All language subtitles for Heyday - The Mic Christopher Story (2019)_en

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[melancholic music]
[film reeling]

[gentle music]

- [Mic] I definitely
don't want to think

about planning anything though.

Maybe it could be...

To some extent it
might be a bad idea

because I should think
ahead a lot more,

but these days I really want
to just wake up every day

and see what happens.

[film reeling]

So we were buskers
basically on the street

and at the time we
did it, it was...

The street was alive with music.

It was an incredible
time to spend.

And, you know, it's hard to
explain what it was like,

but it was just...

It was brilliant. [laughs]

It was all these incredible
memories of being young

and being free and
crazy on the street.

[gentle music]
[film reeling]

- Mic had a real cool
about him, you know?

He just oozed a kind of a
quiet confidence, you know?

Deep, you know, like real.

You know, not everybody's
like that, really,

but Mic always was.

- For me, he was my hero,
my prince, you know?

Like, I'd be so proud
to be a friend of Mic's.

- Just full of beans,
like really mischievous,

loads of energy.

The passion he had and
the way he sort of changed

when he sang is kind
of weirdly at odds

with this very boyish,
silly, fun kind of persona

that he had outside of that.

- [Mike Scott] He made a sound
that contained all the energy

and dynamics of a band just
with his voice and guitar.

- But he was always
the cool one.

He was always...

Glen was always jumping around

and you know, he was
a ball of energy.

Mic was the cooler
guy in the corner.

- [Glen] I kind of
only realized that

long after Mic had passed,

kind of how much
cooler he was than me.

- There was a sort
of magic about him.

- And he was this
relentless dreamboat.

Everybody fell in love
with him completely.

- He was a gentleman,
he was a...

He was like a knight that
stepped out of a story.

- He was so selfless and kind.

- Awesome guy. [laughs]

- [Brian] Everybody kind of knew

this is not going to end well.

- [Glen] It's, you know,
obviously hard to talk about

'cause it's like 16
years or whatever, but...

- [Karl] It shouldn't
have happened.

You know, like, none of
this should have happened.

- I didn't realize he
was so badly broken up.

- I think we all
kind of expected

the bad news that
eventually came.

- And you continue
to question it

and think about just
how tenuous life is.

- [Vincent] All the
ultimate life experience

would be probably the end of it.

- What happens to a spirit
when it's so full of life

and so full of his positivity?

What happens to a man when
he's just wrenched out of it?

[Glen snaps fingers]

[engine whirring]

[upbeat music]

♪ The falls that
will make you dream ♪

♪ They come as
often as you look ♪

♪ You say it's
simple for a reason ♪

♪ And you're
covering your book ♪

♪ Make a chancer of a King

♪ And you wonder if
his chance will come ♪

♪ And you know that
it wasn't patterned ♪

♪ And all the people
would still come and run ♪

♪ The King may not be simple

♪ Just for what he's lost

♪ The King he might have taken

♪ One more chance
to give it up ♪

♪ Born a chancer's play thing

♪ Thinking that he's god

♪ Born a playing chancer

♪ And knowing that he's not

♪ They say that
we're all creatures ♪

♪ All creatures of a kind

♪ The sign may not be simple

♪ 'cause they don't
want you to unwind ♪

♪ I'll tell you what you need

♪ And you're knowing
that it's mine ♪

♪ All you need is
to be featured ♪

♪ All you need is simple time

[film reeling]

[upbeat guitar music]

- [Maureen] My parents both
moved to New York separately;

They met out there.

- [Vaun] Harry was
there before me.

I think you were there
about five years when we met

and we got married over there
and had Maureen and Michael.

- [Maureen] I'm the
older of the two, yeah.

Mic was two and a half
years younger than me,

but although, he always
called me his little sister.

We lived firstly in the Bronx

and then moved out to a place
called Brentwood, Long Island.

And then, they decided, late
'72, to move back to Ireland.

- I never intended
coming back, actually.

- In New York.

- My friend here dragged
me back. [laughs]

- [Maureen] We were like
all siblings, really.

You know, we probably
fought over everything,

but when we were together, we
were together, if you'd like,

against everyone else.

But when it was
just the two of us,

we probably fought over
absolutely everything,

from who had to wash the dishes,

to what channel was going on
the TV or whatever it may be.

- Me and Mic were in the
same school together.

So he was in like sixth class
or sixth year, whatever,

and I was in...

I had just come into the
school, so I was in first year

and I vaguely
remember seeing him

kind of sliding
around the corridor.

He didn't really walk, he
kind of bounced as such.

- But when it came to studying,

Mic's studying was
sitting upstairs

with the guitar for three hours

and he'd come down, "Yep, that's
another three hours done,"

kind of thing.

And I always remember being
out one day with my mother

and it was during
the Leaving Cert

and we're walking
down the street and
we came to the corner,

we could hear the music
coming from the house.

Now, we both looked at
each other and thought,

"There's an exam in 15 minutes."

You know, it was probably
about a 20 minute walk

to the school,
but you could hear

the music blasting
out of the house.

So that was it. I mean, music
was going to be the thing.

- I was pushing them
too much to get a job,

if you know what I mean.

You know, you can get a...

- You used to say a proper job.

- A proper job. [laughs]

[Vaun laughs]

I was working as a carpenter

and I was trying to get
Michael going into something.

Music was all...
[Vaun laughs]

That's all he could think
of, was music, you know?

But I took him to work one
day and gave him a hammer

and a few things, trying to
get him going or something

and he come home that
evening, he said to Vaun,

"You really don't want
me to be like my dad,

nine to five every day,
you know?" [laughs]

- The idea of somebody going
to work from nine to five,

like, why would you
even consider it?

But you don't write songs
just at night, you know?

You have to be available all
day every day to do that.

So no, he knew what he was
going to do very early on.

He started his first
band when he was 15.

They used to rehearse
in my parents' garage

and all the kids on the
street would be looking

over the fence on
a Sunday afternoon

when the gig was going on
in the garage kind of thing.

So that would've been the
first time, he'd, I suppose,

took it seriously, if you like.

Now, at that stage, he'd
already started kind of

venturing into town a little
bit, into the busking scene;

not an awful lot, but he was
definitely dipping his toe

in the water at that stage.

- Grafton Street was just a
shopping street in Dublin.

You know, shops open,
cars running up and down,

it still felt very like the
fifties in certain ways.

And then, this gang
of kids came out

with long curly hair
and all start playing

these mad trash country songs.

- Grafton Street was
it; that's where it was.

That was the pure thing.
You know what I mean?

Where you go and
you'd play for...

You know, you'd play for
four hours without stopping.

You know, your fingers would
be falling off your hands,

your throat would be
falling, coming up

you know, your neck and then
you'd go for a cup of coffee

in the Coffee Inn
around the corner

and you'd take out your guitars
and you'd start... [laughs]

You know, we'd go on a break
and we'd go and we'd play

in the Coffee Inn for an hour

and then we'd head back
out onto the street

for another four hours.

- We were all broke, just
getting a plate of chips

and then a pot of tea for
two and sitting there...

And a packet of Fags,
and sitting there

for as long as possible,
until we were thrown out.

- And that's where we
all used to hang out,

all the people that then became

sort of key figures in the
music scene over the years.

So I used to see Mic
in there regularly.

- Like, the Coffee
Inn was like our home,

up on South Anne Street.

It was like where we...

We'd always meet there,
first of all and then,

when we played, we'd go in
afterwards with the case

and just dump it on the table

and all the money would
get done, you know?

And we'd jam in there,
we'd sing in there.

You know, it was just a place
where we always were, so.

- I was working as
a waitress there

and I had just moved to Dublin

and I'm pretty sure the
first time I met him

was when I was serving
him as a waitress

is one story.

Another possible
story is [laughs]

that I met him while he was
busking on Grafton Street.

So it's one of the two.

I can't remember like...

I can't remember
first time I saw him,

but I know it was like
one of those two places.

- I met Mic in...

I guess it was 1985.

It was either '84 or '85.

I'd just started busking in '84

and around summertime

'85 or maybe springtime,

I remember this lad would
come in and check me out.

You know when you see someone...

You know, as a busker,
it was rare to get people

who would stop
and listen to you,

but occasionally people would.

[calm guitar music]

And this young fella
stopped and listened

with a couple of his mates

and he just had a mad cool
kind of head on him, you know?

Like kinda long.

I remember he was
really... What's the word?

Actually there's a picture
of him in that particular,

when he just kind of looked
a bit like sort of Nick Drake

or really thin and kind
of withdrawn, you know?

Very quiet young fella.

But I remember just
chatting to him

and he was from Clondalkin.

I don't think I'd ever
met anyone from Clondalkin

and I said to him,
"Bring in your guitar."

And he is like, "Can I, yeah?"

And I said, "Yeah,
bring in your guitar

and we'll do some
stuff together."

♪ How come your
sister's in drag? ♪

♪ Where are the
clothes that she had? ♪

♪ Well I've seen her of late

♪ I think she put on
some weight like a man ♪

- [Colm] That's kind of it.

I was actually
walking on the street

and I heard this guy
singing a song on the street

and I thought it was Neil...

It sounded like Neil Young.

So I just waited
till he was finished

and he was kind of
sitting on a stool,

selling magazines
across the street.

That's how I remember him.

