen days, and mixed it in fourteen days, that's twenty-eight days. Not many bands do that, they sort of like, fuck around with drummachines and things for a couple of weeks, paying hot rice... we, we, we had a budget, which is an average... I'm not gonna explain meself... you are putting me in a place now of explaining meself...

I had him going there, for a moment.

[G]You are not going to get me to do that. O.K.. This album, Dave, it's lavish, but it's gonna last, won't be in the bargain bin.

Is it gonna sell?

[G]Ofcourse.

Loads?

[G]I don't know about that, but it's gonna sell, I mean... what do you mean, does Lou Reed sell? Does Tom Waits sell?

Yeah, New York sells, I'll tell ya.

[G]How many?

I'd say loads and loads and loads. Wait till the end of the year, it's only been released since January.

[G]Well, wait till the end of the year, it's only been released a week.

[Apart from Next and Death Is Not The End] the rest of them are all, what, collaborations between just the two of you?

[G]The two of us, except the lyrics by Oscar Wilde, etcetera, etcetera.

Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves.

[G]Very talented, aren't we, Dave?

Pretty talented alright, yeah. So, what happens, is it different from you working in the old days, is it? What are you coming up against here, a musician, is that it?

[G]People like you, that's what we're coming up against! We are trying to be honest and you are giving us all this middle of the road shit! [laughter]

No, but seriously, I mean, have you come up against a musician here? I suppose I am slagging the Prunes a bit, but I never looked upon the Prunes for musicianship.
[G]There was no band like the Prunes! And there never will be! The Prunes were the Sex Pistols meets the New York Dolls for Ireland, and I'll never, ever put a bad word against what I did in the Prunes!

No not a bad word, but I'm just saying I wasn't looking at the band for musicianship, and I didn't find any either, if you know what I mean. The Prunes as a whole was much more...

[G]A concept.

That's the word I'm looking for.

[G]We... like er, Saint Patrick banished the snakes and we tried to banish rock 'n roll, but didn't succeed.

O.K., so what is gonna happen then, you're gonna have this out, then you're gonna do all the things, you're gonna go on the road with those cello's, etcetera and you're gonna do the tours of those places. Is that it? What about America?

[G]Then we're going to... whaddaya mean `is that it?'?

What about Gavin Friday and the Man Seezer in America?

[G]Yeah, we're going to America, in September, we're actually doing, like, seperate to this sort of low-key sort of Soho tour, that you were saying wasn't very new, we're doing er, the rock 'n roll tour, you know. Out to the people, September, October, November, probably going to the States, yeah. I mean er, what do ya mean, we're gonna play some concerts, we're gonna promote our record as we are now, and then we are gonna go in and make another record.

Ah, that's great... rock and roll, I love it. All right, well listen, Gavin and Seezer, or the Man, whatever the hell I'm supposed to call you at this stage, but then I'm well used to that with some of the people you used to bring in in the past, Gavin, thank you both very much for dropping in and I wish you the very best of luck with the album. Are we gonna see you on TV, some late night around a quarter to eleven till half eleven on Network 2?

[G]On Network 2? Nighthawks? Nighthawks have no neck, and they've something else missing -- it's between most men's legs.

From the Irish Times:

Gavin Friday has formulated his lifelong passion for German music, art, literature and film into a personal tribute show - with the help of a German beer, he tells Brian Boyd

In a typically idiosyncratic reaction to the rise of punk rock, David Bowie moved to Berlin and recorded three albums that were, by his own standards, simple and stripped down. One half of one of the albums, Low, was entirely instrumental. One other gave birth to the song about two lovers meeting by the Berlin wall - Heroes. Musically, all Bowie's work from this period was overtly influenced by German electronic band Kraftwerk and when he toured these albums he would use clips from classic German films as a stage backdrop.

In Dublin, Bowie fanatic Gavin Friday, still in his pre-Virgin Prunes days, was noting all these new developments and having his eyes opened to a whole new set of cultural influences.

"Bowie introduced me to Germany, there's no doubt about it," says Friday. "It's not just the albums he recorded in Berlin but also the ones he worked on with Iggy Pop at the time - The Idiot and Lust For Life. I couldn't get enough of this stuff. I even remember finding out that the pose Iggy Pop uses on the cover of The Idiot was inspired by a German painter called Erich Heckel. And Bowie was getting into Fritz Lang and German Expressionism. At about the same time, the film Cabaret came out and I started to learn about Christopher Isherwood. I found so much there".

FRIDAY'S CAREER-LONG INTEREST in the music, film, literature and art of Germany has now been shaped into a theatrical show called Tomorrow Belongs To Me". "It's my own personal tribute to the art of the country" he says. "It's going to be a musical and visual journey into a remarkable period of creativity. It's me with a live band and the show will be divided into themes: "The Gothic", "Electronica" and "German Expressionism". It will be everything from [ the groundbreaking 1920 silent film] The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" up to [ Kraftwerk founding member] Florian Schneider".

Friday has previous form with German music. Five years ago, he had a theatre show called Ich Liebe Dich based on the work of Kurt Weill commissioned by the Dublin Theatre Festival. Back in 1989, and working with Maurice Seezer, he released an album called Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves which was, in part, a musical exploration of Bertolt Brecht.

"I had been asked to do another show based on Brecht and Weill but I said no," he says. "I had done that before and in this show there is nothing by Brecht or Weill. What turned this around for me was being approached by Beck's [ the beer company that is sponsoring the show]. I was interested because I knew they had been behind works by the artists Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin, so I thought I could do something different with them.

"I WANTED A different take on the German angle and the idea for the show first came to me when I realised how many books on German Expressionism I had, how many albums of German music I had and how many films by German film-makers I had. People such as Warner Herzog, Fritz Lang, George Grosz and Kraftwerk still fascinate me and I wanted a show that expressed that fascination."

Born Fionan Hanvey, Friday has always been an experimental figure on the music/theatre scene. A founder member of the Dublin avant-garde, post-punk group the Virgin Prunes, he was known back then for his uncompromising approach to how music should be composed and presented in a live setting.

