The English band the Quireboys are probably the hardest working – yet most unpretentious – hard rock exponents to come out of the United Kingdom in years. They are also, probably, the most underrated band in rock history. Their blotched story dates back to 1984 when they were once described as “Britain’s answer to Poison” – and very great things were expected from them in their late 1980’s heydays. But in the mid 1990’s, after touring with Guns N’ Roses, things began to go seriously awry – and the project gradually drove itself into a standstill.
Sharon Osbourne was once their manager, and the band has boasted more line-up changes than a schoolboy’s fantasy football club – with luminaries such as Jason Bonham, Nigel Mogg, Paul Martin, Phil Martini, Simon Hanson and Ginger Wildheart all casting vapour trails through the band’s tarnished annals.
But things are blossoming again for the Quireboys. After a hugely successful new album ‘Beautiful Curse‘ released in 2013 on Off Yer Rocka Recordings, the band were invited to play at last year’s Monsters of Rock Cruise, along with bands like Cinderella, Tesla, and Queensrÿche. And the band also played on the ‘Rush’ stage at the Sweden Rock Festival.
RAMzine met with Quireboy’s Guy Griffin (guitar) to chat about their current acoustic tour ‘Unplugged & Upfront’ and about writing and performing in the band.
What is the thinking behind this 18 date unplugged tour?
“Me and Spike and Guy do a load of these things already (in Scandinavia – because we get asked to do them there) … We live so far away – so on these kind of tours it means that we can get together – we can write together and we can stay together. Also, we can visit some places that do not normally get to visit. The bottom line is that we love to do it. A few years ago we released ‘Halfpenny Dancer’ and the amount of requests that we get through Facebook and the website from people wanting us to do this – has warranted it. And you know how much we tour … ludicrous amounts. But you can’t do three electric tours a year – two possibly – but not three – but this can acoustic thing be done. It’s us sitting on stalls doing the songs raw – as they were written. We could play (like this) anywhere. We love doing it.”
Do you get a better connection with the audience when playing unplugged?
“Yes. It’s a different thing. There’s nothing staged. We sometimes tell stories and tell a bit of banter. It really is going with the flow. We did this at Sweden Rock – in front of 40-50,000 people. Rush had their own stage and they requested us to play acoustically – because they didn’t want any other band bringing all their equipment on. So the photographs are great – there’s us sitting on stalls in this massive stage.”
Which do you prefer? Acoustic or full electric?
“I love both. But when you’ve done three months electric – of course it refreshes you when it’s acoustic. We don’t – I don’t – play the same way. It feels cleaner. It’s different. We are sitting there -and we can see the white’s of the eyes and the smiles on the faces of the audience. I love to see people singing along to our songs. I remember writing ‘Beautiful Curse’ … I was sitting in my bedroom in London – it wasn’t a five minute song – it was about being a song writer – being a song writer is a bit like taking a marriage vow … so I love seeing people enjoying my song … but they never saw me twisting things around in my mind that night – trying to get the song pattern in place. That’s the pay-off. Seeing people physically enjoying the songs and getting to know the songs . It’s not about how much is in the bank. It’s about seeing that.”
People say that they can hear a lot more intricacy when you are playing unplugged. Do you think that’s true?
“The way the guitars weave with the keyboards – there is no bass and no drums – the rhythm and the melody comes out through the instruments. So that’s why people say: “Hey, there’s more to this than just crash, bang wallop.”
You have played everywhere in the world. Where are your most fevered fans?
“South America is a whole different kettle of fish. The people there even sing the guitar solos! The passion in those crowds is fantastic. But there’s nowhere that isn’t good. The Fins and the Norwegians and Swedes they like a slurp. Wow – do they go for it! They enjoy the music in a different way – for them it is a bit of a madhouse. The Germans – now they really listen – they’re not so bouncy! Every country has a different way of experiencing the sounds.”
Are you going to do cruise again this year?
“Yeah – we are doing the Monsters of Rock Cruise again And I have to say that it’s dynamite. We will be flying into Miami – then setting off for the Caribbean. I got married in September but I have been on the road ever since then – so I haven’t even had a honeymoon. So I am going to do the Monsters of Rock cruise then we are going to stay out in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and have our promised honeymoon then.”
We loved The Beautiful Curse album – the only thing we did say, though, was that it didn’t make our whiskers twitch – it didn’t deliver a counter-punch – it was a pleasant and very masterful album – but wasn’t overtly dynamic.
“That was the idea! People ask “Where’s the ‘7 O’Clock’?” Well, we’ve done that. You have already got it. If I was in studio and asked to write another ‘ 7 O’Clock’ I would just get up and leave. Song writing is not just switching a computer on and putting some figures in. It’s just not like that. It changes, it grows, it matures. And those first two albums … it was Guy Bailey and Spike who wrote it. It’s different writers now. We all come from the same kind of musical roots – and the Quireboys are the Quireboys. But we change. We grow.”
“I respect peoples opinions but we are musical people – we are not chained to the 1980’s. We have to try new things. We have just laid down 17 tracks with Chris Tsangarides (for a new album project) – things are slightly ‘on hold’ for that right now because Chris has been seriously ill. We are in limbo – we don’t quite know where we are with that. But things are in such a raw form at the minute. We don’t spend weeks and weeks in pre-production. For example we had two songs for ‘Beautiful Curse’ before we went into the studio. We had some bits and pieces. We went into the studio with those. And 12 days later we came out with a completed album. Of course, we were doing the Saxon tour right then – so there wasn’t any more time to be had. That’s the time we were given. We pulled it off. Don’t you think?”
Yes we do! Thank you The Quireboys!
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