DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Liam Naughton & The Educators.
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we found Liam Naughton of London bases Irish/Aussie rocker act Liam Naughton & The Educators sat on the beach. This is far from home, how did Liam get to our island, where are The Educators and how will he cope with the conditions?
How did Liam cope with life on Devil's Island? Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
So you're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Liam: Well it’s just me Liam Naughton on board for this interview, so I’m the only one answerable for foundering the ship. I loved Radioheads 'OK Computer' so much that I grabbed it before I grabbed my life jacket. What a flawless masterpiece.
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
Liam: Seeing that I’m going to be on this Island by myself I’m going to get lonely unless there’s a female gorilla hanging about. To remind me of the people I love, I’m going to put up a poster of my own album 'Leaning In' cause it’s a picture of my too old mates. It’s a black and white photo taken by local Perth Photographer Portia Gebauer. Two old guys, Tony Royce Stephens and Ray Schreduer having a beer in the pub and leaning into a conversation. Not being a self-indulgent prat but it’s actually a classic photograph. The expression on theses guys faces is so natural. It’s really worth looking at. Tony recently passed away as well so RIP my friend.
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to chose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
Liam: Being Irish, and very sentimental now, sitting on the beach by myself, waiting for Georgina The Gorilla, with sand in my arse, it’s gotta be a pint Guinness to take the blues away. Actually, make it a crate, one’s never enough.
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. Whats the merch and for what band?
Liam: My tour T-shirt to remind me of the times I was with all my friends, high as fucking kites, right in the middle of 80,000 fans at Slane Castle 2003 watching the Red hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age, PJ Harvey. I remember when RHCP started their set there was this massive surge from the back and sides, I got caught up in the sea of it and no shit I thought I was going to pass out… But at least I didn’t have sand in my arse!
You're sat on the island thinking "I'm stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity"... who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
Liam: Well I’ve gotten quite used to Georgina now but before we started going steady I was thinking it’d be nice to catch fish, eat berries and camp out with Halle Berry….she’s so dammmm hoyytttt!! That bond scene where she emerges from the sea and walk onto the beach, I could sit here all the ding dong day.
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
Liam: Nirvana MTV Unplugged showed how incredibly diverse these guys could be. Don’t think anyone could have pictured these blokes doing a stripped back acoustic show when their bread and butter was high octane over drive heavy scream rocket fuelled in your face explosive detonation but they pulled it off beautifully magnificently.
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the one musician most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
Liam: It’s Dave Grohl. Man, that dude is a survivor. I mean, he’s done amazing things. Dropped outa high school and lied about his age to join punk band ‘Scream’. Toured with them round Eurpoe at age 17. I mean, this guy knew what he wanted and just went for it. Then he ends up joining Nirvava and managed to survive that chaos. Kurt Cobain died and when anyone else wold probably have folded their cards, he forms The Foo Fighters as a guitarist / songwriter and goes on to be the biggest band in the world. Plays gigs with a broken leg. There’s no keeping this man down, he is one of rocks greatest stories and the type of guy you want in your corner. He is a true survivor, no doubt about it. One of his early band names was ‘Mission Impossible’. So
yeah, if I’m in the trenches, I want Dave Grohl beside me… fucking legend!!
You've been stuck here for a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
Liam: Fuck I come to this question and realised that I’ve already said that it’s only me here. I can’t change the entire interview just to suit this question, I just can’t, it’s all too much. And now that you’ve reminded me of that I’m feeling way too sad to continue. Wilson!!!!!! Where’s Wilson!!!!!! So instead I’m going to tell a joke…
How many matter boo boos can you fit in a match box?
What’s a matter boo boo?
Nothing Yogi!!!
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
Liam: My get of my arse moment was when Danny Byrne hit the play button on Harvest Moon in the background at work one day. When it finished I shouted “Play that again and get me a fucking smoke”. Na only joking I asked nicely. I was mesmerised at how he put the story across in the lyric. It really lit a fire in me hey. After years of bull shitting myself I bought a guitar and practised 4 hours a night, 6 hours on weekends for 6 months straight. I started writing soon after I moved from Ireland to Perth Australia in 2004. Neil Young kinda gave me a standard to work toward in my own lyrics, so I try to get there and hopefully at least approach it more often than not; but that’s what I try to do.
Sadly there is no room on our boat, and we leave Liam sat on the Beach with Geirgina the Gorilla, supping on pints of Guniess together, sand in places it shouldn't be and hoping Dave Grohl answers his rescue message soon!
