"We haven't really hit on a formula and tried to repeat it again and again."

Bands like THERAPY? are out there not for your entertainment, but to balance out all the bullshit we swallow each and every day with something real and truly passionate...

Well, this is what the new album 'Crooked Timber' is - a band alive and well after many years of travail and trouble and triumph and hardship.

an interview conducted by Nasso Ruskov

HIYA ANDY, WHERE ARE YOU AT THE MOMENT AND WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE?
I'm currently at home, I live in Cambridge in the UK. The weather's pretty good actually, it's been a good old day. I've been out and about, it's been sunny.

SOME OF THE INFO ON YOUR WEBSITE SAYS YOU DID A PRETTY INTERESTING VIDEO SHOOT FOR THE TITLE TRACK OF YOUR NEW ALBUM 'CROOKED TIMBER'...
Yes, we did. We shot a video up in Manchester and we sort of performed just for 2-3 hours to the song. The video's going to have lots of special effects in it, so we're waiting to see what the finished version looks like. Apparently there will be people flying in it, which I'm looking forward to seeing.

HAS THE TITLE OF THE ALBUM GOT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE POLITICAL BLOG OF THE SAME NAME, TO WHICH SOME ACADEMICS CONTRIBUTE?
Oh, no, it hasn't, although I'm very aware of the political blog. I'm presuming they got it from the same source as I did - the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who once said that "from the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made". That's one of his very famous sayings and that's where we got it from. Whenever I googled it later on to see if there was a band of the same name or anything like that, the political blog would come up.

I READ IN ANOTHER INTERVIEW THAT YOU SAID THIS MEANT THAT US HUMANS ARE ALL UNIQUE OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT...
Well, I think that was something the record company picked up on for the biography. I think a lot of our themes are dealing with the subject of the human condition, but not in a very depressing way. It's almost like we're asking ourselves questions about consciousness and about what it actually means to be human. It's me asking myself questions, I think it's all just about how I feel about being human and hopefully some people will understand what i think.

YOU DID THE RECORD WITH ANDY GILL, WHO HAS QUITE A TRACK RECORD. HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH HIM?
I really enjoyed it as did the rest of the band. He was a big influence on the sound of the record. He wanted to make sure that, as a three-piece, the drums and the bass also had a really big prominence in the mix, so that it wouldn't be just a traditional sounding rock album. He was also quite good with the usage of space, so that it's not all fill-on the whole time. And as big Gang Of Four fans, which was the band he was in, for us it was a pleasure to work with him.

YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR QUITE A WHILE NOW AND HAVE A VERY LOYAL FANBASE. HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN THE LONGEVITY OF THE BAND?
I think the reason we're still around is firstly because we still enjoy doing it and, secondly, because we listen to lots of new and exciting music all the time to keep us inspired and to keep us in love with music. We haven't really hit on a formula and tried to repeat it again and again. I think that's really it.

I think it's just the fact we consider ourselves musicians and getting a chance to tour and play is something we've always found very very enjoyable, so it hasn't actually been any pressure really.

BELFAST ALWAYS HAD THIS TROUBLESOME IMAGE. HOW IS IT LOOKING NOWADAYS?
Until about a week ago it was looking absolutely fantastic. There was a peace process and there were optimistic times in the city. A few days ago there were three shootings, but I'm glad to say that all the people went out on the street to protest about the killings.

Hopefully it’s not the start of the bad old days again, because certainly the last 10 years have been great in Belfast.

ANY NEW BANDS YOU'VE BEEN LISTENING TO RECENTLY?
Yeah, quite a few actually. We've been listening to a band from Rome called Zu, who are on Mike Patton's Ipecac label.

SPEAKING OF MIKE PATTON, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FAITH NO MORE REFORMING?
I'm very excited. If we're around when they play the Download festival, if we're in the country and not touring ourselves, we're definitely gonna go and check it out.

rights Tangra Mega Rock