Post-9/11 there was a song lyric I noticed from "Fatima" on your solo Kilroy Was Here CD  Why didn't they tell him back home that things fall apart in  America?" Your thoughts?
I've received a lot of letters about that song.  Some people seem to think it was somewhat prescient, but in reality the answer is a lot more down to earth.  Ths song is not about 9/11, but rather an ongoing interest I have in the culture  clash between first-generation Americans and their immigrant parents.  I think I  first got interested in that subject upon observing the musician children of native Irish people living in the Bronx - Eileen Ivers in particular.  Her father used to drive her down from the Bronx when she was rehearsing with a band  called Ground Plan in the East Village in the early 80's.  There he'd sit in his car, this man from Mayo, outside some decrepit tenement, observing the comings and goings of the wild East Village people, while inside, his American born  daughter would be revving up her fiddle with an out-there East Village band.   What did they talk about on their journey home to the Bronx?  From that, it was a short jump to the clash between the daughter of a fundamentalist Muslim, as she assimilated in the USA, and he felt more and more displaced from the  verities of his own culture and religion.  Things falling apart in America meant the dissolution of family bonds and ties.  I also wondered whether the children who break away from the safety of their families and cultures are happier in the  long run - though that's the romantic impression.  So, with Fatima, I decided that she would instead reject the American boyfriend and retreat back into the bosom of her family. Perhaps, to my own way of thinking, I find that the materialism of the USA is often no replacement for the sureness of religion and  culture - no matter how circumscribed that life may be.

Why not collaborate with Elvis Costello? Would love to see you do a version of Van Morrison's "Irish Heartbeat' with the Burns Sisters--who do a cool cover of that.
I think you have to be out and about quite a lot to set up collaborations with various people. And after doing so many gigs with Black 47 in the course of a year, I like to stay home with my kids or just be out and about and solitary.  I seem to have two sides - the one that people see with Black 47 and the other where I like to be on my own.  I do collaborate with people like Suzzy Roche and various musicians on the ‘Kilroy’ CD and, say, with someone like Ric Ocasek on ‘Fire of  Freedom’, but, in general, I'm not really into hanging out with celebrities,  although I suppose the door is sometimes open for me to do so.  Stewart Lerman, the producer, is someone else that I collaborate with.  He's an old friend, though, and someone who cares so much for Black 47and its place in music. I do admire Elvis, but regret to say, I'm not familiar with the Burns Sisters, though I've heard their name mentioned around.

I know you'll be collaborating with the Washington DC band Los Hermanos Rodriguez very soon (10/18/02 @ Black Cat).  How did you first hook up with Dave Ridgeway from LHR and everyone?
I really don't know how I met Dave.  He's been around Black 47 in one way or another for some time.  To tell you the truth, that's the way with a lot of people.  Although, Black 47 is quite a tight unit, many people move in and around and often out of  our lives with great speed and frequency.  Certain people have a way of feeling like they've been a part of you for a long time and Dave is one of those very friendly, positive people who you'll see in our dressing room before gigs.  I  would imagine that he was originally a friend of our bass player, Andrew Goodsight, but then again, I know that John Murray, our soundman, has been pushing for sometime to get Dave's band to play with us.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.  I love to have really good bands on before us.  They break the  ice with the audience and raise us up to higher levels.  Hendrix always loved to have Sly Stone on before him because it made him rise higher.  I feel the same.

Speaking of touring, have you a wish list on who to tour with?
No, I don't seem to think in those terms. I tend to be very blinkered in just focusing on Black 47 and how we can go beyond ourselves at every gig.  Who we're playing with has little impact on me.  I do like it when we're hitting a new audience, however. Turning new people on to the band is always important to me and is what keeps  the band ticking over both musically and commercially.  I often like having ska bands on in front of us.  They work so hard and I always enjoy the music. They often have horns too and I'm always interested in hearing how people use horns.

