Gavin Friday: ‘I wouldn't wish Bono's success on anybody'
Gavin Friday first demanded attention with the Virgin Prunes, the Dublin art rock band whose sensibility was more Jacques Brel than the blues. They shook audiences in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including one infamous appearance on The Late Late Show. 'They are unique and different,' said a clearly nervous Gay Byrne by way of introduction. He wasn't wrong. Friday often wore dresses and make-up before such things were popular or profitable.
Despite the Virgin Prunes' cult success, Friday left the band in 1986, turning first to painting before recording three albums with the multi-instrumentalist Maurice Seezer. One of these, Shag Tobacco, came perilously close to housing a genuine hit when the gorgeous Angel was included on the soundtrack to the Baz Luhrmann-directed film Romeo and Juliet.
Born Fionán Hanvey in 1959, Friday's dance card has also included a spot of acting, popping up beside Cillian Murphy in both Disco Pigs and Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto, and he and Seezer have composed several high-profile film scores including their Ivor Novello-nominated work on Jim Sheridan's In America.
He released a solo record, Catholic, back in 2011, which stood alone until last October's follow-up, Ecce Homo. Friday also hadn't played a headlining gig in over a decade, but remedied that with some recent European dates and two Irish shows, including a night at Dublin's Vicar Street venue last month. The gig reviews glowed.
Today we are talking over coffee and cigarettes in Friday's beautiful Rathmines townhouse, where he moved a few years back after an extended sojourn in Killiney. At his feet sits his constant companion, the 15-year-old dachshund Stan (the Man). Stan's twin brother Ralfie passed away 18 months ago and both of them are celebrated on the song The Best Boys in Dublin.
'Life got in the way,' Friday says of his recording hiatus. 'And whatever came around the corner.' He details many 'great musical adventures … Then my ma's Alzheimer's got really bad and you just have to start looking after her.' Ecce Homo is dedicated to Anne Storey Hanvey, who died in 2017.
Talk turns to Friday's 'part-time job' as U2's creative consultant. He and Bono have been close friends since they were teenagers. Ecce Homo's elegiac When the World Was Young is dedicated to the U2 singer, and the visual artist and fellow former Virgin Prune Guggi. Bono, Guggi and the Edge were all in attendance at Friday's Vicar Street gig and were surely as mesmerised by their mate's performance as the rest of us. Having advised U2 on the right moves for decades ('I'm their biggest bullshit detector'), Friday was also one of the creative minds behind their recent Las Vegas Sphere triumph.
'I wouldn't wish Bono's success on anybody,' he says. 'We all felt a lot of pressure putting the Vegas shows together. We didn't know it would work but that's the greatness about them. U2 are the most supreme gamblers in the world. They break rules to try something different.'
Friday has never feared an artistic flutter either. A previous 'musical adventure' and 'one of the most challenging things I ever did' was Drifting and Tilting: The Songs of Scott Walker at the Barbican in London. Walker, who recorded four peerless baroque solo albums before detouring into the avant-garde, directed Friday singing Jesse. 'It's about Elvis Presley's stillborn twin. Hence the name Elvis, his mother took the word 'lives' and turned it around.'
Friday's Ecce Homo, a phrase meaning 'behold the man' attributed to Pontius Pilate as he presented a bedraggled Jesus to the angry mob, details the makings of Friday from the teenager getting high off shoe polish in the Gary Glitter-quoting Lady Esquire, to discovering the delights of European culture on the road with the Prunes, his version of going to college, to songs for his dear departed mother in both Lamento and Amaranthus.
Stations of the Cross is dedicated to Sinéad O'Connor, whose singing on 1993's beautiful Bono/Friday co-write, You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart, should have won every award going. 'Stations of the Cross is not about Sinéad, although she was going to sing on it,' Friday explains, citing a plan formed before O'Connor's untimely death. 'When her son Shane passed I saw a black hole which sadly she didn't get out of. The media never took anything to do with her health into consideration, they wanted her to be that 'mad person' and then suddenly she's our Joan of Arc? I felt they weren't sympathetic when she was crying out, so I was annoyed at that but very moved by the public reaction on her death. We lost a true soldier.'
