How did the 2005 Christmas shows go? The reviews from fans were great.

The 2005 Christmas shows went very well. It took Shane a gig or two to warm up, which isn’t unusual. He’s not the best at transitions, both small scale (getting from train to platform, for example) and larger (going from not being on the road, to touring), though he does get about from place to place and country to country with amazing skill. He’s always been like that. I remember spending a whole afternoon getting him out of a pub in Kings Cross to a demo studio in Acton. But Shane soon got into the swing of things, I think, on the Christmas tour. I have to say, though, that there wasn’t the delicate uniqueness of re-assembling the band after so long, that was evident in the first tour we did in 2001, or even the one we did in 2004. It feels a bit more like regular work now, though the matter of all our playing, the listening that goes on, on stage, the attention to one another while we perform has not diminished at all, and it’s that which has characterized the reunion tours so far.

We are so excited that The Pogues are finally returning to the states! What finally got the band to tour Stateside again and what kinds of obstacles did you have to overcome?

To be honest, the largest obstacle we had to overcome has been the general level of mistrust of the Pogues, which we have managed to dispel in the UK. Simon Moran, who has promoted all the shows in the United Kingdom (with the exception of two, I think, in Glasgow), was the one with the faith and ingenuity to put the suggestion of a reunion tour to us in 2000. It’s because of him and Anthony Addis, our de facto manager, that we are doing any of these shows. When we prooved that we could do such tours without fucking up, Smash Corporation in Japan came forward with an offer to welcome us back into their arms. We had fucked up so royally in Japan. The last time we went, I believe, Shane didn’t sing a note, and was let go toward the end of the tour. It took a lot of courage for Masahito (I think his name is) to accept us back. I think it’s probably the same way in the US. We’ll just have to win the Yanks over again.

Any surprises planned for the shows? Maybe Steve Earle can come up and do Johnny Come Lately!

You know, that’s a wonderful idea. I hadn’t thought of that. But at the moment, no, we don’t have any surprises.

We recently passed the 3rd anniversary of Joe Strummer's death. Besides being a big part of the Pogues' legacy, he was and is a big part of the culture of British music. Can you talk a bit about working with him, touring, recording, and ultimately how his life and death affected you?

Working with Joe was an eye-opener. He worked so hard, and worked so hard to make us work even harder. When he consented to replace Philip for a tour of the United States, he copied out everything he needed to know - chords, song structure, etc. - on a piece of paper that would fit onto the side of the body of his acoustic guitar. The writing was minute, and, by the end of the set (because I think, even, that he wrote down the information in the order we were going to do it on stage) he had to hoist his guitar up and peer down somewhere beyond his armpit to get to see what it said. When he came to sing for us for a while (I wished it could have gone on for longer, but it was just as well that it was shortlived), he spurred us on, on and off stage. As producer of ‘Hell’s Ditch’, he was tireless and wouldn’t settle for anything less than our full commitment to what we had set out to do. I believe he was very inspired by Shane too and was amazed that such lyrics could be written.

I was very sad to hear of his death and wished that my life and his could have spent a longer period in convergence, if you know what I mean.

There seems to be a recurring theme with Shane being the target of the cameras and Shane taking a couple of shows to get warmed up. The topic of his departure in '91 has been discussed over and over since. Are the issues that led to that event in '91 still present today as you do these short tours? If so, how do you deal with them and if not, what has changed to enable the band to move on and continue to perform together?

Shane being the target of the cameras... well, yes. He’s photogenic that way, for a start, and he’s the sort of guy you can’t keep your eyes off, really, isn’t he? Taking a couple of shows to warm up? Sometimes the couple of shows he takes to warm up might occur in the middle of a tour, more likely as not. He can be an unpredictable guy that way. However, in this reunion phase, he’s dead keen on what we’re doing, though a lot of the nuts and bolts involved with the transition from hotel to bus, bus to venue, venue back to hotel, etc. can be problematic, but then it was always that way with Shane, from the very start, for as long as I’ve known him. Nowadays, with a supremely efficient tour manager, cell phones, people-movers, not to mention an atmosphere in the band that’s wholly supportive, not just of Shane, but of everyone in the group, and not to mention lengths of tours and routing, (and not to mention Shane’s willingness to work, at the moment, which has been prompting him to turn up at the gig before anyone else!) everything’s so much more optimizable, if that’s a word.