"It was with the Virgin Prunes that I first got to Berlin," he says. "We always had a good following in Europe and I remember taking the "corridor" to Berlin in the days before the wall came down. It was an exciting time in the city - there were bands such as Einstürzende Neubauten around at the time, but it was nothing like what it used to be".

What struck Friday most about Berlin was how its once very rich and vibrant culture had come to a shuddering halt due to the second World War. "If you look at what happened there before the war, it was incredible. It really was more important artistically, in a sense, than New York. It's remarkable how it stopped so quickly but also how much was there originally. And the stuff from this time still influences - whether it be in art or film or music," he says.

It's been a busy few years for Friday. He collaborated with noted producer Quincy Jones on the soundtrack to Jim Sheridan's 50 Cent biopic, Get Rich Or Die Tryin' and he also had an acting role in Neil Jordan's Breakfast On Pluto.

"When I was working with Quincy Jones, I spent a lot of time trying to convince him that the origins of hip-hop music can be traced back to German electronic music. The whole "Krautrock" movement really impressed me - not just Kraftwerk but bands such as Can and Neu," he says. "With German film, what I'm doing is cutting up some classics to use as visuals in the show. There was so much there to look at - "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Nosferatu among others but there were some copyright problems with some of the directors. Fassbinder is one director I really wanted to use but couldn't".

HE'S HAPPY THAT neither Brecht nor Weill feature in this particular show. "There's been a lot done on them," he says. "The idea here is to look into different areas. And it's not just songs by German musicians. There's the Randy Newman song In Germany Before The War for example".

He feels that this slew of artistic activity in Germany in these years was helped, not hindered, by the fact that a lot of the names he features in the show were denounced as "degenerates" by the Nazi regime. "To be so outside of official sanction must really have been something for these people" he says.

The show runs for only two nights in Dublin, but he hasn't ruled out touring it to different countries. Because it's such a personal venture for him, he thinks the performance will be of the all-or-nothing variety. "When I do this stuff, I really bleed it . . ."

Tomorrow Belongs To Me is at the Liberty Hall Theatre, Eden Quay, Dublin, on

July 27 and 28.
© 2006 The Irish Times

GavinFriday.com talks to Gavin about the Chanteys and Sea Songs tribute album and its all star line-up. Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Antony and the Johnsons, Bono and yourselves... that's quite an impressive roll call:

'It's very 'who's in town', very impromptu. Hal (Willner) has been doing workshops in different cities, Seattle and London and New York. No time to rehearse, just go in and learn your part and sing it.'

Fresh from Willner's Dublin workshop, Gavin Friday rattles off details of the sessions in Westland Studios. He serves up the lyrics of one of his songs with gusto, characterising the sessions as very 'rum, sodomy and the lash'.

'I did a song called "The Baltimore Whores" (lyrics), probably the dirtiest of them all. It goes: "Roly poly, tickle my holey, smell of of my slimey flue, then drag your nuts across my guts..."'

He laughs: 'And that's probably the most commercial of them all!'
Gavin also recorded a lament called "Tommy's gone to Hilo" (lyrics) with Andrea Corr. It is the odd couple's second duet since 2003's "Time Enough For Tears" from the In America soundtrack.

'It's not really a duet, though. They're all chanteys, which are call and response songs. Except Andrea's "Caroline and her young sailor bold" (lyrics) and Bono's song, which are both sea songs or seamen's songs.'

Bono was only able to get involved because of the postponement of U2's antipodean tour.

'He did "The dying sailor to his shipmates", quite a dark song and very intense it is.'
And indeed one version of the lyrics of this tune, as found online, suggest a heavy mood: 'Oh wrap me in my country's flag and lay me in the cold blue sea, and let the roaring of the waves my solemn requiem be.'

'But the heaviest of them all would probably be the song I did with Guggi and Dave-id, "Bully in the alley" (lyrics).'
The song reunites the three ex-Virgin Prunes vocalists for the first time since the mid-Eighties.

'It was Dave-id as head pirate on lead vocals, and myself and Guggi as his shipmates on backing vocals. Hal said it was probably closest to what pirates really would have sounded like.'

Musicians at the Dublin session include Maurice Seezer on piano and accordion, Zoë Conway on fiddle, violin and backing vocals, Tony Molloy on bass, Robbie Casserly on drums, Anto Drennan on guitar and Andrea Corr on tin whistle. But it took a Hollywood star to get this crazy project on the road.

'It's all on the back of Pirates of the Caribbean, really, I think Johnny Depp was interested and he's executive producing the thing and Hal was contacted to do it. It's the first tribute album's he's done since the Charles Mingus one.'
Willner is often credited as the inventor of the modern tribute album, his 1981 Nino Rota tribute is a sought after collectible and he is probably best known for the 1985 Kurt Weill tribute 'Lost in the Stars'.

'Musically it's rooted in Irish and Northern English folk music. It sounds... accoustic,' Friday adds hesitantly, 'I dunno, it hasn't even been mixed yet!'
With contributions recorded in other cities by Nick Cave, Bryan Ferry, Antony and the Johnsons, Tom Waits, Richard and Linda Thompson and Loudon Wainwright, there should be plenty material for a double album. Its release on Epitaph records is pencilled in for July 2006.

From 'Dubliner' magazine, October 2004

If I had to define fame, I'd say that's it's being fucked.

Life on the road? When I am touring, I love performing, but I absolutely hate tour buses.

The very first thing that I thought of when I woke up this morning was 'oh no, not another early morning car horn'.

My all-time greatest vices are cigarettes and eyeliner. I just can't get enough of either.

Do Aliens exist? Yes, absolutely, positively. In fact, I know quite a few.

When I am drunk I talk, I smile, I laugh, I sing, I dance and I also wee wee a lot. All in all, I'm a happy drunk.

My personal philosophy would have to be 'Give what you got or lose what you have.'

If I ruled the world I think I would definitely have to abdicate. Too much pressure.

My greatest Rock n Roll moment was when my mickey popped out of my trousers when Virgin Prunes supported The Clash in 1978. Ah, happy daze.

My favourite TV programme of all time is The Clangers.

