The Quireboys

Bedford-born guitarist/songwriter Guy Griffin learnt guitar from the age of twelve. Influenced by guitarists such as Paul Kossoff, Jimmy Page, Wilko Johnson and Chuck Berry, Guy is a Quireboys member since 1989 and has played on every one of their albums.

Music-News’ Claudia A. met up with Guy for a little chat before the band’s Glasgow gig in The Garage. Laid-back, friendly and polite, he talks about past, present and future plans.

Music-News:
Guy, it’s the 30th Anniversary for The Quireboys. How does it feel?

Guy Griffin:
Well, it doesn’t seem like thirty years… I mean technically, it’s thirty years since Spike first thought of getting a band together with Guy Bailey and stuff. I’ve been in the band for twenty-five years now, well, since we’ve started doing records. There was a long break of seven, eight years when we first split up, and we got back together again in 2001. So from then up till now time seems to have flown by.

MN:
What, in your opinion, is the key element that contributes to the band’s on-going success?

GG:
Well, I think that what we do is quite unique, you know, especially being an English band as well. There’s no other English band doing what we do. We stuck to the same blueprint, the stuff that we liked back then still is the same stuff that we like now. I mean, obviously we have quite varied themes in our music, we have country elements and soul elements and obviously rock ‘n’ roll elements. And yeah, I also think another element is that we haven’t really followed all the trends, you know. A lot of bands start following wherever the trend is, and then you go from being your own unique thing to just becoming another follower. We’ve never done that, we steer our own path and I think that this is also what our audience likes about us.

MN:
Obviously, the Quireboys’ sound has changed a little over the decades - at least on some songs. Does that mean that your personal musical influences have changed along with it, or do you still get our main influences from the ‘old masters’?

GG:
I guess that there have always been the same core bands that I’ve liked, yeah. You know, Mott The Hoople, The Stones, and AC/DC on the heavier side of things. But then you broaden your taste along the way, and we like some of the old country stuff, or old soul stuff and Tamla Motown sound. Also on the acoustic side of things, we’ve been influenced by some of the old folk music, you know.

MN:
Was guitar always your first instrument of choice, and when was it that you played your first chords professionally?

GG:
I got a guitar (acoustic) when I was about twelve, and l learned a few chords but didn’t really pursue it. That didn’t happen until I got to about fourteen and got an electric guitar, and then I wanted to get into a band. Well, get a band together in school. And then I just really went for it.

MN:
Of late, you guys seem to dish out one album after another – and you’re constantly touring. Do you ever reach a point when you begin to feel exhausted or simply just fed-up from all the traveling?

GG:
Sure, sometimes! But when I had downtime, I’m ready to go out and play again. We used to travel a lot you know, and you’re always on the move… so it’s nice to have a couple of weeks at home, until you start getting restless again. But yeah, it does get tiring when you’re constantly on the road, and it’s all geared up towards the show. There’s also a lot of waiting around as well, so you just try to get some sort of routine when you’re on the road.

MN:
How easy/difficult is it to avoid friction within the band when you play and tour together so frequently? It must feel like being married to the firm…

GG:
Yeah, but if it happens then it usually has something to do with tiredness and all that. There is never any disagreements music wise. Usually tiredness or business things, you know, but it’s nothing major. Spike and me might have some disagreements once or twice during a tour, haha, but that’s not any different from the usual lead singer/guitar player thing. That’s what it is. But really we’re like brothers.

MN:
2014 was a hugely successful year for The Quireboys, how do you guys plan on topping that in 2015?

GG:
Well we do this tour, and that finishes on Dec 30th, and then three of us (Keith, Paul and myself) go straight into another tour with Joe Elliott’s ‘Down ‘N’ Outz’. Then we got a couple of weeks in January when we (Quireboys) play in Spain, and then we go back into the studio and start recording some acoustic stuff again. Then there’s a lot of good festivals coming up in the summer, there is the big Hellfest in France, and Sweden Rock Festival which also happens to be my favourite. It’s very well run, and not as crazy as say Download Festival where there are so many people and bands. I enjoy playing the smaller festivals more, and it’s cooler to play on stage. Really I prefer playing our own shows, you know. With big festivals, you’re just thrown in, there’s never enough time for a sound check, you just plug in and that’s it. There’s always a chance that things can go wrong, whereas with your own shows you have more control.

MN:
Have you ever thought of what you might like doing once The Quireboys, as a band, cease to exist one day – or do you carry on till you drop?

GG:
Well probably till I drop, haha. But yeah, that’s why I’m doing things with other bands like Down ‘N’ Outz, and I’m working with a couple of other artists – writing tunes and stuff which I like doing. So that keeps it fresh, and it’s good for when I go back to play with The Quireboys, cos that’s the main thing. I mean that’s our living, you know. But well, you try doing other stuff outside the main band, just to keep yourself interested.

MN:
Many thanks for the interview, Guy, and I look forward to tonight’s gig.

(Please read my Quireboys review of the band’s live gig at the Glasgow Garage)