• At home with Bono: 'I've always felt like an impersonator'
Friday's current single The Church of Love brings everything full circle, toasting today's more open society, which perhaps the young Fionán dreamt of when he fashioned himself as Gavin Friday. 'Back in the day I wore a dress as a shield, but also as a threat. It was my way of saying, 'I'm a queer? Sure, but I'll kick your head in.' Those days are gone, now you see young 'Gavin Fridays' all over the place and you don't blink. You couldn't have imagined that back in the 1970s. I'm overjoyed, because they look great.'
So much has changed that Friday has recently come out, in casual style. 'Someone asked me, who's this 'Patrick' that you dedicated the title track to?' No one had ever asked be about my sexuality before. I just answered: that's my partner. Yes, it was a quiet way but no one cared. There's the old saying, if it walks like a duck … We were wearing dresses, and the lyrics? I mean, hello?'
The single's B-side is a cover of the 1989 Desireless Euro-hit Voyage, Voyage, sung in French of course, because it's Friday. 'It's Euro trash but I embrace it, I did that for a laugh and a love.'
Laughter and love sums up an artist enjoying his adventures. 'I'm suspicious of anyone that's forever happy but I'm content,' he says. 'I'm fortunate I'm able to do this stuff but I want to concentrate on Gavin Friday, I want to bring out another album soon and tour again. I feel really comfortable on stage and I haven't done it properly on my own in years. Yes, I'm really excited about that.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wales Online
an hour ago
- Wales Online
Michael Sheen opens up on financial struggles as he admits to 'juggling debt'
Michael Sheen opens up on financial struggles as he admits to 'juggling debt' Michael Sheen set the record straight about what he insists is a huge misconception about his finances, as he opened up about the true reality of his earnings Michael Sheen has confessed that he is 'juggling debt' (Image: PA ) Renowned actor Michael Sheen has opened up about his financial struggles, as he confesses he is currently "juggling debt". Boasting a huge array of film and TV roles down the years, the Newport-born actor is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished the country has ever produced. With a number of accolades to his name, the 56-year-old took one his first steps into the world of professional acting in a stage adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. After his early forays into acting had earned him resounding critical acclaim, it wasn't long before his TV and film career began to take off. Michael's acting career began on stage, performing in various Shakespeare adaptations (Image: Getty Images ) However, while his career, which has included rubbing shoulders with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, Michael insists there's a huge misconception when it comes to his earnings. Article continues below During a recent interview with The Times, the Damned United star shared: "It's interesting when people talk about me as a multimillionaire. "Because no — I don't have that much money. I mean, I have money compared to lots of people, but this is about juggling debt." Michael used some of his own money to help fund Homeless World Cup in 2019 (Image: Getty Images ) Shedding light on one particular debt, he said: "I'm still paying off the Homeless World Cup. It's not like I have all this spare cash. And there are times I can put money into things and times when I can't." Founded by Mel Young and Harald Schmied in 2001, the Homeless World Cup was set up in a bid to tackle homelessness around the world. The tournament has travelled all around the globe over the years, and for the first time in 2019, it made it's way to Cardiff, Wales. In an announcement at the time, it was revealed that Michael would be playing a significant role in it's organisation. The actor has also recently written a book to help educate children about homelessness (Image: Getty Images ) However, after funding for the £2m project collapsed, the actor decided to fund the event out of his own pocket. Speaking to the Big Issue in 2021 about the financial sacrifice, he said: "I had a house in America and a house here and I put those up and just did whatever it took. "It was scary and incredibly stressful. I'll be paying for it for a long time." In another move to help try and combat homelessness, Michael recently released, A Home for Spark the Dragon, a children's book aimed at raising awareness and helping children to understand about homelessness. Article continues below A portion of the money raised through the sale of the book will go to the charity, Shelter, that campaigns for housing justice in England and Scotland.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
Noel Gallagher breaks silence on Oasis rehearsals and gives verdict on band
