PipemanRadio Interviews Stiff Little Fingers at Punk Rock Bowling XXIV

0:04 Hey, you have done to censure? Wow? Crazy young Why become America? It's time for the Adventures of Pipe Man on W four c HY dot com. West Palm Beach is number one Internet radio station. Here's your host, the White Man. What m that? Since the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio? And who heard that?

0:59 St Who am I here with? And you're here with Ali mc morty from Stiff Little Fingers. Yes, we will hit the stage very shortly, and of course just as we start the interview, the first bond like kicks off on the street party stage right across the way. That'll beat the background music for your interview. It's kind of a different background music to what I would generally pick. But you know, beggars comt be choosers. And I said, but you know, bottom line of this music, it's in It's inclusive, it's not divisive. And that's the main thing. I love that because this is the one thing, you know what you're saying. Like when we were in the lockdown, I was like, I don't care if some kid is playing a recorder live on stage. I'm going because we need live music.

1:45 It doesn't matter what the music is we do. Indeed, all they'll have to say, if it had been me playing the recorder, you might have beat a histy retreat. I was not a chumpion recorder player. I could say that I look at where I got, you look at where it got. You got your here the punk rock Bowling it did. And you know, whenever the original band started out in Belfast in nineteen hundred and seventy seven, we never thought we would last, you know, more than a couple of years at most. And here we are. Although, as we said, whenever new romanticism came along, it's that punk rock never happened. But that was a mere hiccup in the history of the band. And I can't believe we're in Las Vegas of all places, and been back at punk Rock Pooling. It's been thirteen years since they bat's been here. Wow, it seems like somebody asked me the other day. I said, oh, I think it's five or six years. But and thanks to COVID and calling those what other consolations and so on, it's been difficult, But here we finally are. Yeah, absolutely, and man, it's you know, they said at one time in your career that punk was dead. I don't think if we look around here this weekend, that statement is true at all.

2:51 In fact, with everything going on in the world right now, I think we need punk more than ever exactly. I mean they say old punk rockers never die, they just stand at the back. Although I haven't said that, we've we've had quite a few marsh circles going on there you go, maybe a little bit wheezing at the side, but nonetheless it's good to see that still happens. I sprained my finger last night in the sub Humans pit. Oh last yeah, Michael, last night was insane. That Santa Anna, which was the last tip sort of proper on the tour, and we couldn't asked for a better send off. You know, if to go from that to a PRB is just mind blowing. And you brought this super hot weather here too, right, well, you know, the whole tour has been unseasonably frigid, and here we are in baking ninety something plus fahrenheit degree, So be careful what you wish for, no doubt, I don't even know how bands play in this weather, except I do know that, like again, the zone with the adrenaline and then it die afterwards, I think we see what keeps us going through through tonight's performance, you know, but because go from one extreme to the other. The worst is playing when it's cold, you know, and the strings on the guitar and the bass are so cold and they conduct all the heat, the little remaining heat I have in my in my fingers and skinny fingers, in your heat. I'm not going to complain about the heat on from Ireland now with anybody complain about the hot weather and sun. Yeah, your your weather's bipolar. It's it's cold,

4:27 it's stump, it's gray, and people say, oh, Ireland's so green that I don't it's gray. That's all I think of, I know what I mean, you know, and we're getting so with climate change, which we're just we got it so much more wet weather. It really seems to me hitting us badly, lots of flooding, and I just hope it's not inevitable. Will kind of go, We kind of digress there under the weather. But you know, it's always a feel safe subject of conversation. Yeah, what's a Here's a good question I want now is as an old score, how do you look at punk rock to compared the way back when punk rock today. So I didn't catch the last of what you said. How do you look at punk rock today compare the way back in the beginning?

5:10 Oh? Got you what you Well? The gigs are a lot safer. I can say that because whenever, whenever the band started out or remember the show, sometimes you were taking your life in your hands, especially if you're along here like me, I couldn't go to punk shows because I think, you know, the audience that we've had, like just speaking personally in the last year, it was very it was very diverse, and I love to see that, not just you know, in terms of gender, rice or anything like that, but age. You know, I see lots of you know, kids who would barely have been born whenever their first album was on, and then their kids are coming along. So it's like third generation's crazy sye, these little nineteen year olds jumping up and doing and they know the words better than I do. You know, it's just hard, you know, it's mild about that. What I think of is like when we were younger going to gigs, it was all kids, and I'm thinking myself, Wow, and you wouldn't you wouldn't go to a band that was a bunch of old dudes. Okay, the bands were kids too. Yeah, and now these kids like they worship the ogs. I know. It's amazing to see. But because it was a it was a young rebellion, if you like, against the increasingly stodgy music of the of the seventies. You know, older people weren't trusted. There were very few older people that were trusted. I remember that. So I'm glad that we are now trusted.

