Irish band whips up success
Whipping Boy maintains integrity after label change
By Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Contributor
Paul Page, guitarist of Whipping Boy, stays calm and in control
despite his busy travelling schedule. Though used to the chaos of
Dublin, Ireland, he finds that his growing success has taken him to
even bigger avenues. Perhaps even the biggest of them all: New
York.
"We’ve found since we came to New York, everything’s so fast you
feel kind of compelled to go with the flow over here," says
Whipping Boy guitarist Paul Page. "In Dublin we never hang out in
any of the bars where bands hang out … I’d rather go to the
movies than do that."
But, with the release of their second album, "Heartworm," Page
and his crew may not have much time for the shows. Driven by Page’s
smooth guitar and the steady voice of Ferghal McKee, the album
glides through tunes with ease and comfort. However, having stayed
out until 5:00 this morning, the band can hardly be described in
such calm terms.
"Everyone’s sounding very croaky today," claims Page.
More croaky days are sure to lay ahead for Whipping Boy as their
new album gains worldwide recognition. Its large success in Ireland
is being followed by rave reviews in England and catching attention
in Europe. Whipping Boy is hoping this success will follow them in
America.
Visiting both U.S. coasts, they’ve already set up 16 tour dates
for this April.
"We’re really excited about (the album) coming out over here. I
mean, this is totally new to us. We’ve never been to the states as
a band, or even as individuals … So many of the English bands …
when they come to America, think they’re too cool and they don’t
really give their all in shows, and we really go for it live."
Actually, Whipping Boy’s entire formation is a result of their
stage energy. The first time the members played together (at a
friend’s 21st birthday party), the event was so powerful that the
band knew something good would come of it. "We did ‘Surfing USA’ by
the Beach Boys. We only got through two minutes of ‘Sister Ray’ (by
the Velvet Underground) when we were hauled off. So we knew we were
onto something good."
The whole set came to about 15 minutes. However, this powerful
experience sparked the dark and wild creation of what is today
Whipping Boy. But this experience has been one that has seen its
ups and downs.
"For the first couple of years of the band’s history, ever to
draw any reaction, negative or positive was seen as a triumph for
the band. We had some people walk out on shows early on and we’d
wave to them as they left."
Managing to gather some degree of audience support, Whipping Boy
buckled down to produce two EPs, and in 1992, the album
"Submarine." "That was the culmination of everything we dreamed of,
even though it was on a very small scale." The album came out on
the small independent label, Liquid.
"We remember getting the copy of the record back for the first
time with the sleeve on it and just staring at it for, like, 20
minutes. We couldn’t believe we were finally putting a record
out."
But Whipping Boy and Liquid were going two different ways. As
the band’s success mushroomed, Liquid’s business collapsed.
However, still tied to a contract with the by-now-failed Liquid
label, Whipping Boy’s musical growth came to a depressing
standstill. Continuing to write and function as a group, all
possibility of future album release looked glum.
"It was a very stale period for the band," but out of it came
"… some of the best songs of ‘Heartworm.’ The one common link
between us all was we all passionately loved music and loved what
we were doing.
"A lesser band, or one who weren’t as close friends as we were
… would have split up at that time."
Fortunately, Liquid let them make up their own mind, matters got
cleared up and Whipping Boy eventually signed with Columbia.
However, even with the label change, Whipping Boy managed to
maintain their integrity.
"We heard all the scare stories … such as they’re going to
water down the essence of the band, but if anything, there’s a
harder edge to the band now than there ever was before." Columbia
kept a safe distance from the creative aspect of Whipping Boy’s
album, "Heartworm."
"We’re really proud of the album," emphasizes Page. "It’s the
first time we’ve been really, really happy with something that
we’ve done." On other projects, time shortages have afforded poorer
work, but this time, Whipping Boy was able to put something real
into it.
Before their latest work, Whipping Boy had been likened to the
stark talents of Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and the detached
hollowness of Joy Division. But as the recording of "Heartworm"
began, the band found themselves at a musical crossroads. "We used
to bury the vocals in a wall of guitars like all those bands," says
Page. "We were just kind of trailing in their wake." Wanting to
create their own unique sound, Whipping Boy "decided that lyrics
were going to be important to the band."
Indeed, on "Heartworm," the at times shocking rawness of lead
singer Ferghal McKee’s words have already caused somewhat of a
stir. Accusations of misogyny have flown due to the band’s song,
"We Don’t Need Nobody Else," wherein McKee sings "I hit you for the
first time today … That really hurt, you said ‘Yeah,’ and you
thought you knew me."
Page, however, feels the words reflect something other than a
distaste for women.
"(It’s) just a very honest and open lyric about an incident that
happened. It’s just really about questioning a single thing that
(McKee’s) done and not understanding how that can take place."
Aware of the problem of domestic violence and "how sensitive an
issue it is," Whipping Boy veers away from producing controversial
themes for the mere shock value. Instead, Page says their lyrics
stem from "… things that have actually happened to us and we hope
people can accept. For other people it’s just too much. They’d
rather hear superficial music that has nothing to say." However,
Page would be the last to toot his own horn on the matter. Feeling
all forms to be equally valid, he feels that music should extend
more deeply into the baring of the soul.
In fact, as far as live performances are concerned, Whipping Boy
bares more of everything. At one concert in England, much to the
embarrassment of the other band members, lead singer Ferghal McKee
stripped naked on stage. Page groans, "He didn’t tell us it was
going to happen … It was like two songs from the end and all of a
sudden we looked around and Ferghal was disrobing … We just
turned our back to him, and looked to the drummer and prayed that
it would all end."
Again, not trying to be controversial, McKee’s antics rise from
his being "possessed by the spirit of the music," according to
Page. Though Page stresses that he and the remaining members of the
band are "too shy to do anything like that," preferring instead to
"hide behind our guitars and make noise," he admits to an
admiration for Ferghal’s honesty. "He’s come off stage battered and
bruised because he just gets so into the music … We respect the
fact that he’d do literally anything."
The audience, on the other hand, responds somewhat differently
to McKee’s exploits. Page explains it can get bizarre. "Most people
smile or laugh, but it’s a real nervous laugh. They were very much
put on edge by the whole thing … and that in itself can make a
gig special because people come away feeling like ‘Hey! What was
that all about?’
Still, Whipping Boy wants in no way to be thought of as a freak
show full of mindless gimmicks.
"Most shows we’ll just go out and play the songs and give them
everything we’ve got, but there’s always the chance that something
may happen."
Whipping Boy’s latest album is titled "Heartworm."
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