Noel Gallagher has told his pal Bono he is 'shocked' at how the Oasis rehearsals are sounding. In the first revelation from the singer songwriter since the band reunited, US frontman Bono revealed Noel is confident the Oasis Live 25 reunion tour should sound great. Bono, an Oasis fan himself, teased fans by saying we were going to have a 'good Summer' and he would be at the Gallagher gigs too. On Oasis, Bono said in a new interview: "I love them. I just love them. And what I really love is this, the sort of preciousness that had gotten a part of what was called indie music. They just blew it out. "And there was just a swagger. The sound of getting out of the ghetto, not glamorising it. And they're both funny, funny, funny. "I'm still very close with Noel. And he got a message to me, and he says that he's kind of shocked by how great the band is. So I think we're going to have a good summer." Asked if he would be going to see Oasis himself, Bono told Zane Lowe: "Of course! And remember what they did as well. Those kind of big guitars, big Neil Young generous sounds. "They were against the law in the UK, and they're like, 'No, I have to do what I f**king want.' "And then they had this kind of rhythmic, beautiful quality. 'Today is gonna be the day...' So that's a kind of, that's an almost R&B rhythm. "But Manchester was very influenced by dance music, so they were groovier than anybody. They were rawer than anybody. "And Edge and myself met them in the first album. We went to Noel's flat. And they're like... it's literally a basement flat first album. "And it's like, 'Yeah, I'm into U2. Noel's like, 'Yeah, you're the Edge! Wow!' And Liam's whatever. "And I'm saying, you know, America's great, because at that time It didn't get through - till now. By the way, Oasis message didn't get through maybe to America, and America didn't get through to... so this is going to be, this would be like their first tour in the US. People that know how great they are.' Noel and Liam will walk on stage for the first time together in public, since the band split nearly two decades ago, on July 4 at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. There will also be dates in Manchester, London and Dublin as part of the tour. The legendary Manchester band are reuniting for their first tour in 16 years, dubbed Oasis Live '25, after finally burying the hatchet last year. Earlier this week frontman Liam admitted he was sad about the split. A user asked on X: "How does it feel singing songs with ur brother again? Like old times? (sic)" To which, Liam replied: "You know what it's spiritual but I can't help think about all those wasted years, what a waste of PRECIOUS time (sic)." Oasis split following a backstage bust-up between the Gallaghers at Rock en Seine festival in Paris in 2009. Their return to the stage has been one of the most anticipated music events of the decade, with rehearsals now well underway in London. * The full interview with Bono is on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1.
Glasgow Times
3 days ago
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow festival first as 'world's most famous detective' makes debut
Now, 25 years on, he is bringing them back to the popular outdoor Shakespeare festival, which kicks off later this month in the Botanic Gardens in the West End. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet sparked a life-long love of Shakespeare,' he explains. Gordon Barr (Image: Bard in the Botanics) 'His plays have such incredible depth that no matter how often you return to them there is always more to discover.' Gordon adds: 'It is a great pleasure to revisit these two plays for the 2025 season, with more than two decades of experience under my belt.' Bard in the Botanics has announced its Magic, Mayhem and Murder season will open on June 27 and run until August 2. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bard company stalwart Alan Steele plays Bottom with festival regulars James Boal and Claire Macallister as Oberon and Titania. (Image: Bard in the Botanics) Gordon says the production 'draws on Celtic and British folklore to create a magical version of the evergreen comedy.' The second half of the season, which starts on July 18, includes a new production of Gordon's five-hander Romeo and Juliet, which was last staged in 2012. Sam Stopford takes on the role of Romeo with Lola Aluko as Juliet. Romeo and Juliet (Image: Bard in the Botanics) In the Kibble Palace glasshouse, Jennifer Dick will direct a new production of her adaptation of Marlowe's Dr Faustus with Adam Donaldson as Faustus and Sam Stopford as Mephistopheles, and in the second half of the season, she will present Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia. Dr Faustus (Image: Bard in the Botanics) Bard in the Botanics is not just about Shakespeare, points out Gordon. 'Whilst Shakespeare remains at the heart of Bard in the Botanics, as we continue to explore more of the canon of classic drama and literature, it's exciting to bring the work of another Scottish author to our stages – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,' he says. Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia (Image: Bard in the Botanics) 'His Sherlock Holmes stories have delighted generations of readers and I can't wait for our associate director, Jennifer Dick, to bring three of those stories to life in the Kibble Palace in a brand new play featuring the world's foremost consulting detective. 'This season is full of great stories – some of the best and most enduring stories ever told. From the iconic lovers of Romeo and Juliet to Faustus' pact with the devil to the thrilling adventures of Sherlock Holmes, there's really something for everyone.' For more information and tickets, visit the Bard in the Botanics website.