♪ I think he colors my
room when he comes ♪

♪ But how comes we
both go to schools ♪

♪ On different sides
of the street? ♪

♪ How comes this
girl that I knew? ♪

- I got a guitar and
I went out and...

I went out on Grafton
Street and I kind of...

Yeah, I started a song and
I was thinking, you know,

in my head, I was going
out to do this thing

and I kind of stood up and I
hit the first chord of the song

and my body just melted.

It was like the
world kind of turned

and looked at me or something.

So I nearly crapped
myself basically,

and I just sat down and I
went, "Okay, I'll do it later."

But then, I walked
further up the street

and I saw Mic and Glen
and Mark [indistinct],

and because like, I'd
never talked to Mic,

this was actually the first
actual words we kind of

properly spoke to each other.

I just went up and said,
"Look, I've come out busking.

Is there any chance I
can play with youse?"

- [Maureen] The
group just started

getting bigger and bigger.

I mean, you could go
up to Grafton Street

on a Saturday afternoon,

there could be 20, 25
people, all busking together.

- [Paddy] The
crowds were amazing.

I mean, it was the whole...

It was like, you know,

rock and roll stops the
traffic or whatever.

The whole street was
kind of shut down for it.

Cops used to come the
odd time and break it up.

- Like Saturday afternoon
we'd have 200 people

in a big arc around us, you
know, blocking the whole street.

You know, so we got arrested
like four or five times,

I suppose, at least,
you know, [laughs]

for like, you know,
disturbing the peace

or blocking the path
or whatever it was.

You know, but like
you get arrested

and then all the crowd
would be screaming,

" Let them go. Let them go."

Taking photographs of us

getting into the back of the
Black Mariah and all this,

you know what I mean?

It was a big... The whole
thing was just a buzz, like...

- To me, it was a
million times better

than anything you'd heard
on television, or you see...

You heard on the
radio, you know?

It was like...

I suppose the best
way to describe it,

was a deeper kind
of raw kind of soul.

And they all had it.
Mic had it. Glen had it.

And you know, the
lyrics were deeper

than what you were
hearing on the radio.

Even where their
voices went was deeper

than what you'd hear
on the radio, yeah?

- And I remember cycling
down Grafton Street

and just from the top
of Grafton Street,

I'd already be
hearing this voice

and the closer I got it
was, Mic used to busk

with a fella called
Niall Cosgrove

and both of them were there
and Mic was singing Trumpets,

which is a Waterboys song.

And it was just
like very haunting.

- Yeah, when the Waterboys
first came to town in '86,

I could see that a
lot of younger bands

were copying what we were doing

and inspired by
what we were doing.

And I used to be able to tell

when I walked up Grafton Street

and I would hear
half a dozen buskers

doing Waterboy songs,

and sometimes even
whole gangs of buskers

all gathered together,

usually with Glen
Hansard in the middle,

doing Waterboy songs.

That was great fun.

I used to love
experiencing that.

I don't think I ever
joined in with 'em,

but I used to stand
secretly and listen.

- [Paddy] It was kind
of like a magic circle.

I dunno. [laughs]

To me, it was amazing.

To me, it was the
most magical thing

I'd ever seen in
my life, you know?

It was this magic
moment, I suppose.

- And Mic couldn't wait
to move out of home.

It was like, he was really
into just getting a flat.

I was living over in
Portmarnock with me girlfriend.

And so, I'm 17 now,
so it's like 1987,

we moved into Harcourt
Street, the two of us

and we took our first flat.

The flat we lived in used to be

Radio Dublin's headquarters;
it was an old radio station.

A great flat.

Basically, all the
busking rehearsals,

all the gang that was playing

would always go back and
end up spending the night

or hanging out.

But that was really, I suppose,
the height of our friendship

was sort of '87, '88, '89.

And Mic went to London.

Mic met Sharon Horgan and Sharon
and Mic went off to London

and Mic became a Hare Krishna.

[guitar strums]

- I mean, I think initially

it was just a little
mini adventure.

I think, you know, we
wanted to hang out together

and, you know, we
were also young.

Then it didn't sort of matter
what you did with your time.

- London can be a hard place

and it was a particularly
hard place then, I think,

you know, it was very
much the squat scene

was very strong over there,

there was very high
unemployment, both
here and in London,

so everybody was kind
of living on their wits.

- But I was living in
this community where...

You know, in this sort
of squatting community,

that was pretty creative
itself, you know?

He used to busk
over here, you know,

we used to go to
the tube stations

or we'd go to Leicester Square.

- Like, it was illegal to
busk in the tube station,

but you'd do it.

And, you know, inside,
underneath, in the
tubes, you know,

you have all their big
posters on the wall,

all over the place, and
there'd be certain corners

where people would always busk

and you'd write your
name on the poster.

So the posters would just be
covered in names, you know?

You'd come along at two o'clock

and go, "Mic, three o'clock,"
you know what I mean?

And everyone would do
it an hour or something

and they'd split off.

- You know, I'd stand
there with the hat [laughs]

and he would play and, you know,

some nights we made
absolutely no money

and some nights we really,
you know, coined it in.

I mean, we weren't like
lovers for very long.

We were friends for a
lot longer. [laughs]

You know, we were
both really young

and we went out in Dublin

and then when he
came over to London,

we, you know, continued
our relationship, and then,

you know, it didn't work out.

- It was a stressful time
living, you know, no money,

no real opportunities, you know?

And I think when
you pile on down,

if you have a
serious relationship

that breaks up around you,

that's really going to trigger
some challenges in you.

- I thought about him a
lot. I worried about him.

I wanted to look
after him, you know?

He's a skinny fella, you know?

He's not as tough
as he shows on.

And I thought, "Well, you know,
I played a bit of hurling."

You know, if there's any issues
I can step into the breach,

no problem, as
you would for him.

And I'd only feel very honored
to be given phone calls,

to step in for him
anytime, you know?

But I'd save up me dole
money and head over to London

to see how Mic was, you know?

Because I knew he wasn't
going out doing yoga

or breathing fresh air,
you know what I mean?

Or jogging every morning
or doing... [laughs]

You know what I mean?

I'd get to London,
I'd hop the tubes,

I'd get down to Manor House,
I'd get outta the tube

at about seven in the
morning or something.

I'd race off, I'd find
whichever squat, I'd call in.

So I was banging on the door

and it was a big
metal door, you know?

'cause sometimes there
was a lot of squatting

and there was a little
bit of cat and mouse

with the councils
and stuff like that.

So sometimes they'd bar
them up and metal it up.

And he was living on
his Toblerone in there

with a couple of little puppies
running around the squat.

There was no light coming in
because it was all boarded up

and it wasn't pretty
and he wasn't well.

So that... Anyway.

I got really worried
about him there.

I was like, "Alright, come on,

we're moving down to Kerry"

[guitar strums]

"Like, it's got all
the light you need.

It's got all the peace you need.

You don't need any of
these people, you know?

Come down." And he did.

And he really came
alive down there,

but maybe we should
have spent longer.

I was just excited
by being with him.

I thought, "Great,
we're together now.

Let's take on the
world," you know?

We wrote... He picked that song.

I had some lyrics we
were writing together

and he wrote
"Friends" down there

or he put music to it, you know?

♪ I've heard you scream

♪ And I've heard you sing

♪ I've seen you cry

♪ But I've listened
to you laughing ♪

♪ And I've seen you run

♪ And I've heard your song

♪ And I know you
are strong enough ♪

♪ To keep on charging on

♪ 'cause I am your friend

- And I thought, "Oh,
this is incredible.

We can conquer the world
with this stuff," you know?

It wasn't all fun and
games, but some of it was.

♪ You've seen me shake

♪ And you've heard me roar

♪ And you've seen
me break down ♪

♪ But you've also
seen me soaring ♪

♪ And you've seen me hide

♪ Seen me lose all my pride

♪ And you've seen me die

♪ But you've helped
me to rise up again ♪

♪ 'cause you are my friend

♪ Yes, you are my friend

[film rolling]

- The Mary Janes came
into being, I suppose,

in the summer of 1990.

So, The Frames were
becoming The Frames.

- But me and Mic's
friendship, I guess then,

was probably a little less.

When he went off to
London, I guess we didn't

sort of see each other
for a couple of years.

- And it was sort
of around that time

that they, I guess,
kind of, not splintered,

but they all sort of figured
out what it was they were doing

and what kind of music they
specifically wanted to,

you know, veer towards.

Because when I met them first,
Glen and Mic seemed to be,

you know, one person almost.

You know, I mean, they
kind of sang together

or took it turns and it was hard

to sort of figure out
who the front man was,

'cause, you know,
there wasn't really

and it was sort of both of them.

- Glen and Mic were
kind of like...

It was almost like they became

the leaders of different
gangs in a way.

So that they, in
a way, kind of...

Not that they fell out, but
they weren't necessarily tight

for those years
of the Mary Janes.

- It was difficult for
me when The Frames began,

me and Mic were both, you know,

whatever we were gonna do,
we were gonna do it together.

And there was a kind
of a difficulty for me

in that Mic is an
amazing singer,

but Mic didn't do harmonies,
Mic only sang lead,

which is kind of very Mic.

You know, "I don't
back anyone, I sing."