Do you focus your tour dates primarily on cities that are know to have a large Irish-American population or are you finding that you are reaching a wider general audience?
Well, we tend to get more dates in those kind of cities, but usually Irish-Americans are quite proud of the band and will bring along other ethnicities to show us off. So, our audience tends to be quite diffuse.  But, by the same token, the Southwest US would be one of our weaker areas.  But there are Black 47 freaks everywhere.  I often take note of opening lines that are said to me at gigs and the most popular is:  "I'm not Irish but I love...." We rarely play on the Jewish High Holy Days. There is always a significant drop in our audience. So, I suppose that says something too.

I understand Ireland has banned your music.  Are there other countries that have taken such steps?
Well, we're not banned in Ireland, just not played.  We've always had problems with our record companies overseas - except in Australia and S.E. Asia. The British and Irish companies used to think that by supporting our music they would be sending out a message that they were encouraging Sinn Fein/The IRA.  This wasn't true, of  course, but we were painted by that brush early on and haven't been able, or bothered, to shake it.  What can you do?  We were given the choice early on to  become more pop-like and less political and we declined.  To paraphrase Yeats: was there another Troy for us to burn?  And if we had disclaimed politics, both Irish republican and general left-wing, what would we have become - a bad looking Corrs? It's actually a pity though.  We have a lot of fans in Ireland and the UK and they can't buy our cds.  They do come over here to Connolly's to see us on Saturday nights.  So, all is not lost.  But, in essence, we made our bed a long time ago, and now we sleep in it - with no regrets.

What's in your CD player now or the music in your head at  this moment?
Well, the bridge for a song that I've been writing called "Somethin' Goin' Down - New York City" has been driving me crazy all day.As to what I've been listening to lately -  mostly Shostakovich (please check spelling for me, as I'm on a train right now).  I've been entranced with some of  his string quartets that seem to deal with life under Stalin.  I've also been listening to a lot of Sean Nos (old unaccompanied Gaelic songs) which I may incorporate into a project that I've been thinking of for a while. I don't think I've listened to anything modern in a number of years - probably my loss but I just can't stand what I hear on the radio.

The public outside of your core audience might not know of the rest of Black 47. If you could, run through the names and roles of your  bandmates and their contributions to the 47 sound.
Oh dear.  Well, Thomas Hamlin is the drummer.  We've been playing on and off for 20 years.  He's a dear friend as are all the members of the band and crew.  Geoffrey Blythe is the sax player, a wonderful player, a founder member of Dexy's Midnight  Runners. Joseph Mulvanerty is the piper/whistle/bodhran player.  He's an extraordinary piper and one who brings a jazz/blues sensibility to the instrument. Fred Parcells is an amazing trombone player.  He also brings a jazz/big band sensibility to some of the arrangments.  Andrew Goodsight is the  bass player and also does a lot of harmonies.  Being a guitarist/pianist he brings a really interesting harmonic sensibility to the bass.  I think that's it. I write the songs but we tend to deconstruct them every night (depending on  our own level of deconstructiveness).

I've been to a few of your shows through the years, the first at Summerstage (Central Park, NYC) and the last at your former stomping grounds,  Paddy Reilly. I notice, though, you've taken residence at Connolly's. Why the change of venue?
I can't remember when we left Reilly's but it must be about 4 or 5 years ago.  We left because, though it was small and cramped, they changed the decor and went more for a  theme style Irish bar - which would have very little do with Black 47.  They also took out the stage and PA so there was really no option.  We also had a lot  of problems with volume there.  At Connolly's, there is a stage and PA and no problems with sound.  It was just a natural progression.  I remember that day in Central Park. I'm told that we broke the record for attendance then.  It was a blistering hot day.  I had two amps onstage which both blew out because of the heat.  In the end, I was playing through one of those little practice amps. Jesus. What a scene.

What songs are you keen on covering? Or do you? Otherwise, what  are your fans' favorite requests?
Well, we tend to cover songs that I know already. Dylan, Marley, Morrison, Bobby Fuller, etc. but we only do them for encores. The fans come up with some of the wildest choices but, so far, we've never taken them. The problem with doing covers is that means one less Black 47 song and people are very partisan about their own  particular favorite.  If and when they don't hear their favorite, they can get very upset.  Many people don't realise that we change the set continually and feel that we are dissing them by not playing their particular favorites.  Sometimes, you can't win.

