“I’ve spent many pleasant hours musing on the philosophies and qualities of the provinces of Ireland. Cork is the capital of Munster and the quality attributed historically to that province is poetry and music. It’s Ireland’s seat of poetry and music.”
When Mike Scott, founder and mainstay of The Waterboys, is in such full and majestic flow, it’s best to stay out of the way.
“There’s an old poem from about 1,000 years ago, “ he continues, deep in sweet reverie, conjuring up Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn, or Oisin, or whoever he has in mind.
“It details the properties of each province. Connaught is knowledge, Ulster is war, Leinster is prosperity, and Munster is poetry and music.”
He’s reminiscing about previous Waterboys shows in the Rebel County ahead of a tantalising double-bill with Crowded House on Sunday, June 23, in Cork’s Musgrave Park.
“Connolly Hall, Clonakilty, The Majestic Ballroom in Mallow, 1989! It was feral, man! Brilliant! And we played Cork City so many times. I absolutely love playing there. I remember the Cork Jazz Festival, wondering why are we playing a jazz festival, yet it was a great gig. They seem to be quite loose about the genre. I remember being in the old Jury’s Hotel and how much craic it was, the liveliest hotel in Christendom.”
He picks one night in particular, in the Everyman Theatre, around the 2004 direction.
“It was an acoustic show,” Scott recalls. “A three-man band, with Steve Wickham [legendary more-fiddle-than-man figure] and our old keyboard player Richard [Naiff]. There was this authority and tone in my voice that I didn’t usually notice and it was something to do with singing in Cork. I was in the capital of Ireland’s province of poetry and music, probably one of the most coherent energy fields of cultural creativity in the world, and it was inspiring. I’ve never forgotten that and every time in Cork, I listen to my singing to see if I’m getting that inspiration.”
Well, that certainly knocks other bands’ paltry “Hello Cork!” efforts into a co*cked hat. Scott has had a long and deep connection with Ireland in general, having moved here first in the eighties before returning to take up residence again several years ago. Can we presume he’s now here for the duration?
“My children were born in Ireland. I’m an Irish citizen now, naturalised Irish, although still a proud Scot as well, Ya Bas! I learned some years ago that my great-great-grandmother was a McCormick from Ulster and McCormick, of course, is a great Munster name, so maybe I’ve got deep genes from down there…”
He's laying it on pretty thick now. I ask why he decided to take up citizenship.
“Because I live here full time,” is his sensible answer. “Brexit had something to do with it. I was fed up with being an isolated Brit and all that passport hassle when I travel. I’m here, this is my home now, and it feels right.”
As well as three Waterboys studio albums in the last five years, Scott has been constantly working on archive material, including 2021’s revelatory Magnificent Sevenwhich concentrated on the Room To Roam period and this year’s exceptional 1985 collection which documents the creation of the marvellous This Is The Sea. That’s all on top of 2013’s exhaustive but far from exhausting Fisherman’s Box. Amazingly, there’s more to come.
“There’s a plan to do a double album, probably in eighteen months’ time, of even more unreleased music from the Fisherman’s Blues sessions. We recorded an unbelievable amount of music, probably more than any band ever recorded for a single album, Springsteen and Dylan included. Six full CDs of music was the maximum I could process in 2013. I just didn’t have enough brain power but now we’re looking deeper into what really happened.”
It was a phenomenally fertile period which Scott illustrates with just one example.
“I just got a transfer today of a session recording, a three-hour-long tape. It’s all these different songs, some originals, some funny covers like ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ and T. Rex’s ‘New York City’, and it’s bloody good. And that’s three hours on a single day. We recorded maybe a hundred days…”
There’s also a new record on the way, which we’ll get to hear early next year.
“There’s an album coming in April 2025,” Scott beams proudly. “And it’s on Sun Records so we’re now labelmates with young Elvis Presley.”
So the centre of the record will look cool as it spins on the turntable if nothing else.
“I’ve seen the label, it looks brilliant. We’ve a big tour being booked at the moment, the UK shows are on sale, Irish shows will be announced probably after this summer run. It will be a decent Irish tour, we’ll be going all over the shop.”
When pushed about the record itself, Scott practically tattoos his cards to his chest.
“The record is beautiful. It is the best Waterboys record ever. It’s a concept record, a narrative record, but I can’t say yet what the story is. There are many different styles, a lot of American styles. I can’t say anymore!”
Read More
Musgrave Park FAQ: 2024 line-up, tickets, directions— here's everything you need to know
With a spring in his step, Sting turns back time in Musgrave Park
Getting back to Musgrave Park this Sunday, and if you can’t make it to Cork you can catch The Waterboys in Wicklow, Belfast, and Galway this summer too, Scott has a gentle warning for our Antipodean friends.
“I’d rather be headline, to be quite honest,” he says, reasonably enough. “But I regard it as my sacred duty to make things as hot as I possibly can for the noble Crowded House while still wishing them a great gig.”
Get in early is his advice. “We’re on stage 7.15pm ‘til 8.15pm. One hour.”
It’s gonna be all killer, no filler? “You bet. I wouldn’t say that…but it will be. Yeah!”
- Crowded House with very special guests The Waterboys play Musgrave Park on Sunday, June 23.
