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Mike Scott (This interview appears in the June 2007 (issue 5) edition of the Bowie Zone Fanzine.

Mike Scott formed The Waterboys back in 1981, taking the name from a Lou Reed lyric on the Berlin album. An 'international' band, throughout their existence they have had bases in Dublin, London and New York and currently rehearse in both London and Scotland. The line-up of the live band has changed many times over the years, with more than forty people being able to call themselves a member at some time or another! The one constant in the band has been Mike Scott.

The Waterboys have often been called 'an Irish band', though Mike himself is actually Scottish. The Irish link is no doubt due to the fact that the band were actually based in Dublin from 1986 to 1991, where they (partly) recorded their lengendary Fisherman's Blues sessions. Though Mike has also recorded a couple of solo albums Bring 'Em All In and Still Burning, he has always been a Waterboy and has recently released a new album with them Book Of Lightening.

Mike has been a David Bowie fan for many years and was only too pleased to answer a few questions for us on his Bowie thoughts. David himself must also be a Waterboys fan as the band were invited to play at his 2002 Meltdown!

So, with a great deal of thanks to Mike for being a genuinely lovely bloke, here is the interview -

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BZ: Hi Mike, thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview for the Bowie Zone fanzine. Having read your online blog recently it's pretty obvious that you are a fan of Bowie's music yourself. The detail that you go into on the subject matter of his songs is lovely to read. When did you first get into his music and has it inspired you to write any particular songs of your own?

MS: I liked Starman when it was a hit in Summer '72 and then a mate lent me the Ziggy Stardust album and I loved that. I followed David's various releases for a couple of years, deeply appreciating the music yet without actually falling in love with the whole Bowie experience. I just dug the music while remaining untouched at a serious emotional level. Then I saw the Cracked Actor documentary in early '75 which clicked a switch in me. I think it was the live footage of Ziggy's
farewell that did it. I was smitten in a whole different way. It was like falling in love, no, it WAS falling in love. As luck would have it that was around the time of my very first band - a bunch of school friends who called ourselves Karma - and we were all Bowie fans. Our repertoire included half of the Ziggy album, plus Jean Genie (a la Ziggy farewell concert with 'Love Me Do' section, which I had on a handy bootleg) and DB's version of Waiting For The Man (for which I purchased my first 12 string guitar). Our favourite number to play was 'Moonage Daydream', complete with epic 15 minute outro guitar solos - probably awful to listen to, but my goodness it was fun! A slightly later band of mine did a version of The Supermen and another band even tried The Width Of A Circle. Later I recorded a version of The Man Who Sold The World with The Waterboys. That was in 1982, though it's never come out.

As regards David’s music inspiring my writing, yes, this has happened of course. I sometimes notice little lyrical phrases that I realise have come subconcsiously from his songs (one that comes to mind is ‘you just stayed in your room’ from The Whole Of The Moon - a little influence from Sound And Vision there). Or a chord sequence, or a tone of voice - because he is such a great singer, and has influenced me there too, especially the way he pronounces vowels. His influence was also instructive, as in encouraging me to explore other artists, like Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground or Iggy.

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BZ: Have you ever actually met David Bowie yourself Mike?

MS: Yes, it was in Dublin at a party given in David's honour by Bono in 1990. Someone introduced me to David and we had a short chat. I remember him telling me I should listen to the Pixies, which I must confess I had no intention of doing
whatsoever at the time (my musical interests lay elsewhere)! Several other people at the party were very genuinely telling David how much they loved his music, including Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, I remember. I searched inside myself to try to express what David's music had meant to me, but I couldn't put it into words - it was too big, and I loved him too much. How could I sum it all up? To my regret, though, it meant I didn't tell him when I had an opportunity. What I did do, perhaps somewhat cheekily, was address him as 'Dave'. It's hard to explain why, but I think it was because so many of his early colleagues called him 'Dave' (as is clear from biogs) and I felt I already knew him so well. That kind of thing must be annoying for David - I know how it can be for me, when people address me as 'Scotty' or 'Michael' when they meet me for the first time. However, twelve years later he invited The Waterboys to play at his Meltdown Festival in London, so I guess he forgave me!

