Hello, Sir. What are you having?
A bloody Mary, which would be more of an afternoon drink for me, even though it’s currently after midnight. But I’ve already had several beers earlier tonight at our gig, and I’m feeling like having something tasty. I’ve been to Red Rock before, and they do them very well here.
Did they check you for identification when you get here?
Not tonight, but here in America, even if your 40 years old with grey hair in your beard, you’re going to get carded going into a pub.
Do you get completely plastered when you drink?
Well, anytime I drink cider I always think back to the very first time I get really drunk. There was times when we used to get really drunk on Thunderbird that really nasty wine. This was when I was 13 or 14. In Downpatrick where we’re from, we had the best ratio of pubs-per-person than just about anywhere.
How does that compare to the pubs in London?
Well, there’s a hell of a lot of good pubs there too. But there’s a bar in Soho in New York that makes what I’ve heard are the best bloody Mary’s ever. They use horse-radish and stuff like that. If you got a hangover, a drink like that’ll save your life. Drinking this right now, I’m just making a pre-emptive strike against tomorrow’s hangover.
Your bassist, Mark, was the biggest drinker in your band for a long time…
Yeah, he was dangerous when we were on tour. He’s definitely calmed down, but he’s still a little crazy. He’s been walking around with a crash helmet on all day today. He still ain’t normal.
Speaking of crash helmets, were you disturbed by Alien Ant Farm’s recent tour bus accident?
I heard about it. In America, we get all these really crazy bus drivers. One was a crystal meth addict, and then you get others who are total stoners, or vietnam veterans. There’s a lot of speed freaks. When your in your bunk, you tend to brace yourself over every little bump in the road.
Do you interview the driver carefully?
In America, you just end up with what you get, which is kind of scary. We love the drivers that we get in the UK. They always try to make us feel pretty safe.
How do you distract yourself from thinking about crashing?
Usually by listening to CDs or reading. I’ve been listening to the Nuggets box set, which is filled with amazing singles from the 60’s. And I’ve been reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, who was a Russian writer whose books were suppressed. I hear that book inspired Mick Jagger to write “Sympathy for the Devil”. The devil’s a character in the book, and he’s almost like a comic figure. But my favourite writers are the Beats, like Kerouac and Ginsberg.
Have you seen much of America?
I do try and go places. There’s all these great cities here. Plenty of sights, even if it does seem like there’s a starbucks on every corner. But they do good coffee, so I don’t care.
You’re a big coffee drinker?
Actually, I drink tea when I’m at home. I never drink it in America though.
Why not?
Nobody knows how to make it properly over here. You never get tea the right way outside of the British Isles, so why bother?
Tim’s five fave pub jukebox selections:
- The Pogues - ”Streams of Whisky“
- Thin Lizzy - “The Boys Are Back In Town”
- AC/DC - “Highway to Hell”
- Nirvana - “Drain You”
- Fu Manchu - “King of the Road”