And so, there was a
problem with me and him

was that every time we sang
together, I could back him up,

but he couldn't back
me up, you know?

When you look at footage
of any of us playing,

it's always me singing
harmonies to Mic.

And so, I went away
wanting to be a songwriter

and wanted to start a band.

I kind of wanted to be
the singer of my songs,

but Mic wasn't naturally
a harmony singer

and he just kind of wasn't...

He was never really gonna learn.

I don't think it
was a thing for him

that he was ever
gonna get into that.

So in a way, I couldn't
be in a band with him.

And so, the Mary Janes
was him going his way

and it was kind of...

Those were difficult
conversations

for us to have as friends.

- I had moved into
a house with...

Out of home and into a
house with Simon Goode,

Karl and the original
drummer, Steven,

who I don't even
remember his second name.

- [Producer] Hogan.

- Was it Hogan?

And they weren't a band.

And it was kind of like,
"You guys are band,

Mic needs a band, let's
put this together."

Do you know what I mean?

It was that kind of
solution based, "Oh."

- I was in rock
school at the time,

so Simon Goode, he
was in rock school

so I kind said, "You know, I
know this great guitarist."

And so, he kind of came
along and kind of joined in

and there was another...

Our first drummer,
Stephen Hogan,

who was kind of a good deal
younger than the rest of us.

And he was, you know,
drafted on board.

So that was kinda
like the original,

mark one Mary Janes, you know?

- So that was the start of it.

But Steven left quite soon.

I don't even remember what...

There was some cloud,
but it wasn't a big deal.

It was just stupid kid
stuff. But Steven left,

and then they decided they
didn't want a drummer at all.

- And we were supposed
to find another drummer,

but we just never
bothered [laughs]

or it just seemed to kind of
be one of those things that,

you know, in the haze
of the time, you know,

just seemed to go away.

So we just continued on as
a kind of a three piece.

- [Brian] It's
because they created

so much rhythm internally,

they didn't really
need a drummer.

So we just decided
to explore this

and they went on as this three
piece for a number of years.

They did their
first album as that.

- I remember going over
to The States in 1994

and bringing Bored of
Their Laughing with me

and playing it at a
couple of parties.

And this was a time
when, you know,

it was bands like Pearl
Jam and they all flipped.

Anyone that I met over there
flipped over the Mary Janes.

- Yeah, that was just a really
big sound for three people

and there was nobody doing
nothing like that in Dublin

that I was aware of,
or in Ireland even,

or in the world, possibly.

♪ Well I loathe
your every sound ♪

♪ Take that straight for me

♪ And the picture that I get

♪ Is you in a class of three

♪ And I can't imagine you

♪ Caring for anyone

- Heavy metal guitarist,

bass player who's mad
into like Talking Heads

and the synthy stuff,
you know what I mean?

This hippie guy in
the middle, [laughs]

you know what I mean?

And you get this like
incredible noise.

You know what I mean?

Never heard nothing like
it before; never, or since.

- You know, I sat, you know,

maybe three feet from him in
sound checks or, you know,

at sessions or just in a room

and he actually
made the air quiver

with the power of his voice.

- But yeah, he had a
different way of doing things.

His lyrics weren't
straightforward.

They weren't...

They were unique, you know?

♪ Trace horse-flies
and bottle tops ♪

♪ They're equal to your grin

♪ Something changed
your mind last night ♪

♪ You backed down on your sins

♪ And people kissing
twinkle-toes ♪

♪ And feeling all enthralled

♪ Centurian you make me weep

♪ You slither back and forth

♪ So un-art like
and shrivelling ♪

♪ An unpertruding wart

♪ Oh, come somebody

♪ And show us where you live

♪ We're not as
sloppy as you think ♪

♪ And how much can you give

♪ Centurian you make me weep

♪ You slither back and forth

- We wouldn't say no to
a gig back in those days.

I'd say we did 300 gigs a year.

- If you're a support band,

one of the biggest things
is drum changeovers,

'cause it's awkward
and it's messy.

- And it has to
be said, you know,

the Mary Janes got a lot
of gigs supporting people

'cause they were kind of
low maintenance, [laughs]

but you went on after
them at your peril.

You know, they could
destroy the place.

- We would go down
to Dartmouth Square

to pick up Mic, right?

Who would be in a bad mood
that he had to leave the house.

He would F and blind, right?

It would take him to
the absolute last moment

to get him out and into the van.

Whereas Karl... You know, if
there was any planes involved,

Karl would like...

We've had Karl run away
'cause he didn't want

to get on an airplane for
30 minutes, so... [laughs]

Then Simon would have to
drive like the clappers

in this banged out
old black Ford Transit

that was on its last legs to
Sligo or Galway or whatever

on the crappest roads possible.

And all the time, Simon
suffering huge anxiety

about us all dying on the roads.

Then we would set
up and do the gig

and we would have a few
drinks, a few smokes

and go home and you
know, drop 'em back

and we would literally

do that again night
after night after night.

- [Peter] When Mark
joined, he added something.

I remember seeing
them in Whelan's

and there were parts of the gig
where they sounded colossal,

like Led Zeppelin colossal.

- [Karl] Definitely brought
a totally different dynamic

to the band, in a very
good way, you know?

- But they also lost something.

They'd lost a little
bit of that strangeness

as to, "What are these
three geezers doing,

sitting on stools playing

this kind of gigantic
folk rock mutation?"

- There was an expectation
that we kind of,

"Oh yeah, no, that's it.

We've solved the biggest
problem with the Mary Janes

and now, you know, all we
have to do is get signed now."

- Back in those days,

a record contract was
the holy grail, really.

And it was seen as
an impossible dream.

- And everybody was running
to be signed up, you know?

So you could get
some tour support

or get an album released
by a record company.

- It was as close to
having a job, a secure job,

in that industry,
as you could get.

You were gonna be paid a wage,

guaranteed releases on your
album, studios paid for.

- I think Mic was very...

I think he kind of
put a lot of stock

into that kind of
stuff, you know?

- They deliberately
weren't successful.

And I don't mean that as a...

You know, they
know I loved them,

so they know that's
not a slight on them,

but they deliberately
weren't success...

They didn't want to be...

They wanted to be, but they
wanted to be on their own terms.

But you can't be.

In life, you don't get to be.

You can pretend that you've
took it on your own terms,

but you have to compromise.

- There was kind of some
desire to move on, progress,

you know, get more
opportunities, being
able to travel more,

all that kind of stuff.

But there was also this
kind of counter thing

where we were always
trying to, you know,

keep to our indie roots
if you know what I mean.

I think it was the
case... That classic line,

we let the music speak
for itself kind of thing.

- [Brian] We went and we did
a thing called Cork Rocks.

- [Karl] Kind of like
a, some kind of showcase

kind of weekend in Cork.

- There were 40
people at the show

of which 39 were A&R men
to see the Mary Janes.

And we went upstairs to the
dressing room after the show

and he...

We were first band on,

it's like seven
o'clock in the evening,

we're finished at
half seven, right?

We've come down to Cork.

There's no motorway.

Those days, it's like
four hours' drive.

And he comes upstairs
and I'm like,

"There's all these
guys downstairs.

You have to go down and talk
to them and you gotta go."

And he's like, "Let's
just go fucking home."

- [Karl] And we just all
walked out of the thing.

- [Brian] So there was
no compromise. [laughs]

He didn't want to talk to them.

He didn't want that
deal, so we legged it.

- [Mic] So we had every
record company in the world

come to see us every gig we did.

We used to do these do gigs

in these tiny little
dirty little clubs

and you'd go into the
dressing room afterwards,

you know, all sweaty and
then there'd be, you know,

these guys there, you
know, just shouting at you

about loads of money and deals.

And it's like, it never really
made a lot of sense to me.

- So there's always that...

I think a lot of tension there,

you know, 'cause there
was definitely a desire

for the kind of the benefits,

but also kind of a
little bit of reluctance

to engage in the
things you'd have to do

to get them, you know?

And even the song
Sham on that...

That's all about that. That's
what that song's about,

it's about kind of how the whole
thing was a sham, you know?

♪ Well, I've got
something to say ♪

♪ About running for fame

♪ But I ain't got the mood

♪ So I would be
talkin' in vain ♪

♪ Well, I've got
something to say, yeah ♪

♪ But I've got no
time to pick it up ♪

- Mic went off to Bosnia
to work with War Child,

brought some of the Mary
Janes lads with him,

or went along with the lads.

- He was educating
all of us about,

"This is what you can do."

You know, he was the
first of us to do it,

first of any of the people.

We were all too busy, concerned
with our careers, you know?

- [Mic] We ended up there
originally to record some...

To record an album,
deck an album, anyway.

And we saw a piece on
the TV about this place

in Mostar called the
Pavarotti Music Center

where they were gonna put
a new recording studio in.

Mark, the drummer, just
went, "Let's go there."

- [Simon] You come from Dublin,

that's where you
spent all your life,

and then off you go to
somewhere like that,

which just is filled
full of people

who've been through so much,

you've come out of being
something very special.

♪ This is my house

♪ It's where I was born

♪ I won't come out

♪ For fear I'll get torn.

- [Mic] When we went
and we met people

and you see how they're dealing
with being through a war,

it's unbelievable and it
really does a lot for you.

[Mary Janes song playing]

One of the main things
that we saw there

because of where we stayed,
just right beside where we...

