Open mike night

Former Smiths drummer Mike Joyce arrives in Ireland shortly for a DJ set at Sligo’s Temple House Festival, which is something of a homecoming for the rhythmatist, as his family hails from nearby Galway. What kind of tunes can we expect him to spin?

“Well, there’s a laptop and maybe some CDs,” replies Joyce. “The thing is, I never play the same set twice, so it depends on what’s in front of me. I know that sounds odd, but because I’ve got the laptop I can play pretty much anything, so I cut my cloth depending on what I think people want to hear. I basically try to play classics, which I think is the safest bet, rather than playing Aphex Twin or something a bit underground! So I play a bit of Blur, the Stones, The Who, The Killers and stuff like that. The idea is just to have a party.”
This approach would appear to differ somewhat from that of The Smiths, who one wouldn’t have thought of as the archetypal party band.
“I don’t think so – obviously you weren’t there!” counters Mike. “We did party, of course we did. Anyone who experienced a Smiths gig would argue with you on that one. A lot of the time it was just lazy journalism, with people thinking that because Morrissey mentioned the word ‘miserable’ in one song, that we went around all the time moping, with our heads in Oscar Wilde books. Whereas a lot of the time, we were just partying like any young lads do. We used to rock out quite a lot, and if you listen to the live album Rank, or look at some of the live Smiths footage on YouTube, ‘miserable’ wouldn’t be in the top 500 adjectives you’d use.”
With regard to the question of whether The Smiths will ever play together again, it would appear that Morrissey is dead set against the idea.
“I don’t think Morrissey ever will do it,” acknowledges Mike. “But I don’t wake up in the morning wondering if there are any messages from him on my phone. It’s something that’s so long ago, and I’ve played with loads of other great artists since The Smiths, like Public Image Ltd, The Buzzcocks, Sinéad O’Connor, Julian Cope and Suede. Plus, I DJ and have my radio show, so my life is very fulfilling.”
Of course, all of The Smiths had Irish family backgrounds, and Smith is once again looking forward to visiting these shores.
“My lot are from Galway,” he notes. “Going home every now and again is an incredible experience. I was born in the UK but my mum and dad are Irish. I’m not like a Camden Irish guy longing for home, but it is such a beautiful country. When I go over, there’s always a great welcome, whether I’m playing, DJ-ing or whatever I happen to be doing.”