The Gang's All Cheer

As the frontman of recently relocated, tipped-for-big-things Irish act Cast Of Cheers, Conor Adams is currently enjoying the high life in London. I catch up with him in his Stratford manor and, as talk turns to the perks of his new abode, perhaps inevitably for an ex-pat, the conversation soon goes to the gargle.

“Yeah, it’s been great since the move,” Conor enthuses. “There’s loads of places to hit. Where we live in East London, we’re not that far from Bethnal Green and London Fields. We first moved over last August and then there was that heatwave, a real Indian summer, in September and October. You’re allowed to drink outdoors, which is lovely. It’s such a little thing. At first when you’re bringing a can out on the street, you’re thinking, ‘oh, this is a bit scaldy’ – but then you realise everyone’s doing it. You’re in a park and it’s okay.”
It sounds almost civilised.
“That’s the thing – because you’re treated like an adult, you think, ‘well I should probably act like one!’”
The way Conor tells it, most Irish bands should try it.
“I would recommend it,” he says, “Although it’s hard as well. The cost of living is cheaper but with rent and all that stuff it works out way more expensive. At the same time, for any band who has a bit of money behind them, I’d definitely say go for it.”
New single ‘Family’ opens with the line “I will need another home, I will need another family.” Though their forthcoming album was already penned prior to the lads upping sticks, it’s clearly informed by their nascent plans to leave.
“The single was done before we left Dublin but, yes, it came about in the midst of the recession and all that. It wasn’t any surprise to us to be packing up. Our record company wanted us to come over here and, to be honest, we were ready. We’d been in Ireland doing our thing for a long time. It was time to just leave and try something else. Plus, it also makes Ireland more magical and fresh when you do go back.”
You could argue that it’s a regretful return to a time when young prospects had to flee the country, but it’s been mostly fairytale stuff for The Cast of Cheers since they moved to east London.
With the album wrapped up, they’ve been able to take in the town. Don’t panic however, they’re not constantly necking cider down the park: most of the time they’re sat on the X Box or heading for a spot of tennis around the corner. Amazingly, given that the band also contains Conor’s brother Neil, there’s been very few rock star sibling squabbles. There has been a gig or two as well, but their real UK live campaign, which will see them co-headline with new mates Citizens and support Blood Red Shoes, kicks off immediately after The Music Show. Regardless, they’re already a big hit on the radio, with a double play on Zane Lowe’s show that harkened back to John Peel’s reaction to ‘Teenage Kicks’ being a particular highlight. Slightly surreal?
“Totally,” Conor admits. “We literally got a text about ten minutes before from our manager Mick saying, ‘turn on BBC Radio 1, Zane Lowe’s going to play ‘Family’’. So we thought ‘cool’ and stuck on the radio. Then he did that thing – at the end of the song, he just started it again. It was mental, a real kinda ‘Beatles’ moment! We were all looking at each other going, ‘Holy shit, is this actually on the radio?!’”
You must, however, take the rough with the smooth. A wise man (okay, Alan Partridge) once declared: “Go to London, I guarantee you’ll either be mugged or not appreciated.” And so it was that The Cast Of Cheers had only just arrived in East London (Conor kindly describes the area as “up-and-coming”) before their gear was promptly pinched.
“I know,” he sighs. “We were broken into. We were in the house at the time, it happened during the middle of the night. It was a Sunday morning when we woke up and noticed there was something different about the house. Stuff lying around, a bit messy. We went into the sitting room, which is where we had the gear, and someone had come in through the front window. They took it all. The worst thing was, we’d had all our gear in a practice room for the month before that and had just taken it out and brought it home the day before. We were thinking maybe someone saw us bringing it in. The police over here were amazing though. They followed up on everything. We were even, bizarrely, getting phone calls off counsellors – ‘Are you feeling okay?’ It was really weird but really nice. We were grand but I kinda felt like venting anyway. So I’d just tell them, ‘Well, I’m actually a bit sad. My cat died…’”
Did it make him think that weekly appointments lying on the couch might be beneficial, not only for himself, but for the band?
“A little bit,” he laughs. “It was nice talking to the police counsellor so maybe real therapy is the way forward. Do you know what actually? The coolest thing about the whole ordeal was the response from back in Ireland. Mick, our manager, put together a donations thing. It was super cool. We got to retrieve all the gear. So in a way it started as a negative but ended up being even more positive in the long run. It showed people cared. That was unbelievable.”
It only seems right that people would lend a helping hand, given that the band gave away their fantastic debut album Chariot completely free of charge. With that behind them, as well as plenty of touring, is it odd to only just be releasing their first ‘official’ single?
“It feels dead weird. Completely backwards, I don’t know what to make of it to be honest. We’ve a video and all for it. It just feels more real, you know?”
The Cast Of Cheers are a band looking to the future, despite the new album apparently drawing on The Police. “We’ve all been listening to them religiously for the last two years,” Conor says. Are they going to go one step further, letting Sting influence their extra-curricular activities? Yes, we’re talking about tantric sex.
“Jesus no! He had a bloody lute album as well – enough said. Once you have a lute album out, how can you retain any respect?! Strictly no lute. Lute is banned on any future recordings.”
Where will the band be this time next year?
“Playing at the Superbowl,” he deadpans. “We’ll hopefully have travelled around the world. I really just want to go to some hot countries. I’d love to go to Hawaii. We could convince our record company by saying, ‘ah, we need it. It’s an influence on our sound, that… ah… Hawaiian guitar malarkey.’”

The Cast Of Cheers play the Music Show on Saturday, February 25.