The Lion Roars Again

As Aslan prepare to hit The Whale stage on May 10th, we talk to Joe Jewell, Billy McGuinness and Alan Downey about keeping Christy’s songs alive.

Given the long history you guys have together, how long after Christy’s passing did it take for you guys to play together again…?
After about 3 months, we decided to go the rehearsal studio and play together again, for our own well being, after such a traumatic experience. It felt very strange for the three of us, but it was good the heads.

It’s always difficult for a band to continue when their lead singer departs, but it worked for Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd, for Joy Division becoming New Order, and Adam Lambert stepped up for Queen, Paul McLoone for The Undertones. Ever a doubt in your minds…?
Once we made the decision, a few weeks after the initial jam, for want of a better word, we felt it was important to keep our music going. At the end of the day, we weren’t doing anything different than many other bands who lost a life-long member.

Live, it’s a celebration of your 40 years together. Coming up with new material is perhaps more of a challenge, as you may have nothing to prove but plenty to live up…
One of the first rules we made, was to keep writing new material, as we have always done. At the end of the day, we are songwriters, and this is, excuse the pun, a new journey for Aslan moving forward.

Will the recent Hear Your Call single be followed by an album…?
There will be a couple of releases before we release an album. We feel it’s important for our fans to hear to hear Lee’s stamp on new material and also enjoy what Lee brings to the table. We constantly write songs, as before, that will never change and the product of that will be our new album.

What was it like, performing with Coldplay in front of 82,300 people at Croke Park…?
It was very humbling to be honest. Coldplay could not have done enough for us. To hear the crowd singing Crazy World with us, was really emotional for all of us. It was like coming home after a long absence, and being accepted for who and what we are, a few blokes playing music that people enjoy listening to and joining in. Amazing, both evenings.

Live is really the only surefire revenue for most musicians these days – do you see Aslan continuing for years, decades to come…?
Of course, there’s a saying that musicians and artists never retire, and this is certainly true for us, and the previous bands you mentioned. Keep it lit!