People know you are rather active politically through your music. The latest from the mother country suggests a paramilitary monitor of ceasefire in northern Ireland.  What of it can we believe to be effective and useful in the peace process?
Well, there is a peace process in effect and process is the operative word.  This issue - the British problem in the North of Ireland - has been simmering for centuries, nine, five, two or one or any combination thereof, depending on your opinion  Thus,this problem won't be solved over night.  To quote Mister Yeats again: "much hatred, little room."  And that's the long and the short of it.  For me, the war is over.  It should never have happened in the first place and I appreciate the great hurt there is on both sides.  I grew up in a veryRepublican background on one side of my family and can empathize with that side of the divide.  On the other hand, I can feel for a Northern Protestant who doesn't want any part of a Rome dominated Ireland. But even that's changed in the last 20 years.  So, we have to go on. The world of 1969 is gone and the conditions of that time have all changed, so we can't keep looking back.  It's  not there anymore. The hopes I had for a Socialist Irish Republic seem almost quaint now.  What I took to be solid truths have morphed into hopes and even now are changing into old dreams. I would supspect that that's the case with many  of my peers. I wanted to change the world and set out to do that.  Most young people now are more concerned with getting a good job, raising families and fitting in. The world I came from was radically different than that and I have no choice but to adapt with it.  That doesn't mean I have to lose my ideals. But I have to make those ideals deal with a different set of circumstances.   However, I could never abide sectarianism or racism and I refuse to appease them  in any way - either Catholic/Nationalist or Protestetant/Unionist.  So, the process will go on with many bumps on the road.  "Peace comes dropping slow."  It will take generations to ease the hurts meted out to both sides. I've always felt that there will be a united Ireland someday. It makes economic and political sense but it won't happen until people inovlved no longer care.It will probably happen in the context of a united Europe or, even better, a united world.

Who/what will be your next political target musically, excluding the 9/11/01 incident?
Jesus, I've no idea.  Maybe I'll just become a sensitive singer/songwriter.  I really don't know.  It's quite easy, unfortunately, to see a situations that should be  exposed or righted but I have to be able to render it in some poetical form or else it's just a dull brick of opinion.

How are you managing your work in plays and the live shows?
Well, I walked away from the theatre just over two years ago. I had done the same thing with music back in 1985 and I thought it was the right thing to do again.  I had written a lot of plays and though all were produced I just didn't seem to be able to get through to a larger public.  I didn't want to stop writing, so I took one of the plays, Liverpool Fantasy, and turned it into a novel.  In the last couple of weeks, I've secured a publishing deal for it and it will come out next year.  But I do miss the theatre.  I've begun work with a producer on bringing the play/musical Rockin' the Bronx back to the stage.  I'm ready to get immersed again.

What i really enjoy about your shows is that focus on  communicating with the audience..and not just riffing thru one song after another. Of course you write plays and you know about stage presence!
Well, many of  the songs are character driven, so to get them across you've got to become the character.  I used to do a lot more non-musical communicating onstage but found that I was repeating myself.  So, I cut it back to nothing but found that people like the personal approach.  But I only do it now, if I feel like it.  It has to come out unsolicited.  I do like to break down the 4th wall with the audience and inovlve them.  I learned about that from watching the Kinks, Bob Marley, etc in their heyday.  One part of me loves being onstage, the other is quite solitary. Right now, I'm heading back into Manhattan for the Saturday night show at Connolly's and really looking forward to it.  I love the lights and the drinking and seeing people's eyes light up when they hear a song of ours.  I love seeing a new person come along and see their eyes of 'show me" open a little, and then see them back with their own converts the next week.  I think it also helps that we never do the same show twice.  I write up a new set right before we go on.  Then I usually change it onstage anyway.  I would have to think that alcohol has a certain influence on Black 47 performances - for better and worse.  Such is life.

