Michael McKeegan (THERAPY?)

Our, almost, namesakes are coming to Zagreb, very very soon. It was a chance for a little chat with Michael McKeegan, their bass player...

T. Where are you now and what are you doing?

Michael McKeegan: I'm at home drinking tea, typing badly and happy to be out of the bad weather.

T. I know that everybody's asking, but I need to do that, too. Why THERAPY and why with "?" in the end?

MM: We just felt it was a good name that most people can relate to and it seemed to suit the music. The "?" came about because of a mistake on our original demo cassette logo, to fill up a gap we decided to use the "?". Again it is a pretty recognizable image and hints at the schizo nature of the bands outlook and music.

T. I believe you recorded 4 albums with Martin McCarrick. Why this cooperation ended and how difficult it was to arrange songs previously performed with him to classic guitar, bas, and drum?

MM: Martin left as we all felt his musical role in the band wasn't what it should be. A lot of the songs are originally written with just voice and guitar so it was easy to adapt them to the 'power trio' format. T. BBC recordings from the earliest days are being published. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear these 1991 recordings?

MM: Pretty much the thoughts of being excited, scared and probably a bit nervous. Understand we were in a very, very famous London recording studio where pretty much everyone of our favourite artists had worked. And we were recording for our most respected dj John Peel....hehe, so you can see that we were very full of nerves and adrenaline. Great fun though, we always worked good under pressure.

T. You recorded some great covers, like Diane, Vicar in a Tutu, Where Eagles Dare or Isolation. Is there any song that you would like to cover but you didn't? Do you play any covers live?

MM: Nothing really springs to mind…we've done a few over the years but never recorded studio versions. Normally we just mess around and play them at sound check for fun…last cover we did live was "Sonic Reducer" by The Dead Boys with our support band Space Cowboys in Strasbourg, France. It was an end of tour jam to celebrate a cool tour with our new Swedish chums.

T. My friend mentioned that you used to wear a priest collar on your concerts. Do you still do that and why?

MM: I think i wore that once with my old band, Evil Priest....

T. Recently you recorded 12 live songs chosen as favourite ones by your fans, which may be acquired via your web site as a video and audio CD. Out of 12 songs, only one (If It Kills Me) is from the 2000. onwards, whereas all other 11 songs are older than that or are b-sides of singles. Do you regret not having more recent songs?

MM: Not at all. That was kind've the whole concept...the audience chooses, we play. We could of course 'cheat' the vote and just play what we wanted or preferred but i think it's better to play fair with the fans.Very simple one to start with 'cos i think if we do one again, it should have a more off the wall concept.

T. If you knew back then when you started your career what you know today, would you have changed anything?

MM: Maybe approached a few things in a different way but probably not changed anything. We're still together, great friends, lots of energy, lots of new ideas and no one lost his mind or anything like that plus we've got some great loyal fans all over the world. I think as artists we have nothing to complain about….

T. Tell me something I would never guess about you?

MM: We all love to cook!

T. Message for the fans in Zagreb?

MM: See you at the show, we're very determined to make our first visit one to remember. Also thanks for the many emails and messages everyone has sent to us….soon friends!

pedja // 02/03/2007