Thanks so much to John McMahon for the interview! I wrote about the Walkinstown, Ireland, band The Kendalls on the blog not that long ago. I was of course looking for more information as the details about them were nowhere to be find on the web! Lucky I was that John got in touch and was keen to answer any questions I might have. And even better he answer all my questions quickly, so I didn’t have to be curious for too long. So yeah, join me in learning a bit more about The Kendalls!
++ Hi John! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you?
I’m fine thank you, I’ve had a turbulent year. I’ve changed my job, we have two grandchildren aged 8 and 4 living with myself and my wife, Annemarie.
I’ve also had two major health scares which turned out okay in the end, so it was a good year rather than bad. Ever the optimist!
++ Are you still involved with music?
The night before I went into hospital earlier in the year, I bought myself a Gretsch acoustic guitar. I’ve been practising like a schoolboy and really enjoying it.
All of a sudden after many doubts and false starts, the songs have started pouring out of me – I’ve got one on the go, with a pal of mine from Liverpool, John McGlone, he played with a band called Western Promise (they’re re-issuing their seminal album on vinyl very shortly). He’s working on a song of mine called ‘Lockdown lullaby’. So it’ll be an argument over whether it’s McGlone/McMahon or vice versa. I’ve got another tune called ‘Time Machine’ which I’m ironing out at the minute. I’ve got a tune in my head with lyrics written for a song called ‘The Revolution WILL be televised’ which is more back to my roots and I have another tune in my head which I have to straighten out. Phew!
++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what your first instrument was? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?
My musical memories are the sounds of the ’60’s – great pop songs, listening to the music my aunts were playing: The Small Faces, the Monkees, The Kinks, The Byrds, Dylan all that stuff. Then in late ’78 it was almost an epiphany hearing ‘Janie Jones’ the opener on the Clash’s first album. Wow!! That was really the genesis of the band – that was the ‘big bang’ though it did take a while to get instruments and start playing.
I bought a crappy Hondo Strat copy and I bought myself a chord book and started picking up bits and pieces from there and the rest is . . . obscurity.
++ Had you been in other bands before The Kendalls? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?
The Kendalls can be traced right back to the first line-up, Paul Barrett (another Clash fan) played Bass, Gabriel Bruton, a very aggressive drummer joined shortly after. (Many years later, Myself and Gabriel worked together in the Newspaper Industry and the first thing he did was throw a pen at me, but not with the same violent intent that he used to throw his drumsticks at me during practice. He’s one of the greats.) The sound would be ‘garage band’, that wasn’t typically garage. We NEVER played covers. And all through the time we were all together, we never even attempted a cover. This went against the ethos, we wanted to keep it pure. If there are copies of the early stuff – feel free to blackmail me!
++ What about the other members?
I mentioned Paul and Gabriel, next in was Ben Rawlins. Ben was playing guitar in a heavier rock band with Paul’s next door neighbour Pat (Huggy) Murphy R.I.P. There was an incident where drink had been taken and an altercation with the local police force and Ben took off to London as many of our peers did at the time, to get work or just hang out in the summer. Ben came back about three months later, with a short, punky haircut, heard what we were trying to do and signed up. When Ben arrived, things started moving, he was technically more proficient than us and he knew we needed lots of practice not lots of gigs. Gabriel got impatient – he really wanted to gig – it wasn’t happening, so he called it a day.
The band petered out without a drummer and that was the end of the original line-up. That would have been ’86.
Next to join was Alan Biggs (Biggsy), our second drummer, he lived down the road from me and was a friend of my younger brother. His older brother was a drummer and I knew he was playing too, so I was keeping tabs on him.
George Murphy (R.I.P.) arrived not too long afterwards and that was the ‘classic’ line-up completed.
++ Where were you from originally?
Myself, Ben, Alan and Paul were from Walkinstown, Gabriel was from nearby Drimnagh and George was from Crumlin, so we all grew up within no more than a mile of each other.
++ How was Walkinstown/Dublin at the time of The Kendalls? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?
Walkinstown is a pretty quiet suburb. In Dublin there were two alternative record shops at the time, Freebird and the Sound Cellar. Venues were scarce, the main place was ‘The Underground’ which was an Alt Mecca. Stepping up, there was ‘McGonagles’ which sporadically featured bands and nowhere else of note.
++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?
We all knew each other from growing up in the area, Paul was a big Clash fan, Gabriel was his classmate, Ben grew up around the corner from me and we played football (soccer) against each other a few times. (He was quick and quite skilful – but he’ll deny this). Biggsy was approached when the time was right and George turned up with his best mate John Daly after he heard we were looking for a guitar player on the grapevine. Morgan (Moro) Hughes replaced George much later, I went out with his older sister for a while.
We always recruited in our local bar, the Submarine. If we asked you for a beer – you were in!
++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?
At the start, I was writing all the songs, but Ben came in and he was coming up with really good ideas too, so that was a big gamechanger. Until he arrived, I’d bring a song in or part of one and jam it with Gabriel and Paul and then I’d finish it afterwards or dump it.