I feel like I have to tread a bit lightly when discussing Shane with the other members of The Pogues as it can be a sensitive subject. It seems like you and Spider have a profound respect for the artist and love for your friend despite the events that have transpired over the years that have tested your patience, friendships and careers. Can you touch briefly on that dynamic and the challenges that it brings to the table on those levels?

Oh, but we all have a profound respect for the artist and love for our friend, despite the things he has thrown and continues to throw our way, not just myself and Spider. After the festival we did in Spain last year, I found myself holding hands with Shane on a sofa backstage for a good while. Things have not been better between myself and Shane for many a year. He can be a cuss sometimes, when it comes to suddenly expressing a desire to change a set-list within minutes of going on stage (which is a big problem for the crew, not so much for us), or when it comes to a matter, as it did during the rehearsals before going out on the road last Christmas, of recently having heard a song he hasn’t heard for a long time and wanting us to cover it and meld it with something else. We go along with it and try to winkle out that which is of merit, and then get back to the work of remembering the damn songs.

Are you going back to Japan?

I’m sure we have many options for all sorts of visits. Just now, I’m not sure what plans are afoot.

Cait made some appearances during the Christmas tour right? What did she join you for? That must have been fun - any chance she'll be coming stateside?

The guest singer on Fairy Tale of New York, since Kirsty’s death, has been a problematic one. We’ve had varying degrees of success with guest singers. I submitted Cait’s name for consideration for the Christmas tour in 2004, and subsequently became the one to invite her to join us. I was very happy that she agreed. I felt that her inclusion on the tour would be a matter of bringing everyting full circle, somehow, to have all the Pogues on stage at one time. I enjoyed working with her, and was glad to see how well she had reclaimed her life after her difficult separation from Elvis Costello.

As you were able to see, she didn’t come with us to the US. Jem and Ella and Kitty have been enjoying playing in a band (can’t remember what it’s called), with Ella singing. To have Ella come on the road with us in England last year, and to the States this March, has been another experience altogether, and, as Spider said a few times from the stage on this last tour, we were pleased to introduce someone to our audience whom we had known ‘since she was an egg’.

Can you talk briefly about her departure after RS&L?

She left rehearsal (I can’t remember what we were rehearsing for, a tour possibly, or the next record, I don’t know) and took her bass, which we thought unusual, since she never did much practising. Next thing we knew, she was in San Francisco with Elvis. I rang her up there, but she said she wasn’t coming back. The level of intensity in her relationship with Elvis we’d witnessed on our tour of the US in whatever year that was, and she needed to fly to his side, basically. It was during that tour, on a minibus ride down to Washington, I think, that we began to teach Darryl how the songs went.

You currently live in Los Angeles. When and why did you relocate?

I met my wife in 1987 in the States. She and her family live in Los Angeles. We set up home together in 1989, though I was commuting to Europe to work. We bought our first house in something like 1992. Upon the birth of my first daughter in 1993, I decided to quit the Pogues, and did so at the end of that year. It was quite a sad parting for me, but quite a ceremony doing so, playing a few nights at the Forum in London, one of which both Shane and Strummer attended. It was quite a send-off for me.

What do you do when you're not playing with the Pogues?

I write a lot. I pick up kids from school quite a bit, and take them there too, and to ballet classes, the doctor, dentist, that sort of thing. I’m in an outfit with Dermot Mulroney and his brother Kieran, together with producer Brad Wood. It’s called the Cranky George Trio (for no good reason). We play songs written by Kieran and myself and Dermot in pretty much equal measure, though Kieran’s way ahead of the game that way. We’ve been playing at Molly Malone’s in Hollywood and seem to have struck a bit of a chord with a few people. Dermot plays cello and mandolin and guitar, gong sometimes and a hi-hat. Kieran plays fiddle and ukulele. I play accordion and guitar and a hat-box with a bass drum pedal attached. Brad plays bass. We all sing.

