The Answer interviewed by Chris Render

As a big fan of The Answer, interviewing bassist Micky Waters was a daunting challenge. However, as I was introduced to the band I swiftly came to realise that The Answer are some of the most warm and friendly people you’re ever likely to meet, their on stage charisma extending, it would seem, to one to one conversation. I was even given a drink. Taken aback by the extent of the welcome I received, I sat down with Micky in a quiet production room for a quick chat.

Chris Render: [somewhat sheepishly] Hi.

Micky Waters: Hi Chris

CR: How did you start out, as a band?

MW: Well, it all started out with myself and Paul [Mahon, lead guitarist], when we were kids. He used to be a drummer in a band, at the start, and I was the bass player and singer, and we used to play round the local circuit in Belfast, round our local villages, and just anywhere that would have us. That was when we were like, 15 to 18 years of age, and then we wanted to put together a proper outfit, so we heard about this blues singer, this young fella called Cormac Neeson. He came along, came out for a practice, and I believe he sang Free, “Alright Now”, with us, and from then on we were like “ah, this is the right guy, finally we’ve got a proper singer in the band”, you know? So we got him, and we wanted to get the rhythm section right, so we got James Headly, who was at the time playing with... he’d done tours with Ash. He was like, the local guy on the circuit who played with every single band who you wanted to go and see and all the local bands. Once we got him on board, there was a fantastic chemistry between us all. Ever since then, it’s been a lot of fun.

CR: Then you had the first album, Rise, which was very successful...

MW: Yeah, Rise did really good.

CR: It was highly acclaimed by Classic Rock...

MW: Yeah, in 2005, which seems like a long time ago now, we got “best new album”, or “best new band”... band, that’s right, it was band. That came out before the album even, as well. But yeah, Rise did very well for us, and we toured it for a couple of years, and then we currently released our album Everyday Demons, which, for us, we put a lot of hard work into that. I think we captured that live feel of the band, which is what we’re really all about: a real live kind of thing. We love getting up on a stage and playing live.

CR: So other than this current tour, what have you been doing over the last couple of months?

MW: Last couple of months... been a lot of drinking and partying and all the rest of it, wrapping up with AC/DC on the world tour, the Black Ice tour [which The Answer supported].

CR: Yeah, you’ve toured with AC/DC, supported Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, pretty much everybody. Is there anybody else you’d like to play with?

MW: Nah, there’s no one else. We were asked this a while back, after the Rolling Stones thing, and we said the only band we still wanted to play with were AC/DC [chuckles]. I think we just want to be a headline act now, do our own thing, for a change. Get up there to play for an hour and a half, every night. It’s definitely much more fun for us.

CR: So what do The Answer have planned for the future?

MW: January, February, we’re going to work on our third album. We’ve got a lot of material together from being on the road for a long time, recording in tour busses and the like, so... we’ll get back and knock some songs into shape and hopefully, fingers crossed, get the album out by, hopefully, September next year. Fingers crossed that’s how it pans out, because we really can’t wait to, you know, keep playing.

CR: Brilliant. You’ve been described as “keeping the classic rock genre alive.” How do you respond to that?

MW: Well, that’s a huge compliment for us, because it’s probably our favourite style of music, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and AC/DC especially, you know? It’s definitely a huge compliment, but we see ourselves as having a bit more of a modern edge about it, especially the new album. We’ve definitely found our own sound, and hopefully we can just progress from there.

CR: Carrying on the tradition of Irish rock greats, you yourself are the, is it the only other person...

MW: [knowing instinctively what I’m talking about] Well, at the time, I was one of the first people to play Phil Lynott’s guitar [the famous black bass]. We played a fundraising gig to build the statue of Phil, in Grafton Street in Dublin. There’s a big, brass, life size statue of him, and as a favour his mother, Philemina, let me borrow his bass for the Keep Believing video, and I had it for the day, to play on it, and it was a fantastic experience. You know, coming from Ireland, Thin Lizzy are the ultimate Irish rock band to be your idols.

CR: So who is your favourite band, personally?

MW: My favourite band is probably The Who, actually.

CR: Who again, you’ve played with

MW: Yeah, that was a huge thing for me, you know, I’m a massive Who fan. Always have been.

CR: So what is your favourite Answer track then, to play, I mean?

MW: Definitely Under The Sky, because the audience know that one really well, and we’re always feeding off the audience’s energy, so when they’re having a good time we’re having a good time. I definitely love playing that one. And off the new album, I like Demon Eyes, because it’s just a fast paced, hard hitting, f***ing good track, you know?

CR: Well, that’s pretty much everything, thank you very much, Micky Waters, from The Answer.