Interview What do you mean, you’ve never heard… The Waterboys?

New bands are great. We love them; you love them; the music world quite literally would not continue to turn without them. But behind every brilliant modern day artist lies a series of influences and inspirations past - some of whom are likely ingrained into the cultural fabric of our time, others who you might not be so familiar with.

So, in our new series, we’re letting some DIY faves wax lyrical about the musicians that changed their lives, and that they hope will change yours too. Alex Turner might have been incredulous that you’ve never seen Blade Runner, but we just want to shine a light on what might be your new old favourite band.

First up, Mystery Jets’ Blaine Harrison on The Waterboys.

How did you first get into The Waterboys?

Half my family are from County Dublin in Ireland, a place The Waterboys’ music is synonymous with. I can half recall their name being passed around over pints of Guinness at a family funeral when I was about 10, but I think I had them confused with The Proclaimers at the time which, in retrospect, is an unforgivable offence. I dare say the first time I heard ‘Whole of the Moon’ may have been on one of those dreadful ‘Best of the ’80s’ compilations, which is probably why it stood out to me. It possessed a sense of real, lived truth and a depth of emotion absent from much of the music of its time. That’s always been what I’m drawn to in music.

How do they fit into the music that was coming out back in their day?

When they first appeared at the start of the ’80s, they were very much marketed to the world as being Ireland’s next big export, a rival to the likes of U2. They were labeled by the press at the time as purveyors of a new genre, ‘The Big Music’, and if you listen to their first couple of albums, you can see why: huge drum sounds, heavenly soaring melodies, all of which evoked the kind of widescreen, stadium rock that U2 went on to embody.

But The Waterboys chose a different path, relocating to a farmhouse on the west coast of Ireland to make their fourth album ‘Fisherman’s Blues’, and embracing traditional Scottish and Irish folk song. It was a path less traveled, but the best ones always are.

What one track or album would you say is their greatest work?

As an album, I think ‘Fisherman’s Blues’ is undoubtably their masterpiece. But if I had to chose a song, it would be ‘This is the Sea’, the title track from their previous record. It’s a song I wish I could have written above any other. To this day, they refuse to play it live for fear of butchering it. Listen to it with your eyes closed and you’ll likely see why. It’s too perfect.