Mick Flannery Interview

Heading over from Ireland this November, Mick Flannery will join John Spillane on a national tour across Australia. We catch up with Mick Flannery to find out a little more about his music and the tour.

Mick Flannery is a little worse for wear. Having spent the weekend drinking too much at Electric Picnic in Ireland, he’s still recovering despite it being three days ago, for which he blames on being “old and shit.” His thick Irish accent comes through as it does on each of his melancholic, soulful tunes, and his humour is as dry as you could hope it would be.

Returning to Australia with fellow Irishman, John Spillane, he’s preparing for his second ever tour of the country, but even when he talks about pressure, he still seems remarkably calm. “I’m not afraid of it. I think it’ll be good fun.” As with many artists looking back on their first tour of Oz, he remembers the jetlag, praising those that did it in the past: “No wonder they took so many drugs.”

As well as their musical and Cork backgrounds, their reason for Flannery and Spillane touring together is actually extremely practical. “We have the same manager, so it was decided for us. It’s a handy way of doing things, ‘cause we split the responsibility: if nobody shows up, it’s not clear who’s to blame!”

While John is a little older with 10 albums under his belt, Flannery released his fourth album, ‘By The Rule’, in May this year, which he describes as being a “little better” than its predecessors, but still “depressing shit.” Granted, it is moody, haunting and inspired by the loneliness he felt after temporarily moving to Berlin, but his gravely tone is incredibly addictive. “That’s the type of style I got into; the four albums don’t vary in emotion. I haven’t turned into a dancing Energizer bunny. I haven’t changed much and I’ve gotten away with it.” Above all, when it comes to the new album, Flannery is reflective on his age. Now 30, he deems himself “old” and “not as naïve as I was.”

The age gap between Flannery and Spillane will produce two different styles in one evening, and is another factor that will draw in different audiences. “John is probably wiser with better stories,” Flannery explains, “while I’m younger and more self-involved and think my thoughts are important.” This is not to say that audiences can’t enjoy the two together, as they pair up at the end of each gig to perform duets of ‘Passage West’ and ‘Near Or Far’.

So, is John an inspiration? “I like him very much, I’d call him a mentor, because he did a lot of things for me about 10 years ago when I was struggling to get gigs and he would have me as support. His audiences are very good for that, they’ll show you respect even if you’re shit.”

Watch Mick Flannery ‘The Small Fire’

By Charlotte Mellor
@cmellor_03