In every walk of music there are going to be bands that you love or hate. There are some that you secretly know all the words to every song they have ever done, but you would never admit it, and just retire to the privacy of your own room to have a quick go on your air guitar.I spoke to a key member of one of these bands. A brilliant lyricist and unsung, underestimated guitar hero to many. Whatever your views, you cannot deny that without a bit of cock rock in the past, you wouldn't have the bands of the present.
I spoke to Luke Morley from Thunder before another sell out gig in Sheffield.
With a career spanning over 15 years, you have just released your 8th studio album 'Robert Johnson's Tombstone' - what's kept you guys going all this time, and how much more is to come from Thunder?
Well I'll answer the second bit first... I have no idea! [Chuckles] as long as we keep enjoying it, we'll keep doing it. What keeps us going? Well the same reason really, we enjoy ourselves very much and it's a great band to play in, we're very good friends and it's a very uncomplicated business, everybody's roles are very much defined after all this time, it's like a comfortable pair of shoes [laughs] that you don't want to throw away and when you're still getting thousands of people coming to see you play, you cant argue with that and it's wonderful and also great to be paid to do what you love. I think that's the secret of our longevity if you like.
Thunder over the years have had their fair share of rumours regarding trouble with record companies, and rumoured splits before you initially did, you've done as nearly many farewells gigs as Status Quo. Like the aforementioned band, you do still have continued success, is it surprising to you that the fan base still remains as loyal?
Is it surprising? I think it's... no! Without wanting to sound egotistical, no I'm not surprised, but then again I think we have a very high level of consistency about our albums and our shows and I think that's why people keep coming back. I suppose of all our contemporaries, although there's not many of them left [laughs] apart from maybe The Quire Boys, and no disrespect but if Spike was sitting here right now I'd say the same thing but we're playing to twice as many people as them, and I think it's probably because of our level of consistency, like I said before. We work very hard at it, and it's not an accident. What I would not like Thunder to become is a band like Status Quo. Don't get me wrong, I've got a lot of respect for them, because it's a tough business and to keep going that long is a hard thing, or it's like The Rolling Stones, another example of a band that still tour and do a fantastic business, but they haven't made a decent record for 20 years, and I don't want Thunder to be like that. Every album that we make we do six numbers from the new album, and obviously not everyone out there will have the new album but, you know the shows have still being going very well, so I think that's testament to the fact that we are consistent and we do have a good live set. We're not the cheerful Cockney band of chappies that we're supposed to be. Well we are I suppose in some ways, but we do take what we do very seriously as well.
Since the revival of classic rock recently, and more of it appearing in the mainstream of music, do you think this has helped older pros like yourselves to gain more recognition from a younger audience?
Well I think The Darkness did help, we certainly have seen a lot more young fans, young people down at the front, you could argue that we've been going so long that some of them are the children of people that come to see us [laughs] which in some cases is true, and that's quite sweet as well, when you get 2 or 3 generations of family coming to see us, it's very strange! I got introduced a 15 year old lad the other night, and his mum told me he was conceived to our first album, which I found very shocking [laughs].
At least she didn't say he was conceived by you!
Christ yeah, that would have been more shocking [laughs heartily] I've forgotten what the question was now, you've completely thrown me now! I think rock music, classic rock call it what you will, is always there or thereabouts, and I think it has moments where it becomes more mainstream, as it did at the end of the 80's when we were just starting, with bands like Guns N Roses, and Bon Jovi, they made it very sort of popular again and people started wearing cowboy boots again and hanging out in rock clubs. That kind of went in the 90's, you had Brit Pop and more dance music, and I guess as the music industry gets older it's diversifying to an enormous degree and I think possibly what bands like The Darkness did, which I think was the best thing they could have done. They had no qualms about showing they had a sense of humour, and we've always been a bit like that as well, and I think for 10 years the English music scene was all about what your shoes looked like and how cool you looked, and it was just faceless and dull really. People talk about what a great live band Oasis are, and yeah, they're ok but if I've just spent all that fucking money on a ticket to see them, I want to see a band trying, not just stood there.
So what has been your favourite era as a band to play in?
