Pedigree Chums

I arrived into Audioland Studios with Drum kit and congas and percussion at 10am and we sat in the garden in the sunshine and talked about song references. Tea and biscuits were served dutifully by the overqualified Anthony Gibney, the most fantastic of recording engineers. He first had to remove the giant xylophone off the garden table that the drummer (me) brought for some reason. “You always know the end of a band is coming when the drummer starts writing songs”, Nick had heard someone once say.

We cited everything from Captain Sensible to Velvet Underground to The Doors to Steely Dan as references and as things to be inspired by when recording. Sean (aka Dr Millar) had a great Velvet Underground story. He went to see his heroes in England and singer Lou Reed reacted to someone shouting his name from the audience.

 “Hey, who said that?” he scowled. 

“You, it was you, wasn’t it? Don’t you dare catcall my name like that when I’m playing music. I want you to leave right now or we are not playing anymore songs”. 

Everybody knew it was wrong but hoped the person would leave, and leave he did (but he also snook back in and sat elsewhere later). This partially inspired one of the 3 songs we were to record. The theme was that some of our heroes are assholes. So true.

Still chatting in the garden beside the studio, we then moved onto the topic of Alzheimer’s ( great article) and the hope that the next generation might actually have the benefits from the most recent breakthrough in science. Sean had a bittersweet but funny story about his Mum who is now in a nursing home and is suffering from Alzheimer’s. She was convinced one of her sons was living upstairs and hanging around the wrong types. “I don’t want to say anything, but I’m not too keen on him hanging around with those people up there”. He also said they had been all trying desperately, and relatively successfully, to schedule the weeks so she was constantly visited, every day. She didn’t remember anyone calling out though. “Nobody has called for ages”, she said. The chat reminded me of when I had to follow my own Dad up Killiney Hill at 4am. He had a pair of underpants in his hand and said he was “going to a college party”. I said it was probably over and we should go back and make other plans. He was around 78 and was in that mid dementia phase and still living at home. One of the sweetest things about my Mum and Dad was that as soon as Dad became ill , mum started doting on him again in almost a romantic way. They had at least a decade where they often bickered but this was a return of full love and romance. Nick had an astute observation about people whose neural pathways were damaged often heroically find very novel ways of getting to their thought destination. This results in bizarre behaviour to us, but if we look closely we should marvel at the ability for humans to re navigate our mental process, travel around the short circuits and ‘burnt wires’ so we can still arrive where to we need to. Instead of crossing the road, patronising or pitying them, we should marvel at this ability, he suggested.

We also talked about age. Sean revealed ( and we joked) that he is a toy boy to his (slightly) older better half. I refused to disclose my age, much to bass player Robbie's ( Malone of David Gray fame) disbelief and annoyance, and I gave again the example of my Dad who said he was a mixture of physiological, mental, emotional, and chronological ages ( he then divided by 4 to get his ‘real’ age). I generally don’t say my 'chronological age' because I don’t feel it. And I don’t want to be judged upon it. We talked about our mutual friend Ronán Ó Snodaigh, who had the theory that men finally mature at 46. That sounds like a long time for their loved ones to wait! I asked him how he knew this. He said it was when he arrived at a breakthrough with regard to his relationship with his own Dad, and had a bit of an epiphany, and a certain letting go. He was convinced it takes most of us that long to be able to push through and move away from that part of our childhood that wont let go of us. 

I also asked Sean about his own song writing process… he said he normally writes on the same Spanish guitar every time and no other guitar will do. He also said he usually writes to, or reacts to, drum ideas or bass lines. In fact he normally writes with a bass line motif on his guitar and then just comes up with one song line/lyric idea, leaves it and then fleshes it out later. A wise move, taking the pressure off himself and I would say thereby avoiding any sense of writers block. His prolific nature is a testament to his process. And then I asked him how he and Nick write songs together. He said, “we keep firing ideas back and forth and then sit down together with two guitars in a room, old school, and play them and then we each work with those recordings, honing the lyrics and changes”

*For full transcript of short interview with Sean, see end of this blog.

It’s rare you do a recording session without mentioning The Beatles. How did they do all that work in 7 years? Nick jokingly questioned how much output he had achieved in the 7 years that he was singer of the successful band The Fat Lady Sings in comparison. And the albums Bowie made in 7 years 1970-77, for example, which included the likes of Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Low, and Heroes, were stunning achievements.  We talked about George Harrison in particular. A curious contradiction of a character who was the most pained and uncomfortable by far of the Beatles, as far as we can see in the latest Disney documentary, ‘Get Back’. He seems sulky and peeved that he is seemingly not allowed to express himself fully. But one could argue he often muted himself. Or was guilty of not being proactive about what he loved. He didn’t seem to mind Eric Clapton being with his wife, Patty Boyd. Or did he? She divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Harrison's friend Eric Clapton in 1979 and inspired the songs Layla, Wonderful Tonight, and Something. Somebody said George was the most unfortunate songwriter who ever lived, simply because his phenomenal song writing ability was dwarfed by the other 2 geniuses in the band. If he was in any other band, he would be revered like a Jeff Lynne ( ELO) or a Ray Davies (The Kinks). Or even Lou Reed!

Oh, and then towards the end of the Beatles, Ringo started writing songs…..

Just sayin'…..

Another Dogs song that I found lyrically intriguing was the one about the guy who left his wife for someone half his age and moved to a new area, but the locals advise that “lick your wounds, pack up and disappear, you'll never get away with that stuff around here” in the chorus.

And another song with a verse that seems to be about a 'down on his luck' worker who doesn't have all the tools in his toolbox and when he leaves work for the day, his boss won't even acknowledge that he is leaving.

"The job was tough you should have priced it higher

You wipe your sweaty face on your dirty sleeve

You pack away your kit

 there’s a few things missing

The guy who hired you doesn’t look up as you leave"

Brilliant songs and lyrics. These friends of mine, these pedigree chums, are really fascinating people. Musically and personally fascinating. They will leave a great legacy no doubt, maybe taking a little more than 7 years to do it though!

Check out Dogs on spotify 

Interview with Sean ( Doctor) Millar

1. What was your recent tour of UK like?

It was fantastic fun. And great to be heading off there again in a few weeks! It was my first time playing in Wales and I loved meeting the people- so charming warm and friendly. We played two shows at Glastonbury and are delighted to be playing it again this year.

2. How do you write songs together? 

We keep firing ideas back and forth and then sit down together with two guitars in a room old school and play them and then we each work with those recordings honing the lyrics and changes 

3. What are the songs about ?

The new songs are a lot of fun, they are about different stuff one was inspired by all the rejection letters I got when I was starting out. But it's comedic! And another funny one is about how some of favourite art is made by some really destructive people! There's a really moving one too, that is saying there's always hope out there for you even when things are terrible.

4. Is life getting in the way of your art and if so in what way?

Yes ! Both Nick and I have a lot of family responsibilities and duties. We both work in other art forms too and the perennial artists' problem of making work pay (particularly in the Spotify era.)