Ricky Warwick - A little slice of The Almighty Lizzy star!!!

Joe talks to The Almighty Rick Warwick

Joe Denby catches up With Ricky Warwick as he embarks on a solo tour to promote his double release 'When Patsy Kline was ccrazy and Guy Mitchell sang the Blues' / 'Hearts on Trees' for Nuclear Blast.

Music Trespass: How are you today?

Ricky Warwick: I’m good thanks. Gearing up, I’m in Oxford on the first night of the tour opening for Stiff Little Fingers.

Music Trespass: Well that kills the next question I was going to ask how the tour was going!

Ricky Warwick: Well phone me tomorrow!!!

Music Trespass: So you’ve got two separate albums. One rocking with a full band and the other acoustic. Tell me about the project and how it came about.

Ricky Warwick: Well I would have liked to record the songs earlier but I was so busy touring with Thin Lizzy and then doing Black star Riders. The songs just kept building up. The songs were written with Sam Robinson and yeah as time went by we had something like twenty five songs and the only thing to do to keep up was to record a double album. We just wrote about where grew up, life experiences and stories about when and where we grew up.

Black star Riders (Pictured Above)

Music Trespass: So will you be concentrating on Material from these two albums tonight?

Ricky Warwick: Yeah I’ve got a fifty minute set so I’ll be doing seven songs from the double album, a couple of old ones, one Almighty song and one Black star Riders song.

Music Trespass: How did it feel when you were offered the job with Thin Lizzy?

Ricky Warwick: It was a dream come true, it still hasn’t sunk in. I don’t think it ever will.

Music Trespass: I’ll admit I wasn’t sure at first. I didn’t like the idea of Thin Lizzy without Phil but I was a fan of The Almighty and I thought you would give a fresh take on the songs. I thought sod it, what’s the worst that will happen? So I went to the London show on that first tour and over the course of two years I saw you guys four times!

Ricky Warwick: Ah thank you. That’s much appreciated.

Music Trespass: I think you did the right thing with Black star Riders. It took the pressure off.

Ricky Warwick: Totally, We knew we wanted to make an album together but even from my own point of view as a fan a Thin Lizzy album without Phil just didn’t sit right. Playing live was one thing. We knew we had the songs, so in the end no one could knock us.

Music  Trespass: I loved the story of you meeting Phil Lynott’s mother and she told you Phil would have approved.

Ricky Warwick: Yeah I would have had a real problem if she wasn’t happy with, if she didn’t like it but seeing her so happy and being told that by was everything I needed.

Music Trespass: You are getting a lot of band now touring with maybe one or two original members or an Iconic member has died. There’s debate on whether or not Motorhead could carry on and so on. There’s the question of when does a band stop being a band. I wonder what your thoughts were since you’ve been in the position of stepping into big shoes and being in the firing line so to speak.

Ricky Warwick: It’s tricky, there’s a few ways to look at it. Some people are purists and they are never going to accept it and you’re not going to get through to them but even if it’s the same original line up you have to remember time changes everything.  Now even if it’s the same members with 30 years gone by the band are thirty years older. They are not going to be jumping about as much. Personalities change. Now with Thin Lizzy... Scott of course Phil is irreplaceable but the way Scott went about it,

I asked if he wanted me to sing and play bass he said “No I want to do it differently, that would be disrespectful to Phil” Some people suggested he got a colored guy who looked like Phil and it’s like “You’re missing the point” That’s taking the piss, Phil was a one off and he was iconic so they had to present it a different way. Scott said he wanted someone who loved the band, had passion and the attitude but didn’t want someone to mimic Phil Lynott. So with Phil and Mikkey Dee (Motorhead) if they decided to carry on it’s all about passion and soul and heart. If you can get up there and play like your life depended on it the music doesn’t die the songs live on. Of course it has to be good it has to be fucking great! If people get it and you’re doing it with passion and intent I’m all for it. If you’re doing it for the money, or for the sake of it then people will smell a rat and that’s when it falls flat and that’s why with some bands it doesn’t work.

Music Trespass: What people don’t realize is if you have a band and a member dies the other members have still got to eat.

Ricky Warwick: exactly and why should they stop? They spent all that time working hard and learning their craft and spent the time building the band they believe in. Again with Thin Lizzy me and yourself you close your eyes and picture Thin Lizzy you picture Phil and that’s the way it should be. My whole thing is, go see the band like you did. Just go see for yourself and then make your mind up.

Music Trespass: I said while reviewing this new album of yours, these songs show why you were chosen to front Thin Lizzy. There’s a particular thing about Irish songwriters, the the Celtic vein always running through it and there’s the story telling. On 'Hearts on Trees' I’m even reminded of Van Morrison at times.

Ricky Warwick: Thank you, I’m a big Van Morrison fan and he’s a big influence on me as he was on Phil. Van was one of Phil’s biggest influences.

Music Trespass: What’s happening with The Almighty? Has that been put to bed now?

Ricky Warwick: Funny you should ask that because I’m in Oxford and Stumpy lives here, I’m going to see him later. We all still get on and we’re still really good friends but its finished business there’s no real desire to go play. Thankfully everyone is doing well and in a good place. To go out and do it for the sake of it with a band like The Almighty would be a mistake. Never say never but certainly for the foreseeable future no there’s nothing planned.

Music Trespass: What have you been listening to lately?

Ricky Warwick: Nothing new lately to be honest. I’ve been watching a lot of movies. I’m looking forward to the new Discharge album. I like the Black rebel Motorcycle club I quite like a band called The Heavy. But I listen to a little bit of everything rock and metal to Motown and Northern Soul. All kinds of stuff.

Interview and Questions by Joe Denby 

Check Out! the Video for 'Celebrating Sinking' Below...