Interview: The Answer

I arrived at the Lemon Tree around 6 in the evening, and was invited to sit in the band’s van where I could interview Paul, the guitar player.

Tell us about your band; how did you guys start your musical career?

I've known Michael (the bass player) for many years, whereas I met Cormac (the singer) on the first day of University. Everyone recommended him as a vocalist and we decided to start playing together. We’d been playing in clubs and pubs for four years, and in 2004 we finally had a manager. In 2006 our first album was launched and we started touring.

How would you describe your style and what are your influences? Did you notice any difference from your initial style and the one you have now?

Well, we basically use blues as a base. Our music is a bit like Robert Johnson's, or an electrified Led Zeppelin. There’s a big difference between our first songs and the ones we play now.  At the beginning we concentrated more on the vocals whereas now we have a lot more melody. Every part of the song has a meaning and a reason to be there.

What are your songs about?

Cormac might be the right person to ask this question to, but our songs come generally from personal experience, such as lost loves and similar things. At the moment, the songs we enjoy playing the most are New Day Horizon, from our last album, or Trouble.

Why did you choose The Answer as the name for your band?
Well, at the beginning we went gigging around and we changed our name every time. We decided we should have chosen a stable name for our band, and we chose The Answer without any particular reason, it just sounded good. Let's say that we didn't really recognize ourselves in the music of that time, and we considered our music as "the answer" to the kind of music back then. But this came later.

A quite open question: what do you think of the current music scene?
Internet has changed music a lot. People don't have to buy a whole album – they can simply download a song. However, this way, they don't listen to the whole context. It's a bit like going back to the 60's, when The Beatles released one single, then after some time released another single which was completely different and had nothing to do with the previous one. I think a lot of bands today don't really spend much time making a whole album and thinking about it.

Is there anything else you would like to add? Something you would like to say to your fans?
I would like to thank our fans for sticking with us. Many started following us since our first tours, and we are really grateful to them.

LT