There's a bus that's kind
of sitting on its side

and it's in an area that's
all blown to pieces.

It was actually the
front line during the war

and this bus is blown to pieces

and it just has
"care" written on it.

[Mary Janes song continues]

- And it was during the time

that the Pavarotti Music
Center was opening,

so they actually played
at the opening of it,

which is something that a lot
of people don't know about.

On the opening night, you
had U2, you had, you know...

A lot of big names.

Pavarotti, obviously, was there,

but The Mary Janes

were the first band on the
stage that night, you know?

So that was a big
one for them too.

But I think they went out
with the intention of...

Obviously they were
going with War Child,

but there was
promises of, you know,

there's a studio
there, you can record.

They were gonna record their
album when they're out there.

But I think what was going
on there at the time,

the war and everything
else, it really...

It affected them all a lot.

So, you know, they got involved
working with children there,

some of them were orphans,
others were just, you know,

busting every day from places

where they had evacuated to.

And they worked with
children doing music

and art therapy and all
that kind of things.

- [Mark] Because of
construction delays

with the music center and
some other difficulties we had

when we arrived on the ground,

we didn't actually end up
recording anything at all,

as we'd planned to.

You know, for a bunch of guys
that had never been exposed

to that kind of thing
before, you know,

the aftermath of war and
the horror, the stories,

and to see how people
were, you know,

so positive about cleaning up

and getting on with their lives.

- [Mic] 11 years old.

Same age as me.

1969.

- [Maureen] It really
touched them a lot, you know,

just to see that
side of the world

and that side of
what was going on.

♪ Oh the full shot of wine

♪ Will be over you in time

♪ Save me comin'
into your live ♪

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ You put your hand

♪ To what you said
and what you ♪

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Oh lottery say you

♪ Will you pick me

♪ And I'll be comin'
into your life ♪

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ You speak your mind

♪ But then you hide it

♪ When the fight's
not on your side ♪

♪ Some people say

♪ That you will never change

♪ That you're using me

♪ 'cause I'm easy

♪ But I will prevail

♪ And then the
full shot of wine ♪

♪ Sticking sense
into your rhyme ♪

♪ Watch me comin'
into your life ♪

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Oh what a lie

♪ Oh what a fire

♪ That has me comin'
into your life ♪

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Oh lottery, please pick me

♪ And I'll be comin'
into your life ♪

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ You speak your mind

♪ But then you hide it

♪ When the fight's
not on your side ♪

♪ Some people say

♪ That you will never change

♪ That you're using me

♪ 'cause I'm easy

♪ But I will prevail

♪ La, la, la, la

♪ Oh, some people say

♪ That you will
never change, yeah ♪

♪ That you're using me

♪ 'cause I'm easy

♪ But I will prevail

♪ Prevail, prevail

♪ La, la, la, la, la, la

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Comin' into your life

♪ Oh, I'll be comin'
into your life ♪

♪ Oh, I'll be comin'
into your life ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh

- Had an incredible time there.

I think it really changed him

and came back from it
with a lot of purpose.

But at the same
time, he was quite...

I guess, in a way he
was becoming a little
bit disillusioned

maybe with the
fact the Mary Janes

maybe weren't progressing...

They weren't progressing
how they wanted to, or...

I can't really speak for that
because I wasn't in the band,

but I just remember there
was a sort of a feeling of

where is this going?

- You know, War Child
was so important to him

because he knew the
importance of, you know,

installing confidence
and love in children.

Obviously, children that
were coming from extremely,

you know, traumatic backgrounds
and that are going through

what these children
were going through,

and he just seen the light
in children; he just seen it.

And I think that's when I talk

about having an evolved
spirituality, whatever that was,

you know, Mic knew
that that was going on

and that's where he took his
music and these energies to.

You know, and you're talking
of a young man, you know,

and a lot of guys are
at that age kind of off

looking to still
chase the music dream

and the rock and roll thing.

But he was kind of like, "This
is what's important now."

He loved children, you know?

So he'd just seen the light

and that's the way
Mic worked, you know?

That's just how he
operated, you know?

- It fizzled out rather
than ended with a bang,

you know what I mean?

They just never reached
the potential, I think,

that Mic believed that they
had, you know what I mean?

- It's a bit of an oversight

that people forget
how much soul,

or how much of his soul he
put into his performances.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, he really put
himself out there.

Very few people really
deliver everything

that's in their gut,

and he'd do it constantly
on stage, you know?

And for him not to be
picked up and looked after

was really hurting
him, you know?

He was surrounded by people

for the years in
Dublin, you know?

But he wasn't
getting looked after

by anybody in the industry,
if you know what I mean.

So he had all of these
fans propping him up,

treating him like a king,

but the industry weren't
giving him anything.

You know what I mean?

He wasn't getting any
television appearances

or getting looked
after or getting gigs

or getting signed
or... You know?

So I'd say...

Yeah, I'd say he
got just browned off

with being everybody's king.

For what?

So they can keep partying
around you? You know.

- [Interviewer] Tell me, how
long will you stay together?

- Will we stay together?

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- Too long.

- Too long.

- Personally, I think in the
grander scheme of things,

I know it's nine years,

but I thought we'd kind of made

some kind of inroads
by that stage.

You know, there was kind of...

And to me, it was
kind of slightly odd

to kind of pull
the plug on that,

'cause it wasn't like
the album company flopped

and nobody liked us
anymore kind of thing.

If anything, that was
kind of beginning to make

some kind impact, you know?

Or we as a band were.

I just think Mic had
had enough, you know?

- Talent wise?

Yeah, they should
have been much bigger.

There's no doubt;
absolutely no doubt.

They should have had
a bigger audience,

both in Ireland and
abroad, but they didn't.

- You know, could they
have been more successful

if they had not done nine
minute virtuoso jams?

Yes, they could have, [laughs]

but would it have been the same?

No, it wouldn't have been
the Mary Janes, then.

- Everyone went to
different things then.

I think they recorded something.

Mark Stanley went
off to Australia.

Mic went off to Australia
with him after a while.

I think Brian Spollen
stopped working with him.

He got a job in the MCD.

- At that point I was
starting to put on gigs,

I had taken it as
far as I could,

I needed to focus
on what I was doing,

so we parted amicably.

We had been friends
at that point...

I dunno, I'd been friends
with Mic seven or eight years,

which, you know,
if you're only 22,

that's a long time
in your life, right?

So we parted amicably,
it was no big deal and...

- And you know, I remember
calling in to the flat

and Simon was bawling.

Simon was gutted.

Simon really didn't...

Simon was living
with him at the time

and he really didn't want
it to break off. [laughs]

I remember Mic telling him,
"I keep telling him, Rónán,

I keep telling him it's
finished. He won't accept it.

He's still saying, oh,
there's a gig here.

I don't wanna do it. I'm done."

♪ Watching time as
it passes slow ♪

♪ And just to see
the reasons why ♪

♪ They must have come
and passed me by ♪

♪ Or maybe I'm just blind

♪ Because the water
came and saw me ♪

♪ Holding back

♪ Holding back for someone

♪ Water came and saw me

♪ Holding on

♪ Holding on for someone

♪ Like we couldn't
see it in text ♪

♪ Like we couldn't
guess what was next ♪

♪ Like we'd taken
all of our hopes ♪

♪ And our dreams

♪ And we'd put them
out in the sun ♪

♪ Naked, as a beacon
for everyone ♪

♪ Who couldn't achieve

♪ And so come on my
son it's like this ♪

♪ It's like faint little miss

♪ Just like a sudden
change in winter ♪

♪ Caused the
breaking of a heart ♪

♪ And now the queen of hearts

♪ And all my wondrous thoughts

♪ They're no longer with me

♪ And I'm sick because the

♪ Water came and saw me

♪ Holding back

♪ Holding back for someone

♪ Water came and saw me

♪ Holding on for

♪ Holding on for someone

♪ Holding on for the
queen of hearts ♪

♪ For the queen of hearts

♪ Yeah, yeah

♪ Oh, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la ♪

♪ La, la, la, la, la, la, la

♪ Oh, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la ♪

♪ La, la, la, la, la, la, la

♪ Oh, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la ♪

♪ La, la, la, la, la, la, la

♪ Oh, la, la, la, la,
la, la, [laughs] ♪

[gentle guitar music]

- [Glen] I think
Mic, at that point,

maybe was in a delicate spot
after the Mary Janes finished.

I think he was in a...

I think he wasn't sure
where he was going.

- [Bronagh] Yeah, I think
he was ready for a change,

really, you know?

- [Maureen] He got
a job as a courier,

started out on a push bike first

and then he got a little moped.

- [Colm] When you're
a bicycle courier,

it's a roulette in town

before you're gonna get
knocked off your bike.

- I always remember
Mic was kind of...

He was kind of accident
prone, you know?

I do remember a few
kind of arms in casts

and you know, legs in
casts and breaking things

and falling over and stuff.

But like, I suppose this
was a different level.

- [Vaun] He'd come across
Baggot Street Bridge

and he was going straight
up that main road, whatever.

- [Vincent] Came out
down the side lane,

like a lot of bikers do.

- [Vaun] And a lady came
across from the side street.

- Bolted and went
for the same space,

didn't see each other and
he just got wiped out.