As time passed, he wrote all the music and I wrote the lyrics, which probably didn’t help the dynamic of the band – I really should have kept knocking out the tunes.
We were practicing in a ramshackle place called Furlongs – most poverty-stricken bands started there.
We moved to Litton Lane later on and we shared a room with ‘The Icon Trial’ much later on.
++ Who were the members and what instruments did each of you play?
First line-up: Me (guitar, vocals), Paul (Bass), Gabriel (Drums).
Classic line-up: Me (Bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), Ben (Guitar), George (Bass) and Alan on Drums.
Moro replaced George much later.
++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?
Ben picked the name ‘The Kendalls’ – I have always hated it – there I said it! (lol).
++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?
Definitely The Byrds, The Clash, garage band stuff, we were trying so many different things, I think we couldn’t pinpoint much more than that!
++ And what about Irish bands? Which are your favourite bands from your country? And if there are any that you would recommend to me as obscure bands that deserve my attention?
The original line-up of Guernica would have been up there. We knew them from having a few beers around the town, nice guys, Ciaran the Bass player was a really thoughtful, melodic player. I don’t know whether Ben remembers, but we saw ‘Whipping Boy’ in 1989/90 and though they were all over the place, they had a couple of songs that had class written all over them.
When I was 16/17, I was into S.L.F., the Outcasts, Rudi, Ruefrex all the Northern scene, which is weird, because we’re living in Belfast now.
++ From what I understand there was a 1988 demo tape with the song “A Place in the Sun”, is that right? What other songs were on this tape? Where was it recorded?
There were two songs on that demo, the other song was ‘Nearly Girl’ a simpler but catchier tune with chiming guitars. The guitar line burrows its way right into your inner ear. I think we recorded those two at Sun Studios. As usual, we could have done with more time and money to do ourselves justice, but I felt we made our mark with those two songs.
++ Were there any other recordings by the band? Any other demo tapes? If so, can we do a demography of the band?
We recorded a demo with the original line-up, two songs: ‘From here to history’ myself and Ben’s first collaboration and ‘Sundance’. These were two great songs and I’d love to have the chance to revisit them again.
At the time of that first demo, Paul and Gabriel were pushing to bring in another singer, which I thought was a bit cheeky, but Ben stood by me and I’ve never really thanked him for that. Thanks Ben!
Our third demo featured: Westminster Road, Love shouldn’t be like this and Without June.
We were a band in transition then and we were getting a different edge together, but I sounded terrible on the recording – I really sound like I had a heavy cold.
++ Did you work with any producers or did you produce your demos yourselves?
No, we always worked with the house engineers, who decided who they thought we should sound like and smothered the sound in reverb.
++ And what did you do normally with your demo tapes? Were they mostly for promotion? to send to radio and press? Or did you use to sell them at gigs?
You’re not going to believe this, we’d send them to the radio and press, but we never sent any to the record labels. Ben always believed in the ‘next’ demo rather than the one he had in his hands, I think.
++ And how come there were no proper releases by the band? Was there any interest by labels?
Any interest from labels was all third hand, we didn’t have a manager. Also we were quite picky. I don’t think we wanted to sign for someone who’d stoop so low as to have us on their label. (lol).
++ No compilation appearances either, right?
No, we still haven’t popped our cherry!
++ If you’ve had the chance to release something, what would it have been? A single? an album? what songs would you have wanted to include in it?
Definitely the first two demos in that order – I’d love to get a shot at doing them justice.
After that, I’m sure we could knock out at least an album’s worth of songs that would stand up and we could be proud of them.
++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “A Place in the Sun”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?
I wrote that song long before it appeared on the second demo, it was only with the arrival of Ben, Alan and George that we had the proficiency to play it well. I wrote the song when I was 19, I was just leaving behind my morose teenage years (listening to too much Joy Division) and the theme of the song was of the realisation that the journey was the important part not the materialism that surrounds us (very profound, eh?).
++ If you were to choose your favorite The Kendalls song, which one would that be and why?
Too many to choose, but I’ll pick ‘Love shouldn’t be like this’ because it’s a great song and it was the song that Kevin (Sully) O’Sullivan R.I.P. always raved about, he really got it. Sully was the bad influence on us he got us into some hairy scrapes – he was the accelerant!
++ What about gigs? Did you play many?
We played quite a few gigs but we never pushed on to headlining, which really pisses me off to this day.
I felt we were more than ready and we were as good as, if not better than the vast majority of our peers.
++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?
We played McGonagles one Saturday afternoon, the place was packed out. This was a major buzz to be playing there, as it was hallowed ground. I’d seen Echo and the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, The Fall and many more there, so this was special. On both occasions we played there we were ace. I was a little anxious beforehand, I remember worrying if the big, wide stage would show us up, but when we kicked off we sounded great, George and Alan were so big and punchy behind me and Ben’s guitar was glistening across the top. We projected ourselves superbly and there was great interaction with a fairly young crowd who were loving it.
