Liverpool-born, Dublin-based, blues guitarist and songwriter Mike Brookfield plays Dublin's The Wild Duck on 23 October. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
Mike released his most recent album Built To Last in July, the fifth record from a superb player with real virtuoso flair, including 2017's Brookfield, which saw Mike sing lyrics written by Horslips drummer Eamon Carr.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
After 38 years of playing, five solo albums and endless musical adventures, I still love the guitar more than ever. There's so much to explore in music and the guitar, I still get excited by it every day.
I found out I was dyslexic a few years ago. I was so relieved because I couldn’t understand why I had this crippling fear of reading out loud or it took me so long to make sense of things I read. So now I don’t think about it and just accept it. It has not affected my interest in words and lyric writing but I think becoming a musician was a handy way of avoiding real world reading tasks.
The biggest thing happening at the moment is our move to the country. I was in Portmarnock for 18 years but just moved out to Lusk area. I have a studio space I can work from and it’s a great area to ride my bike, I ride for fun now but enjoyed many years of competitive cycling, racing Ras Tailteann etc.
How would you describe your music?
I suppose it’s singer-songwriter rock n roll with guitar solos! I have one foot in the old school Freddie King style and the other in contemporary rock song writing of guys like Springsteen, but always trying to go my own way. I consider myself a blues guitarist but open to all music and I listen to everything. I often have ambient intros to songs on my records that juxtapose the rock guitar driven tracks, it’s easy to hear Brian Eno or soundtrack music influences around the Hendrix and Clapton.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Apart from the obvious Rory, Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, my biggest heroes are local players or teachers that have influenced or guided me directly. I studied Jazz with the great Charlie Banacos for nine years, big band arranging with Jerry Gates of Berklee College and did a Masters in Trinity only a few years ago. Those teachers helped me think artistically and gave me the confidence to write and play what I felt was important to me. It’s easy to put up barriers and reasons not to create. You need encouraging people around you to say 'do it anyway’ because they understand your needs as a musician.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
If we skip comedian Ken Dodd at the Southport Theatre, it was ZZ Top Stafford Bingley Hall around 87. I had a paper round and I’d see gigs advertised in a travel agent window every morning, it cost around £18 including coach transfer and ticket. I went with my Dad, and he had to lift me for most of the gig as the stage was obscured by biker jackets and big hair. Their stage set was the dashboard of a car and they had lasers, all very hip and hi tech for a little ole blues band from Texas.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Record shopping is like therapy for me, something about flicking through the vinyl is so relaxing helps me escape for a while. Some people go to the pub or restaurants, I like them too, but I’d still rather be in a record shop. There’s even a track on the new album called East Village Vinyl Queen. When I first started buying records, I’d pick up what was hip at the time, guided by my older brother, like Eurythmics or Simple Minds but didn’t get into them much. It was August by Eric Clapton bought at the supermarket during a weekly shop with my parents that got me fired up, the guitar playing was so expressive. I went on to work in a second-hand record store and we’d do the record fairs around the northwest of England. The traders would buy off each other before the doors opened to the public and I’d blow my wages on Rory Gallagher records, which at the time where really hard to find. I got familiar with a huge amount of music in those days, and it still resonates with me now.
What’s your favourite song right now?
There’s a lot of great new artists with good songs out there but I still listen to a lot of older stuff. I have been listening to title track from the Fire & Water album by Free again. The vocals by Paul Rogers are phenomenal and of course Paul Kossoff is just perfect alongside him. The production is really sparse so you can hear all the parts clearly, I can’t imagine anyone producing like this today. It takes so much discipline to leave that much space and the arrangements are living and breathing, never rushed. The tempo and groove on the track Heavy Load, you can really imagine the character and weight on his shoulders, slowly making his way down the road. The blues influence on bands like Free and Led Zeppelin is balanced really well with great adventurous song writing which is really inspiring to me. If I had to pick a modern recording it would be something by Clapton sideman Doyle Bramhall II, he’s got it all going on, great production, voice, guitar and songs.
Favourite lyric of all time?
I couldn’t choose but at the moment I like Strawberry Wine by Ryan Adams, I love this verse: ‘Can you still have any famous last words, If you're somebody nobody knows, I don't know, Somebody go and ask Clair, She's been dead twenty years just look at her hair, Strawberry blonde with curls, She gets hair done then she gossips, With the younger waitress girls at the bar, The old Irish rose, Drinking strawberry wine, Until it comes out her nose’.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Ouch! That’s a tough one, anything from Live at the Fillmore by Derek and the Dominoes. They are my favourite band, they really brought out the best in Clapton with Bobby Whitlock on backing vocals and the best rhythm section you could have at the time for that music with Carl Radle and Jim Gordon.
Where can people find your music/more information?