[film rolling]

- I was working
down the garage here

and Vaun called me and said,
"Mic's in St. Vincent."

I said, "Oh my god!",

we drove in and there's
this nun standing over him,

holding his head, wouldn't
let anyone near him.

You know, she was brilliant

because she saved
his life, actually,

'cause they say if he had a...

- I think somebody had
taken the neck brace off

or whatever for the X-ray

and didn't put it on again.

And she... Very angry
about it, you know?

Because if he had moved,

it could have done
damage, you know?

- I cracked my spine
basically in my neck.

And I cracked this
thing, it's really small,

it's called the odontoid peg.

So I was told
basically every day

that a millimeter either
side and I'd be either dead

or paralyzed, you know?

So yeah, they quite
enjoyed telling me that,

for some reason, [laughs]

in the hospital, telling me
how lucky I was every day.

You know, I didn't
feel very lucky, but...

- I don't think I actually
twigged how serious

the accident was until
I went to see him.

And you know, he was in
this kind of astronaut

sort of brace.

- He was in plaster,
which came kind of

from the back of his neck
right midway down his chest,

sort of thing, shoulders, the
whole lot contained in it.

So literally like
that, you know?

Couldn't move around.

And then, he broke an
ankle on top of it.

- They had me in
hospital for a week

and then they just sent me home

because there's nothing
else they can do for you

when you're in this
cast, you know?

And I also smashed my ankle,
so I had a cast here as well.

So I couldn't walk.

So I just there lay all
day every day, basically.

- It was very hard
because, you know, firstly,

he could do nothing for himself.

He was kind of dependent on
people to look after him.

- I think it had a,
you know, psychological

and psychic impact as
well as a physical impact.

And I think he would've
kind of had to wrestle

with a lot of those...

A lot of his shadows
through that period he had

of just being in traction.

- He definitely, you know,
was at his lowest point,

I think, at that time.

But I think that
was the kind of...

In a lot of ways, a turning
point for him, you know?

He kind of hit rock bottom

and the only way was up
kind of thing, you know?

- I think he really saw his
life probably very clearly.

And basically, you know,
it's the wonderful thing of,

you know, you go to
the edge of something

and then you're...

You realize you're still alive

and you've got another chance

and you've been
given another chance.

There was a big change in him,

in his attitude.

- But at the start of
it, I kind of thought,

"I can let this beat me
or I can just, you know,

be positive about it, you know?"

- He kept writing
during that time

and I think his way of writing
and the tone of his songs

changed a lot after that.

- He himself would talk
about the change, you know?

That he remembered a moment
when he was lying in bed

with the full body cast

and he had a
conversation with himself

where he was like, you know,

"Why am I writing
these negative songs?

Why am I living
this negative life?

What am I doing with my
life? What's wrong with me?"

You know? And he
completely changed.

And he went back and
started making music again

and wrote songs that
were completely different

from what he'd written
with the Mary Janes,

literally like night and day.

- In the Mary Janes, you know,

not something that
I meant to do,

but I think I tended
to write songs

that were quite miserable,
really, [laughs]

or depressing in a way

and now everything I write is
just so much more uplifting.

It's kind of, generally,
I have a happier outlook

on everything now.

- He became quite Marleyesque.

You know, he really kind of

Whenever he played, there
was a real positivity in it.

There was nothing fake
about it, it was genuine

and he became much
more concerned...

And again, the War Child
thing, that was all part of it,

but the positivity he got
from that, he really used.

- He was like a shadow
had lifted from him

and it was a really
beautiful thing.

It was like meeting Mic
when he was 19 again.

- He looked like a focused man.

He didn't look like he had any
kind of a death wish on him.

He didn't look like... You know.

But he looked focused and as
I said, his energy was clean,

very clean energy and...

- I got a phone
call out of the blue

and I hadn't been talking
to Mic for yonks, you know?

And he says, "Rónán,
do you know anyone

who's looking for a flat?"

I said, "Give me half an hour."

I remember coming into the
flat, throwing me bags down,

he gave me the inside room.

He'd probably cock his eye
and say, "Kettle?" You know?

And I think we sat for three
days or whatever we did,

we just sat and we didn't
even talk to each other

and there was so much
conversation to have,

but there was just... [laughs]

You know, it was all
being said anyway,

the fact that we were both,

after burning so much
of the last 10 years,

to still be at square one.

- It was at that point, really,

that he reconnected
with with Glen

and he would've done a
lot of touring with us.

- We came back into each other's
lives in a very real way,

in a very supportive way.

I'd been through The
Frames experience

and was very deep in it

and Mic had been through
the Mary Janes experience

and we had all of
that knowledge.

And we basically started
touring again together.

We went to Vienna
and we did some gigs,

and we went to Czech Republic
and we did some gigs.

We went to the States.

Whenever I was going off
on solo trips or whatever,

I'd bring him with me.

We'd always go do
these things together

and it was very,
very important to me

'cause me and Mic were kind
of like brothers, you know?

- Yeah. It was a great time
and it only started growing

and that's when loads of things
started happening for him.

Glen picked him up and started
touring, I was touring.

You know, there was telephones

and we were talking to
each other constantly

and it was just like...

It felt like, "Ah great,
this is it. We're on.

Everything's gonna
roll now." You know?

- I remember Mic telling
me that himself and Glen

were going to go off and
start doing gigs together.

He said Glen panicked
because he was thirty

and he wasn't famous. [laughs]

- So yeah, did a lot of
touring during that time

and got to know people
from all over the world,

people that became friends
of ours now, you know,

that we've kept in
touch with ever since

just that they
met along the way.

- Well, we hung out a
little bit in New York

and we had an amazing night.

One time, we stayed
up all night.

It was the night
I wrote Kathleen.

We stayed up all
night in Asbury Park

and we had played a
little art gallery there,

Glen and Mic and I
believe Mark Gary and I,

and we went swimming
in the ocean,

which right there, was
probably a terrible decision.

- He started
recording some songs.

He recorded some
songs with Karl Odlum.

One of them was Heyday,
a new song he'd written.

Great song.

- It started out...

I had a computer and I
was just kind of starting

getting into kind of, you know,

doing my own stuff,
recording my own stuff

and had very, kind of little
kind of gear at the time.

That was it, it was
a computer and stuff.

We never expected anything
to come out of it.

It was just me messing
around on the computer

and Mic just, you know,
singing a few bars of a song

and you know...

- And I remember
like hearing songs

like Kid's Song or Heyday or
those songs for the first time

and kind of going, "All right,
this is different, now."

- I think the songs
got way more focused

and I think the...

Like lyrically, and
I think musically,

it just all kind
of locked together.

- And I think it was
a beautiful thing

to see him recording again,

and that he was gigging
again on his own, you know?

So you could see great joy
coming from that, you know?

And he was as good

as anything around at
the time then, you know?

Because obviously, Glen
was always so prolific

and always kind of moving
in the right direction

and then Mic's stuff

was like a completely different
type of timbre, you know?

So, I mean, I just thought
that it had arrived, you know?

His music and him
as a songwriter had
arrived, you know?

- For him, once he
heard something coherent

and something good coming back

that wasn't a Mary Janes thing

that like had his
name just on it

he kind said, "All right, yeah.

This is actually a
viable thing now.

You know, it's not
just something..."

In a lot of ways, it
happened sort by accident.

You know what I mean?

There was no huge
kind of planning

or anything involved in it.

- We got together
and we made a cover.

We just went through a
bunch of graphic stuff.

I had this book of graphics and
I was just going through it.

We found the picture
of the little kid

looking over the table
with the moon and stars

and we decided that
would be the cover.

And then, there was another
bit of a video still

from some stuff I was
shooting of Mic in New York;

just stuff, we were
walking around.

And there was a video still
of a young lad in a fountain,

which we used as the
cover of his first single.

And you know, we'd sit at home
and we'd cut out the covers,

back in his flat
in Dartmouth Square

and we'd make up
a hundred copies,

gluing them together
and writing on the CDs.

And it was all very...

You know, releasing
his first single.

We were putting
some in Road Records

and there was definitely
a real sense of DIY

and a real excitement around

the first thing he's put out
as Mic Christopher was, like,

really exciting.

- So I've got this
EP out, but I just...

You know, me being
me, I never got around

to getting it into any shops
apart from one in Dublin

called Road Records because
I'm like that, you know?

So the only way you can get
it is to go to Road Records

or to get it off me.

And me being me, I
don't have any with me.

[audience laughs]

You know, but If
anyone's pushed,

I'll take names and
I'll send it to you.

- You know, he would make
up enough to bring to a gig.

Sometime he wouldn't have
enough when he'd be at the gig.

People would hand him a
fiver and their address.

It was a very honest
system, you know?

Or somebody would get in
touch with him by email

and say, "Can I get
a copy of your CD?"

"Yeah, no problem.
Give me your address,

I'll send it to you.
Send me a fiver."

You know, there was none of this

pay in advance kind of thing.

It was, you know, "I'll
send it out to you,"

and people did
send him the money.

- He used to write his
phone number in pen

on the back of CDs.

So anyone who went into
Road Records to buy the CD

had Mic's phone number and,
like, people would text him

that he didn't know and
say, "Hey Mic, got your EP.

Really liked it. I
hope you're well."

And he'd text them back.