We were playing support to ‘A House’ in the Underground – it was a hot, summer evening and after the gig, we had a quick pint and decided to sneak off to a quiet bar to chill. By the time we got to the exit just to the right of the stage, A House’s lead singer Dave Couse was looking on with a horrific, hang-dog look on his face as the vast majority of the audience headed for the exit.
We were coming back from a double-header with our pals ‘The Drinkwaters’. We had two busloads who travelled 40 miles to see both bands (over 120 souls). The gig was great but the bus driver didn’t want to to stop too often, so one of our friends, Sparks, a big guy opened the emergency door at the back of the bus and was holding our sozzled friends by their belts as they pissed out onto the motorway. I fairly shat myself thinking about that the next day.
I’m afraid most of our anecdotes are either X-rated or may incriminate people we know.
++ And were there any bad ones?
Oh yeah . . . Our last ever gig in the Baggot Inn the Thursday before easter, 1990. The omens were not good, I found out the pick-up in my guitar wasn’t working and I had to wing it without a guitar. In hindsight, I should have just played with the guitar not plugged in. Anyway, I was bouncing around the stage in uncharted waters and I fell off. I remember getting up and George and Alan thought this was hilarious, I looked over at Ben and he was furious. There were some strong words after that one.
++ When and why did The Kendalls stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?
We ceased to exist not too long after the Baggot incident above, at the time I thought it was directly associated with what happened there, but I don’t think that’s the case. Ben left briefly the year before and I kept the band together to push on. He rejoined, but I don’t think his heart was in it, as he was more into becoming a sound engineer.
I wasn’t happy the way things worked out either, I felt at the time that I was kicked out of my own band that I’d put a lot of time and effort into. To be honest, I was heartbroken and it took be quite a long time to get over losing friends and the death of the band. That’s the way it felt, believe me.
In hindsight too, I handled it grudgingly, but I do regret a stand-up row I had with Alan our drummer.
I was way out of order – but we got in touch quite recently and it was like it was many years before, we talked and all was good. He’s a great guy and a thoughtful, superb drummer.
I haven’t spoken to Ben for over 25 years, we have had indirect communication but little else. It’s a shame really because a good friendship is hard to find.
George’s death rocked me personally, I couldn’t make it to his funeral but it’s such a shame. George was a really sound guy, he was very quiet, but a great musician.
++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?
Moro played on with other bands and George joined him in the ‘Songmonsters’ along with Paul Byrne an old pal of ours, playing covers until George’s death. Ben was playing with Sasso for a while there too.
++ Has there been any The Kendalls reunions?
There was one haphazard rehearsal a year after we split, but nothing came of it.
++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV?
Yes and No!
++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?
We got bits and bobs in the papers, but again, we never really pushed hard enough.
++ What about fanzines?
I don’t think there were any fanzines around in our locality back then. (God I sound old!)
++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?
Playing live with a great band behind you, there’s nothing better. The sheer adrenaline rush of playing just did it for me. I remember sitting in a pub with some of our mates and we came on the radio, that was a rush, something small really, but it meant a lot to me.
And the girls . . . it was mostly innocent fun and nobody got hurt. We lived through the time of the Aids epidemic, which would make Covid seem like a walk in the park.
++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?
Football! I loved playing it, love watching it, I met my wife while visiting Glasgow to watch Celtic.
Football filled that gap in my life after the band fell apart and the friendships made are still strong.
I’m pretty active in the ‘Clash against the Right’ group. It’s an anti-racist, anti-fascist group and there are some truly great people involved. I’ve always been a lefty, I’ve loved the Clash for years so it’s a natural progression. We have an event coming up in London in October and hopefully, the year after, I’ll play it with or without a band with some new material.
++ I once went to Dublin and I really liked it. I hope I return. But I want to ask a local what would you suggest them doing there, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?
As I haven’t lived in Dublin for over six years – a lot of my old haunts are gone or have changed hands, I would recommend the ‘Dublin by Locals’ website for a heads up on where to go and what to see.
We used ‘Paris by Locals’ when we visited there and it turned up some absolute gems and was very informative.
If you are in Dublin – you have to try the Guinness. If you get a great Guinness – you will know it!
++ Anything else you’d like to add?
This was almost like a therapy session for me, your questions have unleashed many ghosts in my psyche and I’ve tried to be as honest as I can. I’m sure the surviving members of the group will read this . . . so I send you all glad tidings from West Belfast.
As a parting shot . . . In the film ‘A Bronx Tale’ Chazz Palminteri’s character, gang boss Sonny gives the main character ‘C’ some advice about a man only having three great loves in his life.
If that’s true then mine are My wife Annemarie, Celtic FC and The Kendalls. (Though I’m sure my better half will dispute the order I have arranged them in!).
Thanks again Roque, I will try and get other material to you as soon as I can.
Your friend,
Johnny
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