THE LAST WORD with The Answer
As bassist with The Answer, Mickey Waters has got to fulfill more rock ‘n’ roll ambitions in the past few years than most people will get to achieve in their entire lifetime. Fortunately for us that means he has a steady supply of stories to entertain us with.
When was the last time you had one of your lifelong ambitions fulfilled?
When we heard we would be supporting the Rolling Stones that was something else. That’s probably the gig I’ve been waiting on all my life. It doesn’t really get any better than playing with the Stones. Gigs like that give you the hunger to play to that size of crowd all the time.
When was the last time you offended someone?
In the airport recently we were running to the gate to get on board for Amsterdam. The airhostess said to me ‘you couldn’t run any faster, could you?’ because I was the last one on. So I replied, ‘I’m fucking running as fast as I can’. They weren’t gonna let me on the plane after that but they eventually did.
What was the last piece of good advice you were given?
I’m short on good advice but I wish someone had advised me not to mix wine, beer and whiskey. That’s good advice for anyone.
When was the last time you cried?
I was feeling quite close to tears when we played with The Who in Cork. It was a very emotional gig as it was the end of their tour and they were all really together, so it was an amazing show. They had so much energy for a couple of old boys. I was overcome by the occasion and ‘Baba O’Riley’.
When was the last time you killed something?
I killed a bee this morning. I fucking hate bees.
When was the last time you time you had a fistfight?
Some random guy attacked Cormac when we were supporting The Eagles Of Death Metal in Sydney, Australia. He was this big, giant dude so Cormac and I had to take him down.
When was the last time you vomited?
It’s been a while. My tolerance is pretty good these days. It was probably the last time I drank whiskey, wine and beer. So I’m guessing about six months ago.
When was the last time you were shouted at?
A hotel manager in Norway gave off to us for drunken debauchery of some sort. The hotel was a bit too posh for us.
What was the last record you bought?
I actually bought ‘A Bigger Bang’ by The Rolling Stones because we’re playing this gig with them and I wanted to know their new stuff. The songs are pretty good but production-wise it’s amazing.
What was the last book you bought?
‘Space’ by Steven Baxter. It was brilliant but then I love all that sci-fi shit.
What was the last movie you watched?
I bought Pan’s Labyrinth on DVD about a month ago. It’s definitely worth checking out.
What was the last crap job you had?
Thankfully it was a while ago now. When I lived in Belfast I worked in a Garden Center lifting boxes, selling garden tools and other such mundane things. Being the general dogs body. Not a fun existence.
When was the last time you set something on fire?
I’m always starting fires. My family live in Ardglass now and there’s always something to burn. I burn shit all the time.
When was the last time you broke the law?
I break the speed limit pretty often. Oh, I was smoking in my local pub last night but I had just forgotten it was banned.
When was the last time you were really scared?
We were flying to Tokyo and the plane was shaking for nearly five hours. Apparently it’s quite normal when you cross the equator. It was serious turbulence but seemed much worse because we were drunk on the free booze.
When was the last time you were embarrassed?
I scunder myself everyday. The most recent thing I can think of was at a festival I was talking to one of the My Chemical Romance boys and I didn’t know who he was. For some reason I thought he was the drummer in The Sounds and I was saying how much I really liked their set. He probably thought I was just some mad Irish boy.
If the world was about to end what would your last words be?
Well I did say I was into my sci-fi so how about: I’m moving to the moon.
This feature first appeared in AU Issue 38
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