The funniest thing about Dublin is, without a doubt, Lillie's Bordello.

If I could be anyone for a day I would have to chose Eamon Dunphy.

The worst thing about modern life is Eamon Dunphy.

Do I like video games? Seriously? No, I fucking hate them.

In the shower I sing Come to Daddy.

In L.A., an Irish party toast to 'In America'
Tamara Conniff, Hollywood Reporter

Jan 29, 2004
Jim Sheridan is an intense man. His thoughts shift easily from the death of William Shakespeare's son and the meaning of "Hamlet" to James Joyce's obsession with death to the merits of schlepping a third-hand air conditioner through the streets of Manhattan on a very hot day, as seen in his Oscar-nominated film "In America."

Sitting in a garden restaurant on a mild and sunny Los Angeles afternoon, Sheridan joins U2's Bono, songwriter and performer Gavin Friday, composer Maurice Seezer and singer Andrea Corr to toast the success of "In America." The original song "Time Enough for Tears" was written for the film by Bono, Sheridan, Friday and Seezer and performed by Corr. And even though the song failed to take home a Golden Globe and was shut out of the Oscar nominations, the group is thrilled by the film's three Oscar mentions -- for leading actress Samantha Morton, supporting actor Djimon Hounsou and original screenplay by Sheridan and his daughters Naomi and Kirsten.

Bono says it's important that smaller films and nonradio-friendly songs like the delicate "Time Enough for Tears" receive attention. "These are gems that people need to know about, otherwise they'll fall into the dirt," Bono says.

Sheridan, Friday and Bono have a long history of supporting each other creatively. The trio's friendship dates to the late 1970s, when Sheridan ran Dublin's alternative theater, the Project Art Center, where Bono (with U2) and Friday (with the Virgin Prunes) performed their first gigs. Friday says that Sheridan, in an effort to improve his and Bono's stage personas, instructed the two frontmen in the art of mime. The trio and Seezer first worked together on the score and an original song for Sheridan's award-winning 1993 film "In the Name of the Father."

"In America," which follows an Irish family who emigrates to the United States in search of the American dream, comes at a strange political time, given the anti-American sentiment raging through Europe because of the Iraq war. Bono noted that being shut out of the Golden Globes, which is voted on by the international press corps, was not surprising, and he hopes that the film will fare better in American awards.

"The film takes an unpopular position because it's pro-American and pro-working people," Bono says.

For Sheridan, the semiautobiographical film also is about dealing with loss. In the picture, the family comes to terms with the premature death of son and brother Frankie. In real life, Sheridan was 18 when he lost his brother Frankie, who was 11, to a brain tumor. Sheridan says he and his family were haunted by Frankie's death; writing the film with his daughters (who moved with him and his wife to New York City in the early 1980s) was cathartic.

"The Irish have too much of a preoccupation with death," Sheridan says. "This film is about (all of us) moving away from this fascination."

Bono smiles and nods in a agreement, "It's the (Irish) rain that makes us melancholic."

However, while the Irish enjoy their suffering, they balance it with a good party, Seezer says.

The score to the film reflects this spirit. In fact, Sheridan's direction to Friday and Seezer was to "make fun of the film" and incorporate the true sounds of Irish immigrant music. The result is purely Irish, with the music adding bittersweet levity to devastating emotion.

In many ways, "In America" is a love letter to New York and its boundless possibilities. Sheridan smiles: "Sorry, I love America."

NPR's Melissa Block talks to Gavin about the music of Peter and the Wolf.

(Excerpt: start of Peter and the Wolf intro)

Melissa Block: No doubt you recognise the theme. It's the instrument that's out of context...

(Excerpt: Peter and the Wolf continued)

MB: ...Peter and the Wolf, plucked on mandolin.

("Beware for wolves come in many disguises")

MB: There's some atmospheric special effects. This is a recording of that mandolin played backwards.

(Excerpt: "Once upon a time, there was a boy called Peter. He lived with his grandfather in a cottage with a garden surrounded by a high stone wall.")

MB: That's Gavin Friday, sidling into the story. He's an Irish musician and composer with roots in punk rock. Friday put together this take on the 1936 Prokofiev classic along with Maurice Seezer. They tweaked the original text, the wolf at one point 'goes mental'. They stayed true to the score, but they tossed out the symphony orchestra.

(Excerpt: "Now this is where the story begins...")

MB: Instead a small band with a banjo.

("Early one morning, when Peter walked out of the house...")

MB: Also an accordion, bass clarinet, percussion of all kinds.

(Excerpt: PATW continues)

MB: Gavin Friday describes the sound this way: he imagines Kurt Weill hanging out at a bar mitzvah.

Gavin Friday: This has been recorded by so many artists over the years, so many different people have done wonderful versions... and dreadful versions I must admit.

MB: Covers the map...

GF: Yeah, and I went, hey, if you wanna get the kids' attention today we're gonna have to turn this into like a movie... it's gonna have to grab their attention, so I imagined it was being directed by Tim Burton.

MB: There's a sinister, very dark tone to a lot of it.

GF: There is, but kids like that. Kids love being scared, but at the end of it all they like a big hug, do you know what I mean? So, musically we tried to sort of get into that Tim Burton gothic thing. When the wolf comes out of the forest, I want the kids to sort of hide behind the chair.

(Excerpt: wolf gets caught)

GF: I work a lot in soundtrack music and if you listen to a lot of the music, there's so much after being robbed from Peter and the Wolf. Like if you listen to the wolf being caught which is 'tun dun - tun dun - tun dun'

(Excerpt: wolf gets caught)

GF: It's Jaws! It's John Williams. Robbed it!

(Excerpt, "Peter tied his end of the rope to the tree...")

GF: Listen to it! Like the whole wolf with the cellos and the double bass...

(Excerpt: wolf gets caught)

GF: Definitely... John Williams. Shouldn't have got an Oscar for Jaws.

MB: Prokofiev...

GF: Prokofiev should have...

(Excerpt: bird & duck)

MB: There is a moment in the story when the bird and the duck, they...

GF: They're having an argument.

MB: They're having a bit of an argument.

