The Saw Doctors are heading towards a fourth decade of performing to the masses on both sides of the Atlantic – and the party looks like it’s just getting started.
There’s no in between. You’re either into The Saw Doctors or you’re not. They’ve brought rural Ireland to the fore through their electrifying live performances and hit songs which will outlast any pop song topping the charts today.
The lads are currently promoting their new album, The Further Adventures which is set for release in August, with preview gigs around the country.
The album brings a new edge to the band and marks a departure from the sing-along-on-a-drunken-night-out tunes of previous releases. That was all fun of course, but with this new album the lads have had a go at dishing out tracks which will be taken more seriously.
Here’s a taste of what to expect. Their first single off the new album, Takin’ the Train:
Anyway, JOE sauntered down to Kelly’s in Galway to have a chat over a pint with Saw Doctors lead guitarist, and sound man, Leo Moran.
JOE: Howya Leo. What are you having?
Leo Moran: I’d usually have a pint of Guinness, but never before a gig. We’re playing here tonight. I’d drink anything really. I’m not fussy. Give me a coke for now.
JOE: So Leo, you’ve been on the road for a long time and possibly hitting the twilight of your career. Are ye all enjoying it?
LM: We’re enjoying it more than ever. I wonder do people say that to U2? “Ye are at it a long time now lads. Ye are getting a great run out of it lads.†I don’t think they do. I think I’ll say that to The Edge when I meet him – you’re coming to the twilight of your career now. I wonder what’s the difference?
JOE: So what way do you look at it then?
LM: We take every day as it comes. We’ve never planned further than a year ahead. Usually six months. It’s nice to try and keep the calendar a bit open. Some interesting and juicy things can come up when you’re not planning too far ahead. We do about a 100 gigs a year.
JOE: 100 a year, that must knock the crap out of ya?
LM: Not really. It sounds hard but it’s easy. There are bands in America doing 250 and 300 a year, so 100 isn’t over the top for us.
JOE: The new album. Are you confident?
LM: You never know how it will go. We always like albums. You throw them out and get different reactions. It’s been too long since the last. With all the gigging we just didn’t concentrate enough. We’ve been recording this for quite a while but it takes time. It’s worth it if you can stand by it in the end and you’re not saying I wish we recorded this one or that one differently.
Where it came from was real genuine stuff. It wasn’t a contrived thing. All of the original members of the band grew up in small towns. We all had a bit of land in our families and a bit of farming so we were a genuine mixture of the rural scene.
JOE: What about all these Americanised Irish bands? Why do they try not to be Irish?
LM: I can understand it because when we were kids and we started playing music first we loved punk. We used to sing in English accents because that’s what we thought punk was about.
But the reason punk is punk was because Paul Weller sang in an English accent and Joey Ramone sang in a New York accent and it would be as hideous now for The Saw Doctors to sing in a New York accent as it would be for Paul Weller to sing in a Tuam accent. It’s just a ridiculous idea so being yourself is what it’s all about.
JOE: The likes of Republic of loose come in for a fair bit of stick because of it. What do you make of them?
LM: I think they’re good but I don’t own any of their albums. It doesn’t catch me. I don’t hear anything in it that catches me. I like to hear real accents and all my favourite singers have them. The main thing you need in the music business, or probably in any business, is distinctiveness.
If The Saw Doctors were a band that played punky songs with an English accent we’d be one of 4,000 bands. We’re a band that plays whatever kind of a mixture of music it is with our own accents so we’re unique.
JOE: So when ye play in the US they must eat it up?
LM: We’ve a great following built up over there. An awful lot if American people come to see us. The only way we can gain an audience in a place like the States is from fans bringing friends along. We’re not a media band. It’s not from television, from being in a big movie or being in the music press.
It’s a very slow process, and it has taken tours to build it up, but it’s very solid. If you read the front page of a paper and there’s a great band coming to town, it’s not as impressive as your best friend telling you that you have to come see this band. It’s a very deep way of building up fans.
That’s why we’re doing these gigs here. We’ll only do a couple of the more familiar songs. We’re doing the whole new album from start to finish, eleven songs in a row they haven’t heard before. It’s a challenge but it’s working. The good thing about it is, it’s ironic but it’s true, the shows have been slow to sell. People understand if they’re coming in here that they’re not getting the gig they would see in the Black Box or wherever. It’s building up the new songs and people love it so far.
JOE: Has there ever been a night when ye have only had a handful to play in front of?
LM: That can happen anytime. It doesn’t matter though. It’s a great challenge. Actually the boys do be laughing away, I enjoy those ones more. As long as one person is there with a ticket the full show is on. There are no friendly matches in our league, it’s all championship.
JOE: The Lifetime Achievement Award was a big milestone for the band.
LM: It was. And being on the Podge and Rodge show was another. That got an amazing reaction.
JOE: What was the story with the cover of About You Now? Was that planned?
LM: Yeah. It was just part of the show. I liked it before we learnt it.
JOE: The Sugarbabes got to number two in the charts with it and ye got number one.
LM: It just goes to show it’s not all about looks. I’m sure they don’t even know we did it. It’s a really well-written song. If you were writing songs all your life and you stumbled upon a song as well written as that you’d be happy.
JOE: Does it bother you that there’s a strong country versus city divide out there when it comes to liking your music?
LM: It doesn’t bother me at all. When I was a kid I was snobby. We grew up in Tuam. Sure we used to be laughing at the fellas coming in on the school bus. So that’s the same as people from Dublin laughing at The Saw Doctors. It’s a bit immature really. I grew out of that a long time ago. But if we were all the same it would be awful boring. I don’t mind people not liking the band but not liking us for that reason is mad. It’s not something we worry about though because we’ve enough people to keep us going. When you’re up in the Olympia playing to a full house you’re not worrying about who’s not there.
JOE: What kind of music do you have on that i Phone of yours there?
LM: Let me see now. Our own album is on it anyway for starters. It’s amazing because I’m able to listen to this album with pleasure. It’s unusual when you record an album. What else is here… Dave Edmunds, Bruce Springstein, Elvis. I like a lot of country. I’m a big fan of Hank Williams. The Waterboys are here also.The young lad has been getting me into Kings of Leon and The Killers.
JOE: Are you heading to the Galway Races?
LM: I’ve no interest in racing at all. It’ll be bananas. It’s not my favourite kind of festival. I just have no interest in horses so it’s a bad start.
JOE: Well, best of luck with the new album Leo.
LM: Thanks. I better go meet the missus for some grub now. Good luck.
The gig
I stuck around for the show later that night in Kelly’s and heard the new album as well as a few of the signature tunes. Out of the eleven new tracks I reckon Last Call and Songs and Stars will be popular with Saw Doctors fans, while Well Byes will probably be the hit of the album.
It’s about groups of lads hanging around Tuam watching road works. Why wouldn’t it be a hit?
To find out where you can see the The Saw Doctors live and more on their new album, click here.
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