Any releases from the Cranky George Trio? Is this more of a hobby or is it something you would consider doing on a more national level? People are very interested in what you guys are doing now and probably like a bit more information about it.

My wife regards the Cranky George Trio as a hobby, whereas I regard it as part of my avocation. I’ve been writing songs for the first time ever (with the exception of Drunken Boat on Waiting for Herb, and The Dog Came In The Barroom, for the Low and Sweet Orchestra), though it takes a long time for them to come out. Kieran is writing some very lovely songs. We have been spending time rehearsing a little more regularly than a Preston flood, lately, and of course playing out, mostly at Molly Malone’s in LA. We played outside of Los Angeles last month on a day off from the Pogues’ tour - in New York, with an audience populated by all of the Pogues (with the exception of Shane, his absence being evidence of, as I’ve outlined above, his difficulty with transitions from one location to another).

Someone described us as a band of one man bands. We’ve taken this on even more lately with the inclusion of a foot-pedal-operated snare drum. In this way we’ve distributed the drums around the group, with myself playing snare, Brad playing the hat-box bass drum, Dermot the hi-hat, Kieran a cowbell (along with everything else). The guy at Professional Drum Shop, on Vine, in Los Angeles, has been indispensable with regard to kitting us all out, though I don’t think he knows that we all play together in the same band.

The Cranky George sound is coming together very well. Brad has a studio in the back of his house and we’re waiting, basically, for our schedules to permit us to spend some time in there to record something. Our schedules are ranged against us, a lot of the time, on account of Dermot’s acting jobs, Kieran’s writing and directing, Brad’s studio commitments, and my odd tour with the Pogues, when it comes to playing outside Los Angeles, unfortunately. We’ve been asked when we’re coming to San Diego and we’ve agreed it’s just too far to travel at the moment.

The reason we gave ourselves the name the Cranky George Trio, is this: the word ‘Cranky’ comes from a band meeting we had with the Low and Sweet Orchestra after some chump went to the parent company of Sweet and Low sweetener to ask if we could use their name, and of course they summarily said no, forcing us to meet to discuss a name-change. Cranky, was Kieran’s suggestion. The ‘George’ comes from ‘Mossback George’ which was the cruel nickname given to James Stewart’s character in It’s a Wonderful Life, because he never left town, and that’s what we weren’t likely to do in our time with the Low and Sweet Orchestra, nor much with Cranky George, but, you never know. We’re trying to fill our calendars, for May and June, because I think we’re all going to be away from the beginning of July. There’s a show at Molly Malone’s May 12th.

What kind of stuff do you listen to? Anything new grabbing you lately?

Classical music mostly. I’m very fond of ‘Ivan the Terrible’ and ‘Alexander Nevsky’ by Sergei Prokofiev at the moment. Arvo Pärt is up there in the firmament of composers, for me, at the moment too. Otherwise, I was so taken with ‘The Mariner’s Revenge’ by the Decemberists, that I had to stop what I was doing and go immediately to the shops to buy the record it was on, which I enjoyed just as much, for the most part. Okkavil River, is another group that’s interesting at the minute, for me. And Arcade Fire, I suppose. I have a couple of CDs that my dad gave me, which include songs by people like Nelson Eddy and Jeannette McDonald. I’ve been into Jewish, Klezmer-type songs lately too, well, lately, for a long time. They’ve been quite an influence, along with hungarian folk music, for quite some time now.

This website is visited by people from all over the world, but originates from suburban Detroit, Michigan USA. Any memories from playing in Detroit or Ann Arbor?

You know what, yes I do: the piano in the dressing room at St Andrew’s Hall, I think the venue is called, in Detroit (that, and going to Hitsville, Philip coming away with a tape of Motown songs mixed in such a way that James Jamerson’s bass is on one side and the rest of the mix on the other, Philip screaming out on the mini-bus: ‘Now I can die and go to heaven!’). Ann Arbor: Shane’s predilection for Long Island Iced Teas and how we had to lift him onto the bus after a gig there, four of us, a limb each.

Thanks so much James!