(Excerpt: bird & duck)

MB: Now we're hearing...

GF: You're hearing flying... d'you know what that is?

MB: You're hearing wings...

GF: D'you know what it is?

MB: What is that?

GF: Well, our percussion player is quite a genius. And he started getting paperback books and he started flapping them in front of the microphones, to give the impression of wings.

MB: Is that right, pages?

GF: It is. Just two paperback books.

(Excerpt: bird & duck)

GF: We were shaking in time, so we have 1, 2, 3... on the rhythm.

MB: There's a moment a little later on when the grandfather is coming out to find him and he's not happy.

(Excerpt: "Grandfather came out of the house through the open gate...-")

MB: There's that bass clarinet...

GF: ... banjo, percussion...

(Excerpt: Grandfather theme)

MB: There's a little creaking sound back there

GF: Mmm, it's a rocking chair.

MB: A rocking chair?

GF: Mmm. We said: Ah, how can we make him really feel old? And we just went (makes creaking sound), and it's a bit of a rocking chair that was sitting in the studio.

(Excerpt: "He never liked Peter to go out into the meadow...")

MB: There is something very joyful about the theme of Peter with banjo and accordion it's got a great energy to it.

GF: Mmm. That's what I said, like, whether you've heard of Prokofiev, or even can't pronounce the word, or Peter and the Wolf - you may never have heard of it... but you have, subliminally everyone knows that melody. You hear that melody and 'I know that! What's that? D'ya know what I mean, it's just a little classical thing'

MB: Was there a moment when you were making this recording when you thought, boy, there have just been so many versions of Peter and the Wolf, do we really need another one? What can I possibly bring to this?

GF: No, I didn't think that, I was arrogant enough to say we could do something really different. Heh.

MB: Gavin Friday, thanks so much

GF: Thank you so much, Melissa.

From the Evening Herald's 'Money and Business' section

What was your best buy?
My house and home

Going out and spending or a quiet night in saving?
Both...going out and spending and a quiet night in - two of the most enjoyable things in life.

Stockmarket or Piggybank?
Piggybank.

Rolls Royce or Mini Metro?
Rolls Royce 'cause its good for my voice.

Jacket and tie or jeans and t-shirt in the office?
I don't work in an office but if i did a jacket and tie...like a true gentleman.

Are you sucked in by useless inventions?
No, I'm a realist!

Lotto or Bookies?
I never bet and I think the Lotto is a waste of time.

Do you prefer cash or credit?
Both cash and credit, Why? Its only money!

One of the most anticipated films and soundtracks this year is "Moulin Rouge", director Baz Luhrmann's new musical extravaganza starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Though apparently the film isn't completely finished yet, it debuted at the Cannes Film festival last week.

For the soundtrack, Luhrmann asked Bono, Gavin and Maurice Seezer specifically to do T Rex's "Children of the Revolution". It is the theme tune of the 'Bohemians' in the film. A song that is "a pre punk pop anthem, full of pure 'I DON'T WANNA GROW UP' teenage angst... with one of the best guitar/string riffs of all time," says Gavin, speaking to us from the studio in Dublin.

Gavin and Maurice, who are currently working on their fourth studio album, took time out to record the song in their own "HORSE studios", after seeing "a snippet or two" of the movie, which according to Gavin, "looks amazing, like Fritz Lang in the 21st century".

"T Rex/Bolan have always been a love/interest to me... "take me back to '72"..."The Slider", "Rex Mortuus Est", "Life's a Gas", "King of Trash" (all songs Gavin and Maurice played or recorded). Over the years myself and Maurice have tipped our hat to Bolan many a time. The music of T Rex will always be close to my heart, it's a 'you never forget your first kiss' type of thing."

When we ask Gavin how roles in the studio were divided, he says: "We are one but not the same... Bono took the role of Bolan and I took on the role of Flo & Eddie (backing singers on the original) at the request of the director. The recordings were very free form, just the three of us dossin'. It was chaos 'n' fun, mad jams, very uncontrived with our tongues firmly in our cheeks."

Two versions of the track were mixed by 'Biffco' at Windmill Lane. The mix used in the film is different from the one on the soundtrack: "It's a demented camp/handbag/heavy metal/pop kind of thing."
Will it be released?
"Maybe?"

Friday and Bono have known each other since they were kids, growing up on the same street in Northside Dublin. As teenagers they formed 'Lypton Village', a group of individuals who 'saw the world differently'. For musicians who have known each other and remained friends for that long a time, they have recorded remarkably little together. Yet when they do team up the results can be potent. Take 1993's "In the Name of the Father", arguably some of the best work either have done.

When two strong characters get together, we wonder who's the boss in the studio: "The old Lypton Village roles still come into practice, I am in charge of being in charge, and Bono is judge & jury, some things don't change."

Any chance of more collaborations in the future?
"You never know," Gavin answers, "perhaps when we're in our fifties."

Now, we don't know about you, but we'd like to hear this done live. We suggest a session at Slane Castle.
Gavin: "You must be joking... I have a fear of large fields and castles."

Yes, we were joking.

Finally, some T Rex advice... if we want to hear more, what should we get? ""Electric Warrior", every home should have one."

March 15, 2000

artshapes_dotcom: The phone is ringing..... and ringing.....
We have Gavin Friday with us. Thank you for staying up late tonight for us, Gavin. What were you up to earlier in the evening?