And school kids and everything.

And it was just brilliant.

It's just like he just
cut through everything.

Like, "Here's my
number, send me a text

or call me or
whatever you want."

And people did, you know?

- If you think about it,
he was a very driven guy.

And for a long time,

always feeling like you're
just one step behind

actually making it.

Whereas now, no one else...

He didn't require validation
from anybody else to say,

"Oh great, you're making it."

It was him and his guitar.

As long as he could eat
and travel, he could do it.

- If we can continue
doing what we do now,

just going from place
to place and playing,

that's basically
all I want to do

and I could do this forever.

♪ Bones to the left of me

♪ Bones to my right

♪ Well I can't decide what
to take from this flight ♪

♪ Oh silk you silly major

♪ Silk is our food

♪ You've been out
there looking ♪

♪ But you found nothing good

♪ Missed a little backdrop

♪ The backdrop was poor

♪ Didn't show the story

♪ Had to guess to be sure

♪ And still the silly major

♪ He didn't know what to do

♪ He bin' out there looking

♪ But he found nothing good

♪ And so, oh what to do

♪ Except to say
poor little you ♪

♪ 'cause we bin' out
here looking for life ♪

♪ Yeah, we bin' out
here looking for life ♪

♪ While you're sitting idly by

♪ 'cause that's what
good friends do ♪

♪ That's what good friends do

♪ For you

- I first encountered
Mic in 2001.

We were doing a big tour and
we needed an opening act.

So I contacted Glen Hansard

and I asked if The Frames
would like to do it.

- We had some correspondence
and me and Mic knew him

from Waterloo Road,
where he lived,

and we'd sometimes see him.

But he kind of knew
us and kind of didn't.

- I got to know Glen
round about '87.

He was this very intense
bloke with long, ginger hair

who used to look at
me very meaningfully.

When I meet him now, he still
looks at me very meaningfully.

- So Mike had asked
me about this tour

and I was going out
with The Frames.

- But he said, "How about
my mate, Mic Christopher?"

So I didn't know the
name Mic Christopher,

but Glen sent me some of
his music and I liked it.

- He loved it.

He was really excited.

"This is perfect.
This guy's brilliant.

Put me in touch with him."

- But I was at work that
day and Mic phoned me,

it was one afternoon
and he was all excited.

He was like, "You're
not gonna believe this.

I just got a call
from Mike Scott."

Brilliant. This is amazing.

Like, "Did you hear
what I said? Mike Scott.

Mike Scott himself rang me.

Not his manager, not
his tour manager.

Mike Scott rang me.
Did you hear me?"

- It's hard to describe
what a huge deal it was

'cause, you know, the
Waterboys were kind of heroes

that we could reach
out to and talk to.

So for Mic to go out and
open up for the Waterboys

was a massive deal, you know?

- I did glean that I was one
of Mic's musical heroes, yes.

I think Glen had made
it clear to me, yes.

Well, Mic never said anything
gushing or embarrassing to me.

- So yeah, that was, I'm gonna
say, the 11th of October,

he got that phone call,
in around that time anyway

and he headed off on tour
with them on the 31st.

- I remember speaking
to him on the phone

just before he went
and he was asking me,

"What's it like on a
sleeper bus?" [laughs]

You know, "What's it like?"

'cause he'd never been
on a sleeper bus before

and I spent the last two
years on sleeper buses.

So I was like, "It's
steady. You'll love it."

And he was like, "Brilliant.
I can't wait. I can't wait."

- I called up to
him with a tuner

and a few packs of strings
'cause he didn't have a tuner

so he borrowed one from
The Frames for the tour.

So I went up, gave him
the tuner and the leads

and he was heading off
the next day on the trip,

and geez, it was
really exciting.

It was a real, you know...

There was a real
air of him going off

to do something on his own.

- That was kind of
the way it felt.

It was like, finally,
it's happening.

Finally, it's brilliant.

And also, finally, you're back.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, there was a point where
we weren't sure he could walk,

let along tour again.

- [Vaun] I remember on that
night when he were leaving,

we ran out on the steps
up to the front door

and he was looking forward
to Christmas that year

'cause he felt he
was gonna have money,

you know, for
presents and all this

and he was really
looking forward to it.

It's the weirdest thing,

but I remember hugging
him that night and saying,

"Michael, make sure
you come back."

And we'd never said anything

like that to him
before, you know?

So the next morning
he rang me at work

'cause I was working
then and he rang me

and he was telling me he was
on the way to the airport

and then I heard from him again,

when he arrived in Birmingham.

- We were playing 2000
seater theaters and ballrooms

up and down the
UK and in Europe.

- He just showed up at my door

and I went to see him
at the Brixton Academy,

which is an enormous venue.

And it was just him up
on stage with his guitar.

And, you know, we
went and hung out

and did a bit of backstage
ligging for a bit

and then he went on his
way and he was so happy.

I mean, it was kind
of a dream come true.

- And you know, I only knew
Mic for about five weeks.

He and I went for a
long walk in Bristol,

up a hill near the venue

and we hit it off pretty good.

He was a handsome guy.

I never liked that sort of
skull cap thing he wore.

I never thought that suited him.

I thought he was such a handsome
bloke, but we hit it off.

I really liked him.

- They had a couple
gigs in England.

Then the tour was kind
of going all over Europe.

There was Germany,
Holland, France, Belgium,

I think, as well;

number of different
places they were playing.

- I got a few messages from him.

"The gigs are going great.
Having a ball out here."

You know, he was selling CDs.

You know, he was doing it.

This was actually
the first, I guess,

proper, professional foray
into international touring

that Mic had ever done.

- The duty of an opening
act is to steal fans

from the headline act
and to make things

as hot as possible for them;
blow them off, if you can.

And I would always hope
that our opening acts

would do that for us and
I like the challenge,

I like the competition

and Mic was good,
stiff competition.

I don't remember anything
about the Groningen gig at all.

Even now, I'm trying to
picture the venue in Groningen.

I'm seeing a square
hole with great...

Not seats, but
benches, great benches,

but that might not be Groningen,

it might be some
other Dutch city.

- I think he'd played
to 20,000 people

that night or something.

- He'd sold more CDs
that night, apparently,

than anywhere else on the
tour; had a great night.

[guitar strumming]

♪ Oh, we got the minds
and we got the money ♪

♪ We got plenty of time
'cause we're on it ♪

♪ We got dreams
just like the rest ♪

♪ But we've been 'round

♪ Not hiding our
souls in the shadows ♪

♪ We stand up and we
fight when it matters ♪

♪ We like facing
up to the world ♪

♪ 'cause we've been 'round

♪ Oh

♪ But what will we
do for the crowd ♪

♪ Oh, oh

♪ Well, you know there's
no rush on us now ♪

- He'd gone missing.

Mic had gone missing
and he didn't turn up

when he was meant to turn up.

I think, "Was he traveling
on the crew bus?"

He might have been...

He might have been riding
with the crew on their bus

and didn't turn up.

- I remember trying to
get in touch with him

on the Saturday afternoon.

We'd spoken on the Friday night.

I arranged this on Saturday
night, but in the meantime,

I tried to get in touch with him

because, again, to
top up his phone

and I wasn't
getting any response

but thought nothing
off it at that stage.

Text him the number.

Text again saying, "Did
you get that? Did it work?"

The whole lot.

Never heard anything back.

- The last text I got off
him was just, you know,

"Where's me mate?"

A couple of nights before,

we got news that
he had fallen over.

- This was pieced
together after the fact,

but the Waterboys had
been playing that night

and Mic, as a support act,
traveled on the crew bus

so he was out drinking
with the crew.

Mic left the group 'cause
he was going to another bar

and he was walking
down the street,

the name of which
I can't remember,

and ironically enough, there's
a bar called The Troubadour,

and then Mic was going to a bar

that was opposite
The Troubadour.

And if you look at this
bar, there's the bar,

you kind of go down steps
to it and there's this...

The Dutch, I curse
them for this,

they're so into
conserving their space

that all their
steps are so steep.

So if you look in the
middle of the building,

there's these
really steep steps.

- Whatever way, the
entrance to the bar

was immediately
followed by some steps.

Maybe he thought he was
going up into the bar.

Anyway, he turned
around, slipped

and people had reported
seeing this lad

just basically fall over,
but he wasn't getting up.

And so, an ambulance was called

and Mic was taken
to the hospital

where he'd suffered a
really massive brain injury

and swelling and
bleeding on the brain.

- We got a phone call
on Sunday afternoon

to say that he was in hospital.

I can't remember who rang us.

I think it might have been
one of the Water boys.

And then, we got in
touch with the hospital

and they said he
was unconscious,

but you still think
he's going to be...

You know, you think
Mic'd never...

He'll be okay, you know?

- They brought us in and I
mean, he was hooked up to,

I think, 16 different
machines or something,

and it was unbelievable.

Then a nurse came and
he said, you know,

"Where are you staying?"

I don't even know where I am,
nevermind where I'm staying.

So he said, "Don't worry,
we'll sort everything."

So they organized rooms
for us in a building

on the grounds of the hospital.

- Got straight onto a plane,
went over to Groningen,

went into the hospital
and it was bad.

- And I went over and I
sort of sat by his bed

and sang him songs

that we would've sung here

and sang songs that
I was working on and
just chatted away.

