Andy You're A Star

Ten studio albums down the line, Therapy? frontman Andy Cairns seems to be feeling his age.

“We’re getting to the point where we’re meeting younger bands, like Biffy Clyro and Amplified, who are telling us that they have our posters on their wall and that Therapy? were their favourite band,” he maintains. “It makes you feel old, but at least you know what you did at the time worked – there were kids in their bedrooms who formed bands ‘cos they heard you.”
Therapy? may well be regarded as the elder statesmen of Irish rock, but it hasn’t stopped them from unleashing an album of boundless and ferocious energy. Their 10th studio outing, Never Apologise, Never Explain, manages to re-ignite the Ulster trio’s breakneck momentum.
“I thought it might be hard to keep up momentum, but it wasn’t,” admits Cairns. “There’s a real nervous energy, from nerves and adrenalin that myself and Michael have naturally. I’m constantly surprised that we keep the energy level up every night. Having been around for this length of time and having so many records, we need to play quite long sets. The days of going on, drinking a crate of cider, falling over after 25 minutes and calling the audience a pack of cunts...those days are gone! We have to have some degree of professionalism at this stage.”
It could well be that the band’s newfound zeal is down to a change in personnel. Drummer Neil Cooper has been recruited to replace Graham Hopkins, making him the third drummer in five years.
“Neil was the final piece of the jigsaw when he joined,” recalls Cairns. “When we began to write and rehearse he gave the band more focus. A lot of bands have guitarists going through the revolving door constantly, but with us, we’re trying to be unique. And none of them have died in a bizarre gardening accident!”
Additionally, the line-up has been whittled back down to three members – Cairns, Cooper, and bassist Michael McKagan.
“It’s been really good for me,” reflects Cairns on the line-up change. “When we had the cello and guitar, to be frank, I got lazy on the guitar and didn’t put much thought into it. With the three of us, there’s no room for error. I have to make sure that everything works together as we have to make more noise with less people.”
The band may be feeling as sprightly as ever, yet they still encounter their fair share of detractors who argue that, 10 years down the line, Therapy? are simply no longer in fashion.
“With the last two records we’ve been getting critical acclaim, but it can still be tough,” admits Cairns. “We might say to some organiser, ‘We’d like to be on that festival bill,’ and they might say, ‘You might have worked for us five years ago, but not now’. That can be frustrating sometimes.”
Fortunately for Cairns, some people do appear to be coming around to his way of thinking.
“In 2001, around the time of Shameless, our label were saying stuff like, ‘This whole nu-metal is really big right now. There are people doing stuff with hip-hop beats and people with short hair playing guitars’. We were going, ‘Cast your minds back to 1992, when we were the short haired pillocks’. A couple of years ago, we said we wanted to do an old-skool punk record, which the label weren’t too keen on. Now, you can’t move for rock’n’roll bands wearing their Converse and playing punk metal.”
Having found a happy home within Spitfire records, Therapy? have decided to concentrate on making the music they want to, regardless of fad or trend.
“Being on a major label took a little bit of the hunger away,” recalls Cairns. “Anything that would happen commercially would be great, but it’s not expected of us, which is amazing. At the end of the day, we’re still the same little fan-boys that grew up in Ulster, really.”

Therapy? play Mandela Hall, Belfast (December 7) and the Ambassador, Dublin (8).