Gavin Friday: I was in the studio writing and recording scores for an RTE musical under the title of Emerald Germs by Pat McCabe. Myself and Maurice are working on it, writing and recording. Next month the actors are recorded. It will be mixed in May and broadcast in mid summer for 9-10 weeks

carolinevonb asks: Does Pat McCabe have a musical say in what you are recording for his radio plays right now?
Gavin Friday: well he's thrown the ball in our court. He worked with us for a day last month and gave us artistic direction. At the end of the month he is coming up for a couple of days.

steven_q_peterpicker asks: Gavin what do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?
Gavin Friday: surviving a Christian brother education!

nico_popflier asks: Gavin, have you found a new record company yet and if so is there a speculation on when a release may be anticipated?
Gavin Friday: no, myself and Mauricio are labelless and happily so. We've done one off deals with MCA. I don't know if recording Emerald Germs will see the light of day and we'll end up with a label. At the moment we are our own men.

daniela_10967 asks: Will you go on tour again in the near future?
Gavin Friday: I don't know. We have played some shows last year. The Harry Smith project we played last November in London and also in NY. In July its happening on the US west coast possibly San Fran and then on to Japan.:We may do some acoustic shows around Ireland last summer just for the fuck of it.

funjake222 asks: Do you still have time to paint and draw? Do you sell your artwork through any galleries (or other sources) ? If so, where?
Gavin Friday: I did once. I did an exhibition in 87-88. It was post breakup of the Virgin Prunes. I have painted always for myself and friends but not really for galleries.

artshapes_dotcom: What type of painting?
Gavin Friday: I couldn't describe it over the Internet. It's abstract. I did a series of paintings for the people I love. Most of my friends have received a "99". I call it the 'cone' series.

Steven_q_peterpicker asks: What is your favorite musician other than yourself?
Gavin Friday: Maurice Seezer of course.

queenpuck asks: Gavin, it's well known that you have been friends with Paul Hewson / Bono since ye were teenagers, does it bother you that he is so much more famous, or do you prefer it that way? And by the way, do you ever use your "given" name now?
Gavin Friday: Well first of all it doesn't bother me at all that Bono is more famous than me. I know him longer as a famous person so I'd be very fucked up if I hadn't gotten over it now. It means he pays for the pints. Fionan Hanvey is the real name. My mum and dad and brothers call me that but most people call me 'Gav' and 'Gavin'.

foadlarry asks: Gav what are you doing tomorrow night? Where's the craic?
Gavin Friday: Well, Paddy night I'll be hiding. I couldn't go out. Too much riffraff. So you should stay at home

ultravioletfra asks: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO BE IRISH?
Gavin Friday: It means a lot Maybe I'll answer in Gaelic, O Eireann mo chroi

Steven_q_peterpicker asks: Who/what got you started into the music business?
Gavin Friday: I didn't know I was getting into it. When I was seventeen I formed a band as I was a fucked up angry man and wanted to express myself. I didn't know it was a business. That was the Virgin Prunes. I landed here by accident rather than a business.

? asks: What kind of music do you play?
Gavin Friday: Maurice is beside me here so I'm asking. Maurice has no idea! A-Z and back again.

ultravioletfra asks: Where do you find "Inspiration"?
Gavin Friday: through people, the good the bad and the ugly things in life

roses_r_roses asks: Now that you're 40, what's different?
Gavin Friday: I am 40. Just turned. (ed. A lot of this answer went missing)

funjake222 ask: What are you reading? (this is Boston Sue by the way)
Gavin Friday: Hey Sue. How the Jacobsen? I am currently reading a book called the little hammer by John kelly. I'm half way through it. he's a DJ/TV presenter. I haven't made my mind up on it yet. We are a bit immersed in the Emerald Germs so we are eating and shitting the scripts.

funjake222 asks: Will the radio plays be available in the U.S.? Will it be played on the radio here?
Gavin Friday: It will the played in Ireland. Definitely. There is talk of English companies broadcasting it in Britain later in the year. Where and when I cannot say but I definitely see it as having a life outside of Ireland.

lynshorte_2000 asks: You played Orlando, Fla. a couple of years ago on St. Patrick's Day. Brilliant show! Any chances of coming back here to perform another show?
Gavin Friday: Brilliant poster!! I still have it. Its one of my favourite posters of all time. It had a 21st century cabaret artist with a picture of a drunk shamrock with bubbles and shamrocks hanging out of his mouth. If you get rid of Disneyland we'll think about it.

Zorro_Chapin asks: Gavin, what can you tell us about singing in "IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER?"
Gavin Friday: I can tell you a lot. The work of In the Name of the Father was a very tense and quick process. Most of it was written produced and stuck on in a week. It was very intense because the movie was so politically impassioned. It was the first time I worked with Jim Sheridan so it was one of our best musical experiences in the studio. I think it stands out as one of our best.

funjake222 asks: My son wants to know, what is your favorite song from Each Man Kills... (my little Gavin's favorite song is "Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves" and he wants you to know that... from your 8 year old fan Gavin McC.
Gavin Friday: 8 years old, wow I'd like to talk to you when you are 18! My favourite is Another Blow in the Bruise.

bemeana asks: now that bono has gotten into film, do you see someday taking on a film project together?
Gavin Friday: together as in me and Bono? I don't know I've never thought of it. Me act and he direct - I've never thought of it. Any time we have collaborated it has not been too planned or thought out.

foadlarry asks: Are you going to be doing any more modeling in the near future?
Gavin Friday: no not really. I just do that for charity now and then. I don't think my crotch could handle it.

mucusgirl asks: Where is your favorite place to get a drink?
Gavin Friday: My favourite drink is in places with the company of friends.

Celtic___Tiger asks: What's your favourite Dublin gigging venue?
Gavin Friday: I have never played it but I love Vicar Street.

carolinevonb asks: Cathal's playing Vicar street in April, wanna go?
Gavin Friday: Is that Mr. Coughlan speaking himself? ...
How's your tits, Cazza? If its Cathal Coughlan we'll be there.

kambe_gorot asks: Will you one day become the Irish Tom Waits?
Gavin Friday: No, I will become the Irish Gavin Friday.

kirel23 asks: happy birthday
Gavin Friday: You're a bit late.

naughty_nips asks: Where in Ireland are you from?
Gavin Friday: Dublin, Northside. Yes I still live in the Northside, happily.

artshapes_dotcom: Has it changed much these past few years?
Gavin Friday: yes, as has all of Dublin, as has all of Ireland. Some ways for the best, some ways I don't know yet.

kambe_gorot asks: Did you record for Hal Willner's Harry Smith Project?
Gavin Friday: We did but as I said earlier we did 3 shows last year and probably 2 this year and they are all being recorded for live use - CD, DVD. But they're live recordings. Do you want to know the songs? "When that great ship goes down" and "Fatal flower garden".