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BZ: Your own music, both solo and with The Waterboys is very diverse. I don't think there are two albums alike. Dream Harder I think is very different from the rest of your output, is there any chance in the future that you might return to that style?

MS: You know, I grew up admiring artrists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Bowie, who changed with every release, and I guess I've evolved in the same way thanks to their example. I like crashing a new horizon every few years, heading off towards a new goal, being 'at home in the unknown' as Bjork says. And I also like lots of different kinds of music, so this is reflected in what I do, and make. As for Dream Harder, well, that was an electric-guitar rock album, with, I guess, other-wordly lyrics about meeting Gods and suchlike. That particular combination will probably never come around again, unless by accident, but for electric guitars, our new album Book Of Lightning has a touch of those.

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BZ: Ziggy Stardust has inspired so many bands and singers over the years. It was really interesting to read what you said about Ziggy's influence on Punk Rock music, especially when you pointed out that Glen Matlock (The Sex Pistols) had stated it was an influence on his band. When you were first starting out in music yourself did you ever have any thoughts of taking the punk route? Maybe an odd question, but I'm really interested considering the various styles you can play in.

MS: I was mad for punk rock back in '77. I loved The Pistols and The Clash, and for a while I had a new-wave, punky band called Another Pretty Face, who made a few singles and then slowly mutated into what became The Waterboys. I loved the home-made photocopy'n'stapler fanzine scene too, and did my own fanzine, Jungleland for a year or so, also in '77. In my guise as a fanzine editor I interviewed Richard Hell, Tom Robinson, Bob Geldof, The Clash and others, and even wrote about David Bowie - a review of the 'Heroes' album in one issue, if my memory serves me.

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BZ: What are your earliest memories of music and what were you listening to in your teens - were you inspired by family members, or were your musical discoveries all your own?

MS: My parents had Revolver and Sgt Pepper by The Beatles, and that was my way in. I bought my first single (Last Night In Soho by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich) in 1968, and never looked back. Around 1970/71 an older pal turned me on to Bob Dylan, and I was a big fan of T.Rex around the time of Hot Love, Get It On and Jeepster. I dug The Stones too - Sticky Fingers was one of the first albums I bought.

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BZ: Bowie's constant changes in musical direction have always kept him interesting - fans have never known what to expect next from the man. Given the chance to influence him in a particular direction for his next album, which way would you send him?

MS: What a great question! I'd have him record an album of French/Belgian chanson & Jacques Brel covers, with his own acoustic guitar, Mike Garson and an orchestra!

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BZ: Very few artists have had the enourmous run of creativity that Bowie had in the seventies. He hit a bit of a creative block from the mid eighties on - it's well documented and I think he would probably agree himself. What do you think would need to happen for him to find that creative flow again and produce one masterpiece after another?

MS: These things are a magnificent mystery and no person knows how to turn on the wells of inspiration. That uncanny experience of being on the creative edge, of being in the right place at the right time, is unpredictable, as David must know better than most of us. What David experienced in the 1970s was a product of many influences, and of the times. For any artist to find such a flow? It cannot be aranged, but the nearest we can come, I think, is by using the zen 'law of reversed effort' - that is, don't try to find it, but stay in the game, stay aware, keep making music and art, and keep the creative energy flowing. If the magnificent mystery wants to happen, it will. That's what I tell myself :-)

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BZ: The Waterboys have had some amazing line-ups over the years Mike - how many members have there actually been and are you still in touch with most of them?

MS: We've had around 40 members in the live band (my usual definition of a 'member'). I'm in touch with quite a few, but not all.

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BZ: Kate Bush gets a mention on The Waterboys Dream Harder album, are you a fan and are you one of the lucky few that got to see her in concert?

MS: Yes I am, and yes I was. I saw her play at Edinburgh's Usher Hall on her one and only tour in 1979.

