Q (aka Colm Quearney)
What's on your rider?Marmite and batch loaf. A good rum to help the vocal chords (medicinal, of course).
What would be on your fantasy rider?Krishna food from Govinda's on Dublin's Aungier Street.
What's your pre-gig ritual/ routine?The band just chillin' out together. Probably telling crap jokes.
What's the best gig you've been to?Flaming Lips, Vicar Street, 2004. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots tour. Great songs and great theatre. Three giant mirror balls on stage, puppets , tomato ketchup.
And the worst?Chaka Khan, Vicar Street, around 2007. She has a great voice but was drowned out by dodgy 1980s muso noodlings.
What are your favourite and least favourite venues?The Olympia is always a special place to play or go see a gig. The 02 can be hit and miss – I was right up the back for a gig there, and I must have been a half mile away from the stage.
Who's the most famous person to have shown up at one of your gigs?Jeff Beck at the 100 Club in London.
Most embarrassing on-stage moment?I was trying out a new song a few years back; it was full-on falsetto. Let's just say that song never made the album.
Chatting between songs – good or bad?Yes, if something comes to mind or you're reacting to something that's happening in the moment. It's always more interesting than pre-rehearsed waffles.
Any useful stage tips?If you're going to smash your guitar up on stage, make sure it's not the one your wife got you as a birthday present.
What's the worst thing ever thrown at you?Abuse by a drunken heckler.
If you could be in any other band, which one?Flaming Lips, Feist, The Skatalites. The list could go on and on.
What's your best tour story?When I was in Lir, we crashed our Ford transit at Lake Erie, Pennsylvania in the 1990s. We picked up a lift from a truck driver who was heading the same way. We were all crammed in his cab. I fell asleep straight away, and when I woke up he was talking about demons to the rest of the lads, who were just nodding and agreeing with everything he said.
- In conversation with TONY CLAYTON-LEA.Q plays the Cobalt Cafe, Dublin tomorrow