Adriana_u2 asks: Did you know that you're well known in some places like 'Uruguay'??!! What does this make you feel?
Gavin Friday: Makes me feel exotic.

ultravioletfra asks: You're not very famous here in Italy. Why don't you advertise your works?
Gavin Friday: says who? Como stai, encore, encore Mussolini.

foadlarry asks: Did you enjoy dressing up for the fashion awards at the point last month? You should do it more often cos you have the walk.
Gavin Friday: We were just having a laugh. The lads just go a bit drunk in the back dressing room. I was taking the mickey - literally.

Celtic___Tiger asks: What's the best advice you can give to a band entering the Irish music scene?
Gavin Friday: Give up! Find out the hard way, fuck off.

nico_popflier asks: My girlfriend who's a DJ says "thank you for the flawless remixes...they get excellent compliments at her club"
Gavin Friday: what club?

Celtic___Tiger asks: Do you think the commitments done much for music on the northside?
Gavin Friday: Absolutely not. Its go nothing to do with the Northside or music.

imonzootv asks: What's in your CD player at the moment?
Gavin Friday: The single by Fiona Apple "Fast as you can". Other than that we've been listening to demented Irish music for Emerald Germs, like Foster and Allen - can you imagine that kind of mind fuck. It makes Daniel O'Donnel sound hard core.

? asks: How was Adam Clayton's birthday party?
Gavin Friday: It was a very emotional event.

artshapes_dotcom asks: What happened?
Gavin Friday: none of your business.

ultravioletfra asks: IN THAT SONG YOU SAY "HIS WIFE THE SPIRIT". DO YOU THINK THE SPIRIT IS THE FEMALE PART OF GOD
Gavin Friday: No its Mother Bernadette incarnate. Its just poetic license.

mucusgirl asks: Who is your favorite character in Alice in Wonderland?
Gavin Friday: It has to be the madhatter. I love the madhatter.

bemeana asks: do you enjoy working with film?
Gavin Friday: Yes very much so. I have spent a lot of time over the past few years.

artshapes_dotcom: Would you like to direct?
Gavin Friday: Its not on my hit list. I am happy enough working in the context I am in which is score but maybe... I get worried about musicians who think they can do a lot. Stick to what you know you can do.

bradley_g_01 asks: did you ever play glycerin in the rain at spring break on MTV?
Gavin Friday: no, what drugs are you on?

kambe_gorot asks: I saw you at Crossing Border. Fab! Come back. OK?
Gavin Friday: which crossing border? We did one in 94 and the next one in 96. The first was great and second one was shite. Maybe.

funjake222 asks: Since Maurice is there, what is he reading?
Gavin Friday: At the moment live in the studio he is reading Sound on Sound, a music wank magazine. But the book he is reading is called Links in Heaven - Golf Journeys in Ireland. Maurice: 'I simply could not put back this marvelous book that simply captures the spirit of Irish gold. The other book I'm reading is the Portable Curmudgeon.

foadlarry asks: what's the last gig you went to?
Gavin Friday: I went to a gig last week that was brilliant. It was Randy Newman - him and a piano for three hours live. And it was brilliant and inspiring.

queenpuck asks: Some years ago one-hit-wonder Maria McKee started hanging out with you and your friends in Dublin, and we never heard of her again... now I hear that actress Anna Friel is hanging out with ye...is this the end for her too? Are these foreign girls not able for the Northside Dublin lifestyle or what? And where can I find out where the action is?
Gavin Friday: Maria McKee is alive and well and living in LA. She just got married and we went to her wedding. Anna Friel is gone to Mars. Don't be so forward, men don't find it very attractive.

roses_r_roses asks: If the music quits flowing, then what?
Gavin Friday: I don't play anything but I can see myself making music for the rest of my life. I see myself singing when I am 70 or 80 if I live that long. Paint probably but it doesn't seem to be a problem. Enrico Caruso said "The thinga about the singing it is alike the shitting only the other way arounda"

Zorro_Chapin asks: How was your last painting exhibition in Dublin?
Gavin Friday: It was a good 12 years ago. It was successful . I made more money than 8 years with the Virgin Prunes Gavin Friday: It was a little naive and I've become much better.

foadlarry asks: Do you ever want children?
Gavin Friday: Maybe. I have a lot of godchildren.

Adriana_u2 asks: Do you collect anything?
Gavin Friday: Yes religious icons. I also collect paintings. I like art. I collect a lot of shit - perverted toys, paintings and religious icons.

funjake222 asks: Haven't you also designed some clothes?
Gavin Friday: I have done but I did that for charity. I did a lot. With Virgin Prunes we wore our own. I designed hats with Philip Treacey for War child - A Bosnian fund - rebuilding a university for kids. Various musicians worked with clothes designers. The title of the hats were Cock in Cognito - the ladies one and Vag in Cognita - the mens one.

one_u2_girl asks: Gavin how much input did you have on u2's last album
Gavin Friday: POP? I don't know - its not really input. I call in on sessions and give my opinions. I say what I think - we're mates and I say what I think. I always have - don't believe credits, they're a load of bollicks.

kambe_gorot asks: Don't you think another Dutch concert is well over due?
Gavin Friday Absolutely. Very fond of the Dutch audience. The Dutch have been more loyal to me than the Irish.

