Steve is no fiddler on the hoof
Waterboys orginal member Steve Wickham puts his longevity with the band down to trust and the ability of Mike Scott to spot a good tune
Norway is experiencing their hottest summer for 100 years, and it’s at the height of this heatwave that The Waterboys tour the country.
Festival dates across sweltering Europe will precede a run of Irish shows where the legendary band hope to get a chance to cool down in front of a home crowd.
While two months of exclusively dry weather have been something of a nightmare for Irish farmers, Waterboys fiddle player Steve Wickham told The Beat that the bees he keeps at his home in Sligo have enjoyed the spell.
“The bees are doing really well this year actually,” he said.
“The garden is fantastic because of them.
“Keeping the bees for me is quite a romantic thing really.
“I picked them up in Kilkenny about seven years ago, and drove them home roaring in the back of the van - I haven’t looked back since.
Born in Dublin, Wickham made the West his home back in the 90’s while on a hiatus from the band.
Since moving to Sligo he has made two beautiful solo records, with his most recent offering titled The Beekeeper, alongside more work with The Waterboys.
“I love it there,” he continued. “I really enjoy the solitude and having a sanctuary to come back to after being on the road.”
He has been kept busy with the band who are working on a new record.
The Waterboys released Out Of All
This Blue in 2017, an ambitious double album of modern love ballads pieced together in frontman Mike
Scott’s home studio in Dublin.
Scott’s inspiration for the album was based on a new-found appreciation for hip-hop and artists like Kendrick
Lamar and Anderson Paak.
Many of the tracks are based on simple loops and the record’s lo-fi production gave it an altogether different feeling than previous Waterboys’ offerings.
It’s as yet unclear what direction the new record will take, but Wickham assures fans that Scott has a vision.
“Mike listens to such a wide range of stuff, our influences would be quite different you know, he’s a rock ‘n’ roll songwriter whereas I’m coming to the party as a fiddle player.
“He’s very exacting in that he has an idea in his head when he starts to write a song about what it’s going to sound like when it’s finished.
“He’ll put that song together in his own way, whether that’s with Brother Paul on the Hammond organ or a great Texan guitar player, whatever he needs to achieve the perfect vision he has for a song.”
The Waterboys emerged during an exciting era for Irish music, U2 were beginning to make waves in England and as a result international record companies began taking notice of Irish acts.
Wickham rode the wave alongside his band mates while also contributing to U2’s seminal ‘WAR’.
His fingerprints can be found on
songs such as Sunday Bloody Sunday.
“I’ve had a lot of musical highs in my life, I’ve been very lucky,” he said.
“But I don’t really have any stand out career moment as such, though I suppose what I’m most proud of is being able to to do the Waterboys stuff over the years.”
Wickham is a humble character and is happy to pin the Waterboys success to Mike Scott, though he concedes that the band’s working relationship has proved the biggest factor.
“I’m a fiddle player and really that’s what I bring to the table, the reason that The Waterboys have lasted is down to Mike he’s an exacting artist and we get on really well.
“Trust is a big thing as well, you know I trust Mike, Mike trusts me.
“He knows he can trust me to come up with a fiddle part that he’ll dig or not dig, if he digs it it’s on the record, if he doesn’t, it’s not.”
While he admits that The Waterboys enjoyed no shortage of luck in their early days, Wickham believes that the challenges that exist for modern artists have presented themselves in the past, only in different ways.
“It’s been challenging for musicians throughout the ages,” he said.
“There has been different obstacles in every era.
“The big challenge nowadays for bands is trying to get the music to pay for itself.
“Irish musicians are making some really great records but when they release them they’re put online for free
straight away.
“So it’s very hard to make a living just by making records, so your motivation for making music changes and bands now have to focus on being shit hot live.
“It’s not more challenging or less challenging for musicians nowadays, it’s just different.”
And what about the future for traditional music?
“Traditional music in Ireland is a bit bi-polar I find, you know you have the purists who keep the old traditional ways going on one side, who do amazing work, and then on the other you have the more experimental types who have the trad background but are pushing out the envelope a bit.
“Myself I’m a big fan of the experimental stuff you know the likes of The Gloaming and Lankum.
“There’s room for us all in traditional music!”
The Waterboys headline Bulmers Live at Leopardstown, playing on the final day of the festival at Dublin’s Leopardstown Racecourse on Thursday August 16.
Gates open approx 4.00pm | first race approx 5.30pm | Live Concert approx 9.00pm. Free entry for children under 18 (must be accompanied by an adult).
Summer Sizzler tickets €33,
Adult General Admission (Racing & Concert) €20.
’He knows he can trust me to come up with a fiddle part that he’ll dig or not dig, if he digs it it’s on the record, if he doesn’t, it’s not.’