Well I've not really thought about us playing in different eras, but I suppose that's probably true. I think that we still enjoy it now as much as when we started, so it's difficult to answer that question. We have continued doing what we do throughout the years and other things have come along and some disappeared, so I'm not sure, I've never been too caught up in the fashion element of music and what's hip and what isn't in the NME. To me music is about how it makes you feel, it doesn't matter who makes it or what have you, or whether they're cool or not, it's a natural organic thing and I really don't know how to answer that question.
You ran a competition to find your support acts for this tour, and you also run a scheme to help unsigned bands some recognition on the scene, who has shown the most potential from the acts that were successful, and who would you recommend to take a listen to?
Well all of the bands that are on this tour are all very good in different ways, so I wouldn't want to single any one of them out. I think Even Nine and the band that are on with us tonight, Glyder, have gone down best with our punters I would say. There is a lot of talent out there and out of the people who were submitted to us, out of the top 20 bands with the most votes, I listened to all of them and they really were quite across the board, and interesting. Some were obviously a bit work in progress and not quite ready, because we didn't want to put anybody up there who cant really cut it, because it would reflect badly on us and it would kill their career. It was something we considered seriously for the good of both parties, but they're all good. I particularly liked the band that opened for us in Oxford who were called, In Still, they were very wacky and the audience didn't know quite what to make of them [laughs] but I thought they were great, really interesting; they were a bit like Faith No More, they had a very strange singer! Whereas Glyder are very traditional, very Thin Lizzy and Even Nine were very good and very lively. All we can really do is give them a chance to play in front of a bigger audience than they normally would, and if they get on from there as a result of it then that's great!
You do a lot of work for charity. Are the charities that you help out picked at random or is there something more personal behind the decisions?
Well one thing about being in a band is that you get approached a hell of a lot by people about doing charitable things, and so you have to say 'No' more than you say 'Yes' because it's just not physically possible. Crisis, the homeless charity was the first one that we got involved with, that was, excuse the pun, a bit of a big issue for us because we're all Londoners and that's where the charity is based. It was something that we see a lot of and it was good to be able to help out there. Other things that we've done stuff for are Children with Leukaemia and Linda McCartney's charity and loads of others, but providing we can do it we will do whatever we can to help. Our fans are very good with fund raising events, whether it's an auction via our site or anything like that, then they will all get involved. It's good to do what you can isn't it?
Back in April 1993, Danny [Bowes - Lead Singer] stole a barman's dodgy looking toupee, from a bar in Germany where you were staying. Were you part of that little crime? The moral of the story was not to go back to the scene of your crime, what's been the most naughty thing you've done that you thought you could get away with?
Well that particular evening I actually wasn't in the bar at that time, I actually came into the bar just after it had happened, and it was very, very funny! I had seen it happening before I had left the bar, when Danny and the tour manager were winding each other up about doing the deed with the wig, and I had seen the situation building, and I went back into the bar about two hours later after it had happened. I don't really have any regrets actually. I don't think you can, and if you want to do this for a living, most people that do this for a living are not go to bed early and have a cup of cocoa type people anyway, and occasionally, obviously things get out of hand, but it's all part and parcel. There are so many funny stories I could tell you, but I'd prefer not to if you don't mind, because we don't want to shame the innocent as if it were [laughs] or get myself into trouble for that matter. We have had a lot of fun over the years, and when you work with people who are your friends, and you know each other very well, you kind of have excess and stuff, but it's always been alcohol, nobody has ever really done drugs in this band, it just wasn't our chosen poison, I suppose being South London boys we all like a drink, and most things that have happened to us have been alcohol fuelled.
So what has been the best part of your career?
The best? Well I think the first time we played at Hammersmith Odeon was a good one because I had been to see so many bands play there when I was a kid and there we were playing it. Every time we play in front of an outdoor, festival audience is good as there are so many people there.
I remember seeing you play with Van Halen & Bon Jovi at Don Valley stadium in Sheffield and it was an amazing gig.
You see I think you're confused there, I'm sure it was Def Leppard, I don't think we played with Bon Jovi, I remember playing Wembley with them though.
No it was definitely Bon Jovi and Van Halen I went to see and you opened up for them with Crown of Thorns.
I only remember playing at Wembley on that tour, Jesus Christ! Fuck you're right [laughs] I'm sorry! I'd forgotten all about that! [Laughs] There you go! Unreliable memoirs. But running our own label is a best for us and taking control of our own business, not very exciting but it's very rewarding. We are in competition with some bands that have hundreds of thousands of pounds behind them and we're outselling them! It's nice for us because we've done it ourselves.