Celtic___Tiger asks: What's the next gig you're going to?
Gavin Friday: I don't know. The Charlie Mingus - jazz group, they are playing so I might go to that. I might check out Macy Gray or I mightn't. If Cathal Coughlan is playing I'll definitely go to that.

kambe_gorot asks: Why is most Irish music so sad?
Gavin Friday: Did you ever check out the weather here? It's probably go tot do with the fact that we were tortured by the British for 700 years.

gdlokin98 asks: Did you enjoy singing with the Virgin Prunes?
Gavin Friday: It was more like, fucking raw live. It was a raw nerve vomiting and loving every minute of it.

kambe_gorot asks: Where the Prunes the Irish Pistols?
Gavin Friday: I don't think they were but they came close. The radicalness yes but I actually think we were better. The pistols were a rock n' roll band but we were more complex.

diabhalspacey asks: Gavin - Oasis or Radiohead?
Gavin Friday: Radiohead, definitely, yes.

nico_popflier asks: Why is it when your in a record store in Dublin no one seems to know anything about you or your music? I have found this to be a problem in locating past material of yours.
Gavin Friday: Just blame fucking the Corrs, I don't know. Only buy in Tower.

u2twins asks: If you could pick one song to sum your life up, what would you pick?
Gavin Friday: That a mad question. There is amazing song 'Is that all there' is sung by Peggy Lee and written by Leiber/Stoller.

mucusgirl asks: Where did the name "Virgin Prunes" come from?
Gavin Friday: Myself and Guggi when we were young, at the back end of Cedars where we lived, there was a mental hospital for young people. And that's where it came from.

foadlarry asks: do you think Guggi needs a hair cut?
Gavin Friday: No we all gave up on him 20 years ago. He hasn't cut his hair in 21 years. He's Irelands 21st century Willie Nelson.

mgrebes asks: What do you find attractive, then?
Gavin Friday: I don't know, its a magic thing. A beautiful mind. As regards the horn, come back tomorrow.

_GONE asks: Is there any chance of you playing somewhere in Eastern Europe this year or the next?
Gavin Friday: This year I don't know, next hopefully. The closest we ever played was Yugoslavia. We played Lubljana. I was blown out by the audience and the whole vibe. I would love it.

bemeana asks: What do you think of Berlin?
Gavin Friday: I knew it very well in the 80s. The Virgin Prunes live there for a couple of months in the 80s. Then it changed so much. I was there recently for a premiere. It's so clean. It looks like they Hoover it every hour. It was a different place in the 80 - it was a no go area you had to go through the corridor to get there. Yes, it was gut, wunderbar, scheisse.

wandervogel73 asks: hello Gavin !! , (please can you forget my English ? I'm from Argentina ) - if you make a world tour , can you include sudamerica (specially my country) ?
Gavin Friday: we'd love to Gavin Friday: Brazil, Argentina, Cuba the whole lot. I would go there quicker than Orlando.

vildan1971 asks: Mr. Pussy...When will you return to Vancouver,BC , Canada... Sincerely Your Vancouver Angels.
Gavin Friday: Wow that was a good show. Mr Pussy isn't me, it was a character we played. We'll be back, Canada is great to us it is like Amsterdam is to Europe to us. We don't forget those who love us and we'll be back.

queenpuck asks: You said on Irish television recently that the first song you performed "live" (at a family gathering) was Dana's Eurovision winner "All kinds of everything", where you a right show off as a child? And is this necessary to become a good live performer?
Gavin Friday: actually I was the opposite. I was very shy. I was asked to sing at my Auntie Nans wedding. I think you have to be quite shy and reserved as a kid to be a singer.

birdwelle asks: Are you disappointed that no one has really taken up the Virgin Prune banner...the heavy performance art/music pathos.
Gavin Friday: No. They are like very good wine - only 20 years only and still more potent than most Irish drivel that came out in the last 20 years.

imonzootv asks: Have you recorded anything for yourself recently, or have you been working solely on the radio plays?
Gavin Friday: No we've been working, constantly writing and recording our own stuff. A bit of everything.

funjake222 asks: Any chance that your cafe/restaurant will be resurrected?
Gavin Friday: I doubt it. Mr Pussy was a little ahead of its time. I don't think Dublin was ready for it at the time. It had a great buzz for a year but that was it and it does not need to be repeated.

one_u2_girl asks: Please Gavin can you make it to Paris,Texas??
Gavin Friday: Yeh, we'd go there but I don't know when and where.

one_u2_girl asks: Ok gavin i can see your answers now...tell me.. What do you think about the big ABC show on the "pop" tour about 3 years ago? Did bono like it?
Gavin Friday: Crap. It was terrible.

roses_r_roses asks: What do you love or hate about your fans?
Gavin Friday: I don't know half of them so I how can I love or hate them? I don't love or hate anything.

queenpuck asks: Many people (including myself) thought that you should have won an Oscar for the music from "In the name of the Father" do you think the reasons why ye didn't win were musical or nonmusical i.e. political etc.?
Gavin Friday: Probably political but not political because of the Irishness in the movie but Hollywood does not tend to like rock singers in score. Its more to do with musical political snobbery than anything else.

mgrebes asks: How many cigarettes have smoked by now?
Gavin Friday: Just one since the interview as we have no ciggies. Maurice had a cigar that he broke up and rolled. We're having it with a brandy!

funjake222 asks: One more question from Boston Sue (and Gavin Mcc, who now has to go for his bath and to sleep, he is only 8 after all): Gavin wants to know what you do for fun?
Gavin Friday: The last fun thing I did, I took Moses, my God child, to the Tae Kwondo championship in Ireland.

bemeana asks: What do you think of Blixa Bargeld or Einsturzende Neubauten? Have you heard of him/them?
Gavin Friday: yes absolutely I think they are one of the greatest German bands of the last 20 years. He is a great guitarist and plays with Nick Cave - a fine singsong band. They do a great cabaret turn.Blixa bigtime.

diabhalspacey asks: Al Pacino or Robert De Niro? (I like these questions )
Gavin Friday: De Niro

vildan1971 asks: Who sleeps next to you when you turn out the lights?
Gavin Friday: At the moment, Mr. Pussy.

mucusgirl asks: Do you find the sincerity and lack of irony in American culture limits your career there?
Gavin Friday: No, I think it limits their entertainment.

imonzootv asks: You're clearly a film patron from your soundtrack work... what's your favorite movie?
Gavin Friday: Its a tough one. One of my favourite movies is "The night of the Hunter" from the 50s.

goddesspt2 asks: Do you spend much time on the computer?
Gavin Friday: No.

roses_r_roses asks: At times like this, do you ever feel like a tourist attraction?
Gavin Friday: No, but I contemplate doing a shite.