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BZ: You're just back home from a major UK tour and in about a weeks time you're back on the road again. You obviously enjoy touring, but does it ever become work-like?

MS: No, it's always a blast - even if we are having a mini-crisis (for example if a musician drops out a week before a tour and we have to cast the net wide and find another and get him/her rehearsed in a matter of days). Somewhere along the line I must have found the secret to always enjoying it. Can't put my finger on quite what it is, though.

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BZ: You're well known for your lyric writing talents - what's the normal process for you - do the words usually come before the music? Have you ever stood at the microphone in the studio and waited for the words to come as the music's played?

MS: I usually start with a phrase, line or piece of lyric, but there is no absolute rule. Some songs start with a melody, or a chord sequence, or a riff. The one thing I don't enjoy is putting lyrics to a finished piece of music (unlike DB), while something I love is putting music to a finished lyric. I enjoy putting poems to music - in fact, I've done around two dozen of the poems of the great Irishman WB Yeats, who wrote some fantastically good words for music, and I'm planning a future Waterboys album of these.

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BZ: Everybody loves a good list. So, what would your top five Bowie albums be - and, can you give a brief reason why?

MS: Yup. Here goes:

1. Ziggy Stardust - My fave songs, fave production, fave vocals, fave band, lots of Ronson
2. The Man Who Sold The World - More fave songs & vocals (and drums), and Visconti and Ronson all over it
3. Hunky Dory - David's most beautiful album imho, his greatest melodies, gorgeous singing and again lots of Ronson
4. Station To Station - White light shines through it
5. Aladdin Sane - Mike Garson and Ronson together

Iggy Pop's The Idiot has to have a mention. It is one of his most beautiful records, even if it is a collaboration!

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BZ: I'm sure you will have seen Bowie live a time or two, but do you have a favourite Bowie gig?

MS: I have only seen him twice. Can you believe that? I missed the Ziggy tours and the 76 London shows, caught the Glasgow show on the Stage tour in '78, and didn't fancy standing in a field for Serious Moonlight, though I did stand in a field and enjoy him at Live Aid, where he was great. I've yet to catch one of the latter day tours, but I will next time.

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BZ: How is it for you being recognized in the street - do you ever feel like telling people (in the nicest possible way of course) to go away, or do you always manage to grin and bear it?

MS: It doesn't happen to me too often. My wife tells me I project an air of 'don't disturb me', though I'm not aware of it. But when people do speak to me I generally enjoy it. It's a privilege to have created something that someone else values, and it's a privilege to be told about it too!

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BZ: Bowie, like a lot of music stars these days, is also known for his acting. Is this something that has ever interested you - something you might consider doing sometime?

MS: I have been offered a few parts, but always said no. Who knows - I might give a different answer next time.

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BZ: Other than Bowie, what/who are you listening to these days?

MS: Sly Stone and Marvin Gaye are recent favoruites, also a young singer/songwriter from Glasgow called David Bova.

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BZ: Apart from this one, what's the worst question you've ever been asked?

MS: He he. No competition. It is the stupefyingly boring question: 'How has the music business changed since you started?'. Ugh!

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BZ: Religion comes into a lot of your songs Mike, do you believe in God and life after death?

MS: God, yes, but not a guy in the sky, or a separate being who is busy judging us all. I believe, like the buddhists, that we are all one, and that our sense of being separate individual beings is a kind of illusion. I've had my great moments when I really know and feel that all is one with my whole being - moments characterised by love really, and I've come to believe that love is really the core of what, or who we are. And if that's so, and we are all one, then God really is love, or, more accurately, love is God. Most of the time, though, I'm like everyone else - feeling like an individual trying to keep my little
boat afloat in this mad world - but I don't forget the reality I've touched, and I believe everything is connected, and happens for a reason. As for life after death, yes, I believe the essence of a person continues - the soul, if you like - after the body is finished. I don't know about reincarnation, but unless someone disproves it, I'd say why not?

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BZ: Is there anyone that you would particularly love to work with that you haven't already?

MS: Sure thing. Keith Richard, Bob Dylan, and that Bowie chap.