Do you sense Ireland shaking hands with the UK in your lifetime?
Oh, they do it all the time.  Most people in Southern Ireland really don't have a lot to do with what's going on in the North, and you would be surprised by just how compartmentalized areas in the North are too.  Most Irish people feel more of an affinity for UK citizens than for people from other countries.  Remember, Irish  people are part of the British cultural empire.  They watch the same TV, follow the same soccer teams, etc.  There are differences, of course, but huge areas of common sympathy and empathy.

I read elsewhere on the Web that you are from Wexford...What is the atmosphere there nowadays?
It's very different than when I grew up. It's a busy cospopolitan town - much less interesting than the small town that I knew and experienced.  Take a listen to Life's Like That, Isn't It? from Kilroy Was Here.  In fact, put up an mp3 of it for people to hear.  That's a pretty clear picture of what it was like in my day. Dark, mysterious, its own language and customs, always looking inward but with many sailors and emigrants to London who brough back word of other cultures, very Catholic, very old, very secretive, a long and bloody history.It still has traces of that, but television has cheapened and coarsened life with its usual patina of uniformity and unoriginality. Still, if you walk the streets late at night, the ghosts are everywhere - all you have to do is listen.

Will we see a 2nd edition of Keltic Kids, your songbook  especially for kids of all ages?
I doubt it.  I actually got an offer to do another recently and, I suppose, you never know.  Keltic Kids was done for "kids of all ages." I'm not sure I have it in me to be a Raffi or a real childrens' entertainer.  I did Keltic Kids as a postcard to my children. Being in a band and being from another country and just being me, I haven't been the best father to them.  I wrote this as a memory of how I saw them as children or, perhaps, as how I wanted to see them.  I hope when they grow up, they'll listen to it.  I have many other projects that I want to get going, however, so I doubt if I'll do another Keltic Kids.  But I've said things like that before  and...

What's on the horizon for your next album?
Well, I'm toying with the idea of doing a "Love Song to a  City" which would contain some new material about New York and some of our older songs re-recorded - some rarities.  I'm not totally sure yet.  But I'm leaning in that direction.  I have enough new songs to do a new studio album but, for  some reason, I don't think it's the right time.  But then, time will tell.  The  music business is at a weird juncture at the moment and I'm not sure where  exactly we fit in - or if we fit in at all.  So, we'll see.  Festina lente - as the Romans used to say - hasten slowly.

Personal q from me: Do you happen to know any Laneys? I can trace my sole Irish line to Titus and Mary Laney from the 1600's.  5 generations ago, the line married a few times over to British royalists and others...but they lived in colonial times here by that time.
It's an  unusual name.  Given Titus, I would say that it's Protestant (it's good to be able to define that straight off, because the first seach would be parish records) but Mary is usually Catholic.  However, the 1600's were very changeabletimes and there was quite a lot of switching of religions, depending on who was in power.  I've never known a Laney.  Must be a real old name and one that has pretty much died out.

A political war is one matter, but a war on an outward action of hate and negativity is quite another...Are you still going to remain a Democrat for the time being, go to a different party or do you have a different political solution? To attempt to put the matter of the war with Iraq in a few words is  dangerous...but how much further do you see the US relying on Bush Jr, Bush Sr,  or whomever is pulling the media strings? Comments?
I'm not sure if I'll remain a Democrat. I've been increasingly disillusioned with the party over the last decade or more.  I really only stay registered because I live in lower Manhattan and the Democratic primaries are the most meaningful elections down here.  As regards Mr. Bush.  I can't say I've ever felt anything good about the man. But, right now, he appears intent on dragging us into a needless war.  A war that could set off a frightening chain reaction.  Wars, at any time, are awful.  But a needless one is beyond belief.  My feeling, is that the "American  People" - god, how I hate the overused catch-phrase of politicians - are fast awaking to the danger that we're slipping into.  Whether they'll awake from their sleep walking in time to stop the coming calamity is the question.