Adriana_u2 asks: Do you have any regret?
Gavin Friday: Yes, I think this no regret thing is a load of bollocks. I have a few regrets.

sebclay asks: Will there ever be a Prunes revival Gavin? And if not, why not?
Gavin Friday: well the revival has nothing to do with us, we have the rights. Guggi said the only time we should revive is when we are in our 70s. Come back in 35 years and I'll answer the question.

bemeana asks: Is your music our entertainment or your entertainment?
Gavin Friday: Its not entertainment.

kambe_gorot asks: When did you last wear a dress?
Gavin Friday: You know I think it was actually in the early 80s when we hung up the dresses and mine was also hung up - hung up - I've give up since the prunes.

carolinevonb asks: can we talk to Maurice for a bit?
Gavin Friday: Absolutely.

artshapes_dotcom: We want to thank Gavin for being with us tonight. We really appreciated you staying up late for this chat. Thank you everyone for your questions. Tonight's chat was brought to you by www.ArtShapes.com.

(gavinfriday.com would like to apologise for the state of the transcript of this interview which was done by ArtShapes. We tried to correct things where we could, but according to Gavin it's still not even close to what he said.)

reproduced by kind permission, G. Power/Art Shapes

Hot Press's Peter Murphy meets Pat McCabe and Gavin Friday

In the black and white corner, in a dark suit and white shirt, Gavin Friday, a dapper hybrid of Dub Rat Pack poise and course Behan-esque wit. In the other black and white corner, an equally dark-suited Pat McCabe, the Clones Cyclone, a dauntingly erudite literary madman who occasionally morphs into a toad-licking Travis Bickle.

Both men have lost a lot of weight recently, probably from a combination of overwork and each other's company. They're obviously thick as thieves, and to witness the two brainstorming is enough to intrigue any sociologist, psychologist or etymologist. Gavin's remembering something that happened in Monaghan not so long ago.

"Culchies . . . " he begins, then trails off. "Sorry, Pat gets very upset about this . . ."

"Oh, I'm deeply wounded, Gavin"

" . . . but I remember the time coming out of The Butcher Boy premiere, and he's there in the limo, as is (Neil) Jordan, and we're all goin' out to a night club, and he goes, 'Fuck off ya jackeen cunt, get a taxi! The culchies are on top tonight!'"

"The Culchie Liberation Front," Pat deadpans, throwing down the gauntlet. "And not one Dubliner I've ever met knows where the word 'jackeen' comes from."

"It means flyin' the Union Jack," Gavin proclaims.

"Shut up!" roars Pat. "Shut up! I told ye that!"

"The story is this," Gavin drawls. "'Jackeen' doesn't sound as good as 'muck savage' or 'culchie'. 'Culchie' has this poetry. 'Shut up ya muck-head, savage, bog warrior.'"

Such choice phrases merely bounce off Pat McCabe's throbbing skull. "The boy here tackled a bunch of the new corporate fuckin' Irish sean-nos dudes when we were down in Whelan's," he relates, nodding to Friday. "There was potato famine an' shit everywhere. And up he comes - 'Ya fuckin' culchie bastards!' That's the realest thing in the world, the natural banter between city and country, that's just hoppin' the ball really, it's something they should lighten up on. I'm not comfortable with the preciousness that has entered this appropriation of peasant culture. I'd sooner have the guy saying, 'Ya culchie fucker and yer stupid books!' You can't go from 1975, with people goin' 'Ya bogman ya!' to suddenly everybody being heterogenous or something."

Excerpt from Bleedin' Jackeens & Bogmen with bony arses, by Peter Murphy, Hot Press, reproduced by kind permission of Niall Stokes, editor

August 1998

It's not every young man that has the balls to walk around Ballymun rigged out in a dress and a pair of Doc Martins but then again Gavin Friday was never one for adhering to conformities.

Gavin was one of a group of pioneering artists from Finglas East who had a massive impact on the Dublin music scene during the punk explosion that hit the city during the mid to late 70s. This select band of Bohemians included U2's Bono and spawned The Virgin Prunes, a band that musically swung from complete and utter incomprehensible self-indulgence to sheer musical delight - often during the same number.
These days Gavin sticks to the more melodic side of music and has contributed to several film soundtracks including In The Name of the Father, The Boxer and Romeo and Juliet as well as releasing three albums with partner, Maurice Roycroft.

Although he now makes a few bob from his talent Gavin hasn't sold out and is still a unique and likeable individual. But back in the 70s his individuality was not appreciated by everyone and he was often attacked, verbally and physically, for daring to be different. However, he still describes his Northside childhood as "mostly a happy one."

"I lived in Cabra when I was a baby but I grew up on Cederwood Road," Gavin told us. "Some people said Cederwood was Finglas and some said it was Ballymun. I never called it Glasnevin North or any of that bullshit. All that name thing was just snobbery. My mother-in-law lives on what is now officially called Glasnevin Avenue but when I write to her I still use Ballymun Avenue as the address.

"I was quite shy when I was young and Cederwood was a lot rougher that it is now. It was a sort of a laddish area but I didn't want to be a cider-drinking boot boy going out robbing horses which was the big thing at the time. I didn't like football or GAA and as I went around trying to look like Marc Bolan I used to get the crap kicked out of me a lot. I was well able for it though 'cos mentally I was quite a strong kid.

"I went to the Sacred Heart School and St Kevin's CBS in Ballygall. The only subject I was into was art but the Christian Brothers thought that was ridiculous. You were supposed get a job as a civil servant, a carpenter or a footballer."
When Gavin was in his early teens he began to hang around with Bono and the Rowan family who also came from the area and as teenagers do, the lads found their identity through a shared love of music.

"Punk hit Dublin when we were about 15 and it allowed us to express ourselves in the way that we looked which is really important to a teenager," recalled Gavin. "It also showed us you didn't have to know how play guitar or have loads of fancy equipment to form a band. It was a lifeline to us. It was a way out of the shite that we were being fed at school. I don't want to get into knocking the education system but further education was not even discussed at the time."

When Gavin left school he got a job working with animals - dead ones! "I was the weirdest purchasing and stock control clerk they'd ever seen at the Dublin Meat Packers in Cloghran," laughed Gavin. "I got on very well with the farmers. They used to ask for the young fellah with the make-up and earrings. It helpe