But, you know, looking
back, it's still...

It's just the blindness
of being 19, you know?

At no point did it occur to me

that he wouldn't be
all right, you know?

- And every day
there was new news.

Every day, you know...

I think he even opened
his eyes at one point

and then he went back.

So there was possibilities he
was gonna come out of this.

- Yeah, it was really just
a waiting game, you know?

Some days were good,
some days not so good.

I mean, on the good days, we
were all so positive, you know,

to a point where we
had ICU decorated

with paintings on the walls
and everything. [laughs]

It was unbelievable, you know?

- They had a blackboard up
in the room where he was

and they wrote
M-I-C-K, you know?

And Lisa Hannigan
came over, you know,

and she's seen it and went
over and wiped out the K.

[Harry laughs]

- We organized a concert to
help with the hospital bills.

Everybody played.

Just everybody showed up.

Played it on Vicar Street,
and that was on the 28th.

And we had gotten some good news

and it looked like
everyone was...

Geez, everyone
was very positive.

Looked like Mic might pull out.

You know, his bloods
were getting better,

all the monitors were
all showing better signs;

looked like things were
moving in the right direction.

And sometime during that gig,

Mic turned for the worst.

[film rolling]

- It was that night while
the gig was happening

that we got the call to
come back into the ICU

because they said at that
stage, they kind of knew,

you know, he wasn't gonna
make it any further.

- When we came off stage,
we were told, basically,

"It's over," you know?

His brain had flooded

and basically he was being
kept alive on the machines,

but he wasn't there anymore.

- The doctor came
to me and he says,

"I'm going to have to turn
off the machines, you know,

for your son's..."

Well, I says, "When
can I make up my mind?"

Now he says, "I'm making
it up for you, you know?

It's my decision."

- We sat with him for the night

and we knew that Glen and
another friend of ours,

we always called
Milky, Sinead and Dónál

were due back
again the next day.

And we said, "You
know, his friends

are coming back tomorrow."

And they said, "Well
okay, we'll wait.

We'll wait till
everybody's here."

- There was a bunch of
us on the train and Mic's

life support was gonna be
turned off when we got there.

So I remember being on
the train and going like,

"What's the hurry? Why
don't we just like,

get off this train and
get another train?"

It was a really weird feeling.

- I went in on my own, just
felt I needed to talk to him

and I was afraid if they
switched off the machine,

that he'd fight or...

You just don't know how...

You know, that he'd
struggle or something

and it's, like, I couldn't
watch that, you know?

So I said to him,

"Michael, you always
had a mind of your own.

You decided what you wanted."

But I said, "I want you here,
but it's up to you now."

I had to say my goodbyes.

I remember Glen giving out to
me when he arrived, you know?

"Why did you do that?"

But I said, "I had to because
to see somebody struggle

or that, you know,
thinking that..."

Yeah, I don't know. I felt
he needed to, you know,

to know he could go, you know,

when he was ready.

It was very, very hard.

- And that afternoon
we sat with him

and the doctors explained
what was gonna happen.

And, you know,

Mic wasn't there anymore
and he looked different.

I mean, he was...

Even though he looked,
you know, he was...

Just, something was gone,

you could feel it in the
room when you walked in.

He was there before, but he
wasn't there that last day.

- I think it was
probably Glen said,

"You know, we should go, you
know, we'll leave you now."

And we just said, "No."

You know, "You've always
been part of his life."

They were always his friends.

So it was actually the
six of us there with him

when they switched
everything off.

- The doctors started taking
off all the instruments

that was plugged into him

and the color just
went, [whistles]

you could see it going
down his face, you know?

- I'd say 10 minutes, max,
and you knew he was gone.

That was it, you know?

So I think if ever there was
any doubt, you knew then,

'cause I'd always had
this vision of like,

"Oh my God, maybe, maybe
he could have come back

and they turn off the
machines and he will."

But there wasn't even, you
know, a couple of minutes.

He was gone immediately,
so you knew then that,

well obviously, his body just
wasn't able to fight itself,

and that was it.

- And we all sat with him and
we all cried and you know,

some prayed and then really,
I mean, what do you do?

There's such an absurdity to it.

'cause suddenly then, Mic
was gone. Mic's body changed.

We saw him. We were with
him. Everything changed.

Life went out of this
vibrant young man

that we knew and
loved and suddenly,

he just wasn't there.

- I was there getting coffee
somewhere in the hospital

and it just felt so unreal

because he had such a life force

and the most life force of
anyone that I had ever known.

- We spent a couple of days
there and we came home.

And then of course,
we had the burden

of telling all of his friends.

- I was in the flat
and I answered the door

and Nina was in the door
and she said, "Mic's dead."

And I said, "No, he's not."

And she said, "He is."

And I says, "He's not."

And I says, "Come in."

I left the door open.

I came in and put the
kettle on and I thought,

"I don't wanna hear this.
What can I do about this?"

And yeah, I just cut out.

There's nothing I
can do about this.

- [Maureen] He arrived home

on the following
Thursday evening.

Really, he was brought home
to the house on Friday.

- [Bronagh] And we all
went out to Clondalkin,

to Vaun and Harry's house.

I mean like everybody
descended, you know?

- [Harry] From time he
walked into this house,

for a whole week, you
couldn't move in it.

- [Vaun] In the evenings.
- [Harry] In the evenings,

from six o'clock on, you
couldn't move in this house.

And it was like a session
every night with music

and I'm sure the neighbors
thought we were all mad

but that was his life, you know?

Every musician was here.

- Came from everywhere. Like,
I mean, not just Ireland,

people flew in from the States,
they came from Australia,

Cayman Islands, you name it.

- One night here,
the doorbell rang

and there's Josh Ritter,
about six foot three or four.

He says, "I'm Josh Ritter and
I just flew in from Iowa."

I said, "You're amazing.
Thanks very much. Come on in."

He says, "I don't want to
be anywhere else, you know?"

- That night we all
went to Whelan's

and they were playing his music

and it was just a
really special moment.

Yeah, really, really special.

And being with his family

and being with the people
that listened to his music,

it was like...

Yeah, it was a really powerful,

powerful moment.

Yeah.

- All the lads got
up to speak first,

[indistinct]

Glen got up to talk

and then when we were walking

down the church with the coffin,

on the wall, there was a
brilliant man up there.

He stopped, you know,
and all the lads

were playing music up above

and he stopped right
at the balcony.

You know, he was looking
up at the balcony

and waited to...

- [Vaun] They sang Heyday.

- [Harry] They were all
singing Heyday, yeah.

- I saw this...

Just the word heyday written
there somewhere one day

and I was thinking, you know,

there's this big
thing about, you know,

people talk about
bands and they go,

"That band was great
in their heyday."

And I was thinking, why
does there have to be a time

when you're great

and then the rest of the
time, you're not, you know?

So then, I wrote this.

So this is basically about
every day being your best day.

It's called Heyday and
I've been Mic Christopher,

thanks very much for this.

[audience applauds and whistles]

♪ For the sun

♪ For the light

♪ For the ride and
for the masters ♪

♪ Oh, we come to be kind

♪ To be warm here and after

♪ We've been out

♪ But we're back

♪ Because we're graced
in these matters ♪

♪ And we'll rise

♪ And we did a little love

♪ But we walked

♪ We make a sound
for the mesto ♪

♪ Make a little
call to the right ♪

♪ To the ball and
to the mast-top ♪

♪ And we

♪ We fool around now and again

♪ We're looking good

♪ But just as friends

♪ And this is our heyday, baby

♪ And we're not gonna
be afraid to shine ♪

♪ 'cause we can make our
heyday last forever ♪

♪ And ain't that
what it's all about ♪

♪ Oh living, in our
own terrible way ♪

- But the interesting thing
as well is that Mic's album

only really came to
light after he died.

Like a very few small amount
of people had heard of it,

which were basically people
who were working on it.

So, you know, the idea
of getting to sit down

and listen to like an album
of Mic's for 50 minutes,

like, that didn't come
up until after he died.

- The fact that the
album got made at all

is miraculous in a way that
he'd done all of his parts

before he went away on tour.

Wasn't kind of piecing together
the album after his passing,

it was very much
the album was there,

it just needed a few
kind of different things.

- So basically I had a list,

a piece of paper of kind
of what was to be done

on each song and very
specific, you know,

and the people who were
doing it and the people...

You know, and what instruments.

And so basically, that was
my blueprint, you know,

for finishing the album

and I just stuck to that
kind of religiously.

- I spent a lot of time talking
to Karl Odlum, you know,

we'd discuss what goes?
What happens next?

What do we need?

And the way I'd put
it with Karl is like,

"You call me when you need
me to do something for you,

you need me to
organize anything."

So he said to me,
one time, you know,

"We're pretty much there, but
we just need to finish off

these little bits Mic
wanted in each track."

He said, "How are
we gonna do this?"

We need to, I'm thinking,
you know, we get a studio?

How do we get
everybody together?

And then somebody said to me...

It was coming up to Easter
and somebody said to me,

"Are we gonna have
the party this year?"

Mic always had a party in
his flat on Good Friday.

If you asked Mic the day before
if he was having a party,

"Absolutely not,"
wasn't happening.

But you'd always get a
call the following night

and I'd come down and
there was a party.