Also along political matters....what are your thoughts re Bono and his hobnobbing with political leaders? Is he truly assisting in effecting change?
I would say that he is effecting change but even if he isn't, he's certainly directing people's attention to debt relief for disadvantaged countries.  The man seems to engender a lot of jealousy and annoyance - I suppose his personality is responsible for that.  He doesn't bother me, in the least, but then I don't  follow the lives of rock musicians at all.  But the fact is, he's trying and  that means everything to me.  And when all is said and done, he's quite a singer/entertainer.  What more can you say.  The man is a phenomenon.

Who, if in fact there was, the 'Danny Boy' you refer to in song?
Well, Danny Boy is now a composite of people - often the case in Black 47 songs.  Sometimes, in performance at least - he's more one person to me than another.  There are a number of Black 47 songs which have had an influence on people but Danny Boy has  had a particular one. For those who don't know the story in the song, Danny is a tough Irish construction worker who happens to be gay.  But call him a faggot and he'll take your head off.  In the play, Rockin' The Bronx, he's also very attractive to women and was an all-Ireland football star, an IRA suspect who in the end dies of AIDS - though, none of us knew what AIDS was in the early 80's. The song was super-controversial right from its first performance.  We would get requests not to play it in certain establishments/Irish Festivals.  But it gradually took off and became a rallying cry to many Irish/Irish American gays.  Then because of the toughness of the protagonist, it became popular with many young tough Irish-Americans who then had to confront their own knee-jerk anti-gay attitudes.  Many people feel that it contributed to more awareness within the Irish-American community, i.e. if Black 47 (who have always been the  band of young Irish-Americans) are praising a gay person, then you can't go  around calling people faggots indiscriminately.  Most songs sticking up for gay people are sung to sympathetic audiences.  With Danny Boy - every night for years - we had to confront and lance anti-gay attitudes wherever we played.  Now, it's part of our canon and everyone accepts it.  But there was a time. Of course, some people still resent that we took a perfectly beautiful, if  mawkish, expression of Irishness and turned it on its head.  But then, isn't that what Black 47 has been about from the beginning?

Telling lyric, this one: "But the more I play the deeper I'm in debt. If we ever get a hit, I'll be out on the street" ('Green Suede Shoes' ) What inspired this thought?
Most people have no idea of the economics of rock music.  You play for nothing to get a break.  Then you get a break and you play for nothing again. You get a hit  record and you continue to play for nothing to promote the hit.  The next album flops and you're "dropped" by your record company.  You still have a huge debt  from all the promotion, so you'll never receive anything from the record company  for sales of your hit.  That's rock & roll and no one knows it.  We had our brush with that experience but, unlike 99% of other bands, we always knew the rock & roll life was pure bullshit.  So, we carved out our own niche - pubs, festivals, selling our own cds, etc.  We play the rock & roll clubs around  the country too, but to be dependent on them is suicide.  I always say:  the moment you sign a record deal, you're counting down the minutes until the dissolution of the band.  Nothing has changed.  I think it's even become worse.  If I was starting out today, I would have nothing to do with rock & roll.  It just doesn't stand for anything any more, whereas once it was the cutitng edge of a desire to change things.  Nonetheless, there is still nothing quite  like being in a great rock & roll band when it hits overdrive.

What is your favorite drink?
Sierra Nevada  Pale Ale.

Hands down, my favorite of your songs is Funky Ceili, though I'd be kidding myself if I didn't ask you exactl what a ceili actually is.
A "ceili" is either a gathering of people who dance Irish steps - such as the Walls of Limerick.  Or else, it means a form of Irish traditional music such as jigs,  reels and hornpipes which are danced to.  We must have performed that song so many times now and yet, I never get tired of it.  It makes people so happy.  I don't know what it is about it.  Ric Ocasek said it was a hit the minute he  heard it; he insisted that it be a single.  I thought he was wrong and pushed for Maria's Wedding.  As it turned out, both became very popular, but Ric saw something instantly that I didn't.  Ric is one of the most under-estimated singer/songwriter/producers.  An amazing artist and a wonderful person.  I miss him.