6:33 I'll say, you should always trust older people. Maybe we did it right that they actually trust us or more relevant, you know, that's what it took. That's what it took. And it's good to see. And what's your craziest, wildness, best, worst, whichever story in this whole musical journey. Well, memory being the way it is the woman, especially short term memory, it's hard to tell. I mean, on this reason tour, probably the worst thing that happened was our bus breaking down on a freeway at two in the morning, just a few miles outside of Denver. You know, was stuck on the side of the freeway on one you know, with heavy traffic on one side and the slip road on the other and nowhere to go, and that was an interesting forty eight hours. We lost one of the shows in Salt Lake City. There's a real bumber, you know, and unfortunately the reality of touring, you know, the cost of things that hurt. You know, you don't play man, you don't get paid.

7:35 It's true. And I remember there was I don't know if you recall, there was a dreadful tragic incident in the battle Plan in Paris and the Eagles of Death Metal were playing and they were attacked and there were one hundred fatalities and unbelievably, Brutal and Solf were touring Europe at the time and Paris was the next show, and everybody who was canceling, we went ahea and played it. We got a standing ovation from people in the streets who saw the tour bus. They didn't know the band, they just saw the buzz and they knew. It was such an eerie atmosphere, you know, the whole of Paris was was almost like a lockdown. Yeah, you know, and everyone was scared, you know, a terrible paranoia. And they were saying, oh, your heroes. I said, no, we're not, We're just people are coming to the gig. We had a gig boot and we're going to play it. Yeah. You know, we've been through words coming out of Belfaz, you know, whenever you take sort of death threats and you're in your and you in your stride. But I think the h and the death threats just weren't from heavy metal fans. Gotta have a little bit more serious than not. But you know when it's all reletive, yeah, and you know, you just you just keep on playing, you know, you play like your life depends on it absolute might, you never know, and you know sometimes like that's what makes you a true artist, is just the show must go on, you know, I know, and uh, whenever you're on stage, you don't think of anything like that. Yeah, just think of when's the metally it coming? When does the song start?

9:03 When does it stop? You know? Yeah, yeah, and just dig in, dig in and having fun, right like, cause you can't last as long as you guys have without having fun up there in this industry, I know, you know, a couple of breakups, a couple of lineup changes. The current lineup, you know, I think it is the best of bands of the bands had and you know, the original members are still friends. You know, I still see them in Belfast or whatever. N see. I love hearing that that. I love hearing that you're still friends. Yeah. I mean I don't live in Belfast, but it's still it's still sort of considered home. Yeah, and changes the city has changed massively obviously, you know, ever since the Peace Accord of ninety six, right, something I never thought I would see in my own lifetime. You know, it just seems too far fetched, out of our wildest imaginations because there it was still in the politics and religion and begotry was so entrenched, you know, because it's something that goes back hundreds of years. Yeah, you know, eight hundred years pretty much of English occupation from Dan And I'm not taking size. I'm just saying this will has been no people say occupation or settlers or whatever, but it's all We're all part of the same family.

10:20 When it comes on to it. Music's the one thing that brings it all together. It's it always cliched, but it's street. It's it always so like listen, everybody here at Punk Rock Bowling probably has different opinions on things, different beliefs on things, but we're all here united for music therapy, because it is therapy. If the kids are united, will never be divided. I love that quote. I'm sixty nine, so I think you should run. It's a great song. I think you should run for the United States presence. Oh my god, don't we need it? Don't we need it? Brother? Oh my god? Ali? I have my passport on me on all times in case I need to make an escape. How sad is that? I know? I know? So get what else do you want to talk about that's coming up that people want to look out for?

11:07 And maybe also give people out your socials website all that stuff so they can buy your merge, check out your tour aids music and all that good stuff. Well, after this we have a little bit of time off. Then I don't know if let's see what's happening. I have to think quickly here, folks, Yeah, we were The next big thing that will be happening will be Rebellion Festival in Blackpool in England, and then of course after that we are going back to Belfast for a big John Marie Customs House Squares festival with the Domed and the Skids and local band as well. Unfortunately, can't remember the name, and they'll kill me for this. We've got some other local shows happening around them, but really hoping we can get back to the States sooner rather than later. It's you know, five years, this tour was five years in the making, after I've mentioned before cancelations and COVID and all that nonsense. And hopefully and amongst all this, we'll get time to do another album, which is being a little slow. But quality not quantity, you know. That's so true nowadays, right, you want to put out like after all this time, you're you are experienced in your craft, so you don't want to just put out anything. You want to put out something that you know is good, whereas when you're younger, it's like, just put it out there. I love the way you said that.

12:31 In our craft, you know. And is this the same band you're talking about, We just you know, bluff our way through it, I know, right, fake it till you make it right. Yeah, I have to remember that one. There you go. Well, you guys, rock a man. I'm very excited about your set here at Punk Rock Bowling and thanks for being on the Adventures Pipe Man. Not at all, not at all, absolute pleasure of pipeline and our passble Cross when the very in your future. Once again, thank you very much. They certainly will thank you for listening to the Adventures of Tatemen on w for c u I Radio.