Jack L
What's on your rider?The usual: a unicorn, a hen, a shaman and no red M&Ms.
What would be on your fantasy rider?See above I suppose.
What's your pre-gig ritual?Kill a few magpies, bathe in angel tears, dance around a fish's eye four times, burn some sage and then warm up the old yodeler drinking endless water.
How do you get to the gig?Drive myself mostly. It's a good time to let the brain tick over and perhaps run through set lists and songs.
What's the best gig youve been to?Probably Depeche Mode at The Point in the early 1990s on their Devotional tour. I was young and mad for it, as it were. Their songs are so big and anthemic the roof was blown off the place.
And the worst?Years ago myself and the Black Romantics played at the launch of Bud Light in Ireland. Latoya Jackson was the headline act, and after we had finished harassing the crowd with our songs of love and death Latoya came marching out doing some of the worst miming I've ever seen. She did about three songs, and that was it. Hopeless.
Ecologically speaking, are you closer to Radiohead or Motörhead?When I'm driving my car I suppose I'm Lemmy and when I'm riding my bicycle I'm Thom Yorke. In truth, I'm just like everybody else trying not to over consume stuff, yet in our consumerist society everything you do buy is boxed and wrapped to a point of madness.
Who is the most famous person to have shown up at one of your gigs?I don't know how to add up famousness, but people that made me nervous were people such as Nick Cave and Shane MacGowan. Louis Walsh, probably, too. Pat Cash the tennis player kept turning up at my gigs in New York for a while – that was bizarre.
Most embarrassing on-stage moment?Being drunk on stage usually ends in tears for me. I keep thinking everybody's out of tune when it's most definitely my brain that's out of tune at the time.
Who's invited to your aftershow party?Anybody who wants to come is welcome, because I won't be there. I will probably be on the road heading to the next show. Have fun!
** In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea.
** Jack L plays Dublin on Thursday
