JJ72 Interview : Mark Greaney

Mark Greaney Interview page 1

After an unguided tour of the labyrinthine corridors, stairwells and lift shafts of Oxford Street's Virgin Megastore I finally find myself waiting in the right place at the right time to chat with the cherubic Mark Greaney and his cold virus on the day of the release of the second JJ72 long-player 'I to Sky'.

This interview was a last minute arrangement for me after I agreed to help out a colleague who desperately wanted to be at the Q-Awards launch party up in Camden at the same time...although as it turned out he later admitted that he would have rather stuck to his original assignment.

Because of that I found myself struggling with a temperamental MP3 recorder Dictaphone that required several sharp thwacks to even get it started up. This raised an immediate grin from the impish looking Mark and probably acted as a great icebreaker for the ensuing chat. Unfortunately, despite managing to get the lights on, it would seem that nobody in MP3 recording land was at home tonight, as when I sat down later on to transcribe the interview I found that the recording was nowhere in sight!

Fortunately I'm blessed with a fair memory for these short interviews, so here is my stab at reconstructing 15 minutes in the company of the JJ72 front man, Mark Greaney. (Don't worry if this gets off to a slow start - it gets better as it goes along!!)

J: Are you in London for long?

M: Not really - I'm bouncing back and forward between here and Dublin right now before we tour with the new album.

J: Do you play the tourist at all when you get the chance here?

M: Not really - I know London too well I guess to really have the urge to sightsee.

J: Do you have any favourite spots?

M: I guess if I thought about it I might come up with a few, but I spend most of my time around whatever hotel I'm staying in at the time and there's usually something to do wherever you are.

J: What about when you're on tour - do you try to get out of the tour bus and look around or isn't there the time?

M: It is an effort, but sometimes it's worth struggling through the fatigue and getting out to see more of the places that you go to - if not all you see is an endless stream of hotels, dressing rooms and crowds. Touring is really hard work, and I guess it's even hard to find the time to relax.