So if you could pick one Thunder song to sum up you as a person, which song would it be and why?
Ooh, fuck me! [Long pause] Maybe 'Can't Live Your Life In A Day' because it's about not trying to be more than you are and not asking too much of yourself and being patient. That's a good quality to have in life I think.
You mentioned earlier about how important image is in music. How much did image play a part in your earlier success, now that the hair is a lot shorter and the pants not as tight?
I don't think we've changed that much, although there were some crimes against hairspray back then. I'm not sure, I think when we first started, the thing that we were most concerned about was making the kind of music that we wanted to make, and as people we've always been a jeans and T-shirt kind of band, and I think our image if you like was just that! It was never very complicated [laughs] I think there are a couple of lads in the band who have no interest in style at all. There are a couple of us that take it a little bit more seriously, [laughs] we have to stop Ben shopping in Next! It was never gonna be a big deal to us.
Luke, you tend to write most of the material, where does your inspiration come from, and what excites you most about writing for these guys?
Well I don't write with them, they don't fucking do anything! [Laughs] I do all the work, well not really. [Grins] It just evolved over the years that I'm the person that writes, and it's something that I enjoy massively, and something I do nearly all the time. Chris Childs co-wrote a song on the album, and Harry will occasionally come in with ideas, and it's great when they do as it means you don't have to work quite so hard, which is always nice. I think really it's wonderful writing songs for Thunder because it's a band that musically, the songs are kind of linked as they are written for the band and also for Danny's voice, so it would be very difficult for anyone else to sing and play with the same kind of feeling, and hopefully my skill as a producer are good at making everybody just feel and be themselves, and it will still sound like Thunder at the end of the day. It's fantastic because they are fantastic musicians. It's a pleasure to have an idea on a little scrap of paper and just from singing into one of those little machines and get a draft through to thousands of people singing it at a gig.
Do you feel the British music scene and industry 'lets down' aspiring young musicians or songwriters in any way?
It's never been a very charitable organisation [laughs] so it is tough, and very competitive, but I think if you want to make money out of any creative art, whether it be writing books, music or films it is going to be competitive as people think it's glamorous and fun, better than doing a real job, blah, blah, blah, so it attracts a lot of people initially, but to get through that initial burst of enthusiasm and actually carve a niche for yourself and make money, is an entirely different thing altogether, and takes a hell of a lot of time, discipline and I'm stating to sound like the open words of Fame now aren't I [laughs] it's not easy! Not everybody is cut out to do it, and you do sacrifice certain elements of your life, for me there weren't many sacrifices as it was the only thing that I was going to do, I knew at eleven years old what I was going to do and I'm still doing it.
I think in terms of does the industry look after anyone? Well no, it doesn't look after anybody, but because of the internet there is more ways of people getting their music out there and they have these acoustic clubs up and down the country and you're getting people like James Morrison and even bands like The Feeling who are all sorts of musicians that came from these kinds of scenes. I think it's quite a good time for English music on a whole, it's a lot less depressing than it was ten years ago when it was awful dance music and dreary Brit Pop, but don't get me wrong I like some dance music and I like some of the stuff that came out of the whole Brit Pop era, but there is so much bad stuff on the scene. I think the whole Myspace thing has peaked, because as soon as the national news latch on to it, it's not cool anymore is it? It's moment has gone, and I'm sure there will be other things like Youtube, and new kind of internet things happening all the time as it's such an amazing way to communicate with people and to get your stuff out there.
You are renowned for your openness as a band and hands on approach with your fan base. What's the strangest request that you've had from a fan?
To dress up in a purple, velvet vicar's coat!
Any reason for that?
I'm sure it was some sort of bizarre sexual thing, but luckily they didn't ask me in person, it was via a Q & A thing on our web site.
Finally, we have a readers question from Sonya. If you had to choose another member of the band to sleep with who would it be?
Jesus Christ! [Laughs through a grimace] None of 'em! I would rather be completely and utterly asexual. No! Sorry I can't even think about it, let alone answer the question, I'd be sick! [Laughs] And I know where they've all been!
Ok we'll leave that there.
Luke Morley: an amazing guitarist, none too shabby songwriter and all round thoroughly bloody nice down to earth chap, Leeds Music Scene thanks you for your time.
