Reply And Demand

This month sees the release of The Answer’s aptly-named fourth album New Horizon – a record that came together in rather testing circumstances (more on that in a bit). Northern Ireland’s Kings of Classic Rock gave the general public a taster of what to expect a few weeks ago when they released the video for their stellar new single ‘Spectacular’. It caused rather a fuss and was prohibited by YouTube within 15 minutes, due to “graphic scenes of sex, drinking and nudity” (the horror!!!!)

“Yep, banned in 15 minutes; that’s the way we roll,” laughs frontman Cormac Neeson. “We had an inkling it wasn’t going to stay on YouTube too long. At the same time we wanted to put out the video we made. The original idea was to set up a big party with a rock ‘n’ roll band playing in the middle of it and have all the trappings that big parties like that entail. We just wanted to capture that spirit of being young, having a good time and feeling everything’s possible.”
Reminiscent of the classic coming-of-age movie Dazed And Confused, the clip was filmed at Mojo Fury frontman Michael Mormecha’s farmhouse after a few shots of sambuca and Cormac tells us that he’s not too worried about a backlash to its sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll storyline.
“It didn’t bother us that much that it was banned. It got people talking about the video in the first place, so it actually helped rather than hinder our cause.”
Something else that will get people talking is their barn-storming latest opus New Horizon. After weathering the storm of record label upheavals and dealing with all the industry-based headaches that ensued, The Answer were happy to sign to Austrian metal label Napalm Records. Cormac reveals that he channelled the frustration and uncertainty into their current material.
“Our music is the greatest form of therapy,” he proffers. “We’d rather get those feelings and emotions down on record instead of going into the street and punching someone. It was quite a traumatic period for us. There were all these changes: for the first time in our life as a band we had to make some important business decisions. The overriding notion was we needed to shake things up though.
“It wasn’t a nice place to be for a couple of months,” he continues. “A few people got hurt. There was a bit of a falling out, but never within the band. The four of us are as strong as we ever have been, if not more-so. Our resolve was tested. Our heads are in a very good place now after coming out the other side of it all. We know we’ve a good record and we’re about to embark on the next chapter.”
The Answer’s European tour kicks off in Belfast on October 11. Cormac tells us that while the schedule is daunting, he can’t wait to roll his sleeves up and get back to work.
“We’ve got a good seven week tour to break us back in,” he concludes. “It’ll be a long slog as most of it is six nights on and one night off. We’re ready to go. We can’t wait to get back on the tour bus and into that bubble where all you have to worry about is playing a great rock ‘n’ roll show, then travel to the next town.”