You know, it was
always last minute,

but I think everybody knew
what was happening except Mic;

put it that way.

Everybody was prepared
for this party,

but Mic would be adamant,

"I'm not having a
party this year."

But there was always
a party there.

So somebody said to me,
coming up close to Easter,

"Are we having the
party this year?"

And I was just horrified.

I was like, "No, I can't
be in that flat that night,

having a party;" just
didn't feel right, you know?

But then it just dawned on me,

What's the one night of the year

that nobody's gonna have a gig?

You know, that we can actually
get everybody together

in the one room that we need.

So we set it up that we use
Mic's flat on the night,

just get the people
there we needed

and Karl could finish off any
bits that he needed recorded.

So we got it all
done that night.

- And like, there were
a lot of people saying,

"Oh, I want to..."

You know, can I play
on this album stuff?"

And I said no because
it was never...

The intent was never
there, you know?

So I kind of of had
to put my foot down.

I think it was the fairest
way in my mind, you know?

Whether it was the
right way or not,

but like I just thought
that was, to me,

the best way to approach
it, make the album.

We were always going
to make and don't let

kind of events dictate and push
it in a different direction.

Like Mic's death
didn't imbue Skylarkin'

with anything special.

What's special about Skylarkin'
is Skylarkin', you know?

It's like it would've stood
up on its own, you know?

And it's a great record.

Like, it is a brilliant record

and it had nothing
to do with that.

To me, the best way
I can say it is,

Skylarkin' is great
in spite of that,

as opposed to because
of it, you know?

And I think a lot of people

because it's a posthumous
release and stuff,

it's very inextricably
linked with his death

but I think as a work, it
stands on its own, you know?

It's a great piece
of music, you know?

- Although it wasn't an ideal
time in the music business

to release an album.

The perfect time for us

was gonna be Mic's
first anniversary;

so that's what we aimed for.

And it came out in
the shops that day.

- [Ronan] So to hear
Skylarkin' for the first time

after Mic had passed
was pretty full on.

- [Karl] If you listen to the
album, you listen to Heyday,

you listen to all that stuff,
it's full of joy for life.

- Heyday is about that.

It's about that.

Like, this is it, you know?

This is your heyday, you know?

And you're not gonna
be afraid to shout.

They're words to live by

and he really was the guy
to say them, you know?

Yeah.

It's badass. [laughs]

- Like, I was on Phantom
when the album came out

and the EP was released as well.

And we played that, particularly
Heyday, off the air.

Like, I mean, if
you looked at the...

I'm sure if somebody...

Whoever got the CD,
the Phantom CD Library,

I'm sure if you held it
up and you looked at it,

you'd see laser marks
all over it. [laughs]

- But I just think
it's a piece of work.

The whole record is a
brilliant album, you know?

I really think it's
got where Mic was at,

everything that he'd
been through at the time.

- You know, the song
Skylarkin' was the song

he was most proud of.

I remember when he wrote that.

I remember him saying,
"God, I've written something

I'm really..."

And he wasn't the kind of guy

that would in any way
brag about his work.

You know, he
sometimes would say,

"I've got something
and I'm happy with it."

But I suppose that song,

Skylarkin' was the one that...

Was the last song he wrote.

It was the last
song he recorded.

And in a way, I sort of feel
like that was his swan song.

That was the song that in a
way, once he had written it,

even though it's not the
biggest song of his career,

even though it's not the
defining song of his career,

it's the song for me

that very much speaks
of the trajectory

and maturity of him as a writer
and him speaking his truth,

'cause he was all
about the truths

for that last batch of
recordings and songs.

[audience cheering]
[guitar strumming]

♪ You learned a lot when
you were out there ♪

♪ Ah, ah

♪ About this foolish game

♪ Even learned to
let your nightmares ♪

♪ Ah, ah

♪ Get in your way

♪ And staring out
your bedroom window ♪

♪ Ah, ah

♪ 'cause you don't wanna play

♪ Well, you believe
in what you wanna ♪

♪ Ah, ah

♪ We'll play it anyway

♪ Skylarking

♪ Isn't it a way
that we can go ♪

♪ Skylarking

♪ Isn't it a way
that we can go ♪

♪ So let us never, ever wonder

♪ What our friendship can do

♪ And let us never
let our friendship ♪

♪ Treat us like fools

♪ 'cause my songs don't
know that I exist ♪

♪ Though I give them life

♪ A friendship that
could never grow ♪

♪ My songs are friends
I'll never know ♪

♪ Skylarking

♪ Isn't it a way
that we can go ♪

♪ Skylarking

♪ [music fades out]

- [Vaun] Very hard to
believe that he's gone.

Just believe he's on
tour or something.

You know, it's just crazy.

- [Harry] Somewhere over
at Whelan's every Sunday.

You know, we never miss
a Sunday over there.

Have a chat with him,
you'd talk to him,

like he was listening
to us, [laughs]

you know?

- Someone said to
me at Mic's funeral,

"Even in his leaving, he's
given us something here,"

you know what I mean?

And that's the way he was.

Like, he affected all these
lives when he was alive.

- We used to think
after he died,

like all the musicians
that he was friendly with

or all his friends, seemed
to come up all of a sudden,

they started to
do well, you know?

So you wonder.

- Yeah.

Mic went behind the
curtain and he says,

"I'm ain't going back.
I'm fed up with this.

I'm going to take
care of you guys."

- I just remember that feeling
of people kind of waking up

in 2002 and buckling down.

Certainly that sense of...

Glen has spoken about this,

I think in the
case of The Frames,

I think they just hit the
road rather than have to face,

in Glen's case, what
had happened, I think.

- You know, there was a
massive loss of innocence.

It changed us all, you know?

We grew up the day Mic died.

- It was such a
deep emotional chasm

in everyone's lives, that
I think it's sort of...

It's part of the fossil fuel
of songwriting, you know?

That feeling.

- Because what Mic was saying
was, "This is it. This is it.

Go for it."

The decision by his
friends, I think,

to celebrate his life rather
than mourn his passing

became a huge inspiration for
next generations of musicians.

[guitar strums]
[audience cheering]

- [Glen] One, two, three, four.

[upbeat acoustic music]
[audience cheering]

[Glen vocalizing]

[Glen vocalizing]

[audience singing along]

[Glen vocalizing]

[audience singing along]

[music stops]

[violin plays]

[guitar plays]

[music intensifies]

[audience cheering]

[music stops]

[audience cheering ]

- Thank you everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mic Christopher.

Thank you for the
beautiful music.

Thank you for a beautiful night.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you all the Christophers.

Thank you, every generation.

Thank you.

[slow piano music]

- I feel him, you know?

And I often dream
that he's still alive.

I dream about him often

and in my dreams, there's
a couple of dreams I've had

where I said, "What's
it like where you are?"

In my mind, he's living a
kind of a quiet monk life

kind of existence where he is.

[melancholic music]

He brought me to a river
in a dream recently

and he pointed at a
ring under the water,

it's a little gold ring;
it's down under the water.

He says, "One day, me and you
will go get that together."

You know?

And then we just walk,
the two of us just walk

away from the river and I
have to say goodbye to him

'cause I have to
come to being awake

and he's gotta be where he is.

[melancholy music intensifies]

[guitar strumming]

- He'd be such a great old man.

I mean, he would be such
a great 50 year old man,

but an even better old, old man

'cause he was such
an old sort of soul,

you know, in a young body.

- He was always an old
man in a way, you know?

He was always with his
tea and sitting there

and having a smoke and
dispensing wisdom, you know?

And, "Shut up. I wanna
watch EastEnders," you know?

He was always an old man,

so I think he would have
been just exactly the same.

- Mic's dad has got
really good hair,

so I have no doubt that
Mic would have great hair

and I have no doubt he'd
have a lot of stories to tell

and that he would still
be writing amazing songs.

- I think he would've been
a relentless dreamboat,

continued to be a relentless
dreamboat. [laughs]

Yeah, I think he
was always himself

and I think he would
be himself, just older.

- You know, when I went
away to live in England

and then I came back,
then he was fully engaged

in the whole
spirituality, you know?

I'm talking about spirituality
and just wonderful

and knowledge, you know?

And that was the thing we
were gonna do, the yoga,

myself and him and [indistinct].

Can you imagine?

I said, "We'll go
to yoga tomorrow.

I'll come and meet youse."

And I think we ended
up going to Whelan's

and then he didn't come home.

- Geez, I stuck his moccasins
on last week, you know?

I was up rummaging around,

I have a little cabin up
there and I found them.

I was like, "Oh, flipping
class, he loved these things."

He brought them back from India.

So I was walking around to him,

I was jabbering away to
him, "You won't need these."

[Rónán laughs]

- By the way, you know, he
wasn't a real vegetarian.

Do you know this?

He gave us so much
grief about eating meat.

He was having a burger.

Roshi, who used
to live upstairs,

was also vegetarian.

She went out with Karl and
like, only like five years ago

did she tell us that the
two of them used to go...

When there was no one
else there they'd go,

"Oh fuck it." And run out
and have rasher sandwiches...

have bacon sandwiches.

'cause they couldn't resist it.

- No, he was just very
special, you know?

Great crack. Great crack.

- That's enough about all
of that, I think, though.

All right?

♪ And we're not gonna
be afraid to shine ♪