Interview: THE ALARM SOUNDS OFF ON ITS PAST AND FUTURE

THE ALARM SOUNDS OFF ON ITS PAST AND FUTURE

June 5, 1988 By Lisa Robinson

Provided By: Phil Vermaelen pverma@worldnet.att.net

WHEN the Alarm – Eddie MacDonald, Mike Peters, Dave Sharpe and Twist

(Nigel Twist) – started out in the mid-’70s, their folk-inspired rock

songs led to quick comparisons with everyone from Bob Dylan to U2 (for

whom they used to be the opening act). One of the differences, however,

was that the Wales-based group toured non-stop. While the Alarm built an

international following through constant touring between 1982 and 1986,

serious internal problems developed.

After a short break following a tour that began late last year, the

Alarm is back in the United States opening for Bob Dylan (including a

St. Louis show June 17 at the Muny).

LISA ROBINSON: Is it true that the band went through a crisis during

which no one talked to anyone else in the band?

MIKE PETERS: We have been together as a band since we were all 15 years

old, and we’re 28 now. We needed a period to redefine our friendship. We

had grown up in North Wales, and the group was uprooted from that. So

after a full year on the road, we realized that we were all quite

different people and had to spend a little time getting to know each

other in a different way.

Some of us had got married, and Nige (Nigel Twist) got married and

divorced all in the space of a few months, which is quite a shocking

experience for someone to go through. There were things we never really

talked about, and the best thing we ever did was to open up to each

other. We never wanted the group to become strangers or to split up.

LISA ROBINSON: Were you closer in the very early days?

MIKE PETERS: Well, we were four very different individuals when we met.

We had a friendship, but we had different lives. We had jobs, and we’d

get together on the weekends to make music. The Alarm was the result of

the interaction of those four very different personalities and

backgrounds. But as we got started and traveled around America, a lot of

those things changed, because we’d be taking in the same experiences day

in and day out, all four of us together.

There’s not a lot to talk about when your life is consumed with TV

shows, gigs and interviews. We had to literally take ourselves out of

the music business for a little while to get to know each other and be

with each other as individuals, not as members of the Alarm.

LISA ROBINSON: You toured for four years non-stop. Did you get to the

point where you couldn’t stand seeing each other?

MIKE PETERS: It never got to that stage (laughs). There were certain

things about the way the group was progressing that we didn’t like and

we all had a different perception of the group. For example, Dave

(Sharp) didn’t agree with the way I was introducing a certain song one

night. But rather than say, “Come on Mike, I don’t like the way you do

that,” he would keep it to himself because he didn’t want to rock the

boat.

LISA ROBINSON: Is there someone in the band who is the peacemaker when

there are disagreements?

MIKE PETERS: We all are. We argue about the music all the time, but we

get on really well together.

We feel like a new band, and there is so much music in us now that we

want to double the speed of things. We only made an EP (extended-play

record) and two albums between 1981 and 1986, and that’s not healthy,

especially considering that we all write songs.

There are so many contributions from each member of the group, we find

now that if we tour too much that creativity can turn into a form of

frustration. That was the danger that crept into the group; we were

playing the same songs every night. We had done it too long; we were

coming back to some places on the same tour three and four times. We

wanted to be on tour, but we didn’t know when to stop. Of course, we

like it (laughs). We’re our own worst enemies in that.

LISA ROBINSON: Do you think of your most recent album (“Eye of the

Hurricane,” 1987) as going back to basics?

MIKE PETERS: Definitely, back to our roots. This album is an honest

Alarm album. I don’t think anybody can sit down and write the best album

that’s ever been heard, but you can make one to the best of your

ability, and that’s what we did with this record. We decided that we

wouldn’t cheat on this record and overproduce it. We would put all our

faith in the true sound of the Alarm.

LISA ROBINSON: Are you still friendly with U2?

MIKE PETERS: Yes. We haven’t seen them for a while but we spoke to them

a lot last year when they were making “The Joshua Tree.”

LISA ROBINSON: Are you still compared with them as much as you were in

the beginning?

MIKE PETERS: Yes, but I think people have realized that with this

record, we have established our own identity a lot more than we have

been able to previously.

LISA ROBINSON: Did the comparisons with U2 put a lot of pressure on you?

MIKE PETERS: A year and a half ago, we felt under pressure and that’s

why we wanted to make an album that would blow that comparison out of

the water once and for all. But those are the wrong reasons to go into

the studio. You’re making a record to prove a point, not because it’s

representative of your true feelings. Luckily we had the presence of

mind to say, “Hold on, this isn’t the Alarm, what are we doing here?” So

we left the studio and went back to Wales, where we got down to some

serious soul searching.

Also, there were stories going around that the Alarm was breaking up,

which was never true, but it made us realize how fragile the band is and

if we tried to push it too hard, it could easily shatter. So when we got

home, we talked about the U2 issue and agreed that the worst thing we

could ever do as a band was to respond to those comparisons. We decided

to ignore them and get on with being the Alarm, and that ultimately we

would be recognized for that.

So we made this record purely for our own personal satisfaction. We

wouldn’t even let the record company hear us in the studio, and we kept

our manager out of the way so there wouldn’t be any pressure. If no one

is hearing the song, no one is going to ask, “What’s the single?”

We stopped worrying about being compared to U2 or Bob Dylan or anybody.

We just wanted to make a great record, and if it doesn’t sell, we’re

proud of it anyway and can play it to our children in 10 years and say,

“Hey son, I was in a band, listen to this” (laughs).

LISA ROBINSON: It must be difficult to keep that attitude with all the

business pressures.

MIKE PETERS: When you’re young and getting your first great reviews, you

want even better reviews the next time. You start believing the reviews

and you think, “Well, let’s write a song just to get a better review.”

It’s very dangerous.

< Publication::Publication:unknown
Author::Lisa Robinson