Rob caught up with Ricky Warwick before his show at the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton to talk about the history of his time in the music industry, how he find's it touring with his friends in Therapy? and much more.

Hello and thanks for taking time out to do this interview

Can you give us a brief history of your time in the music industry so far?
For me it really started in 1987, thats when i started making a living from it, ive been in bands since i was 13- 14 years, then i started the almighty, then i was in sick, disapeared into the wilderness for a while till 2000, then the almighty started again, did a few albums an tours, then i started dabbling in acoustic guitars and solo stuff.

You released your latest solo album ‘Belfast Confetti’ earlier this year, how does this album compare to your other solo album releases?
There was not as big a budget to record this album, it was done very quickly which i was fine with, i wanted a stripped down album, the previous albums had a full band and was very lavish which was great, but i cant afford to take that many people out on tour with me, but i prefere to tour on my own. Its also heavier lyrically

Are you happy with the response the album has got from your fans and the press?
Yes very, it came out mid april and ive been out on the road since then, im not gonna get much tv or magazine coverage so i gotta get out there and play, i dont mind doing that, and its starting to pay off, ive done 150 shows by the end of the year.

What would you say your favourite track from, ‘Belfast Confetti’ is and why?
its pretty difficult to pick one as there all pretty personal, but the Arms of Belfast because i wanted to write an uplifting song about northern Ireland, and its opened some doord for me, pepole who have never heard of me or the almighty before are listening now because of that song,

Last time you was out on tour across the UK you was touring with Eddie Spaghetti from the Super Suckers, how was that tour?
It was great, eddie is a really cool guy, we both have that similar stance on rock and roll, kinda dirty and a love for country americana music aswell, and it was a really good tour to be on.

I understand you played a few shows in Israel this year, what was it like playing in Israel for the first time in your career.
It was unbelieveable it was a fantastic trip, i was touring with a guy called israel ashdad, he was a big rock star and has been since the 80s, and he has a huge love of celtic/irish folk music and then he heard my stuff, he has a great band, and they write israel rock songs tinged with celtic influences, and his band backed me up on a few of my songs, i played on a few of his it was great. We played to about 6000 people in one place which was awesome.

You are currently on tour with Therapy? How’s the shows been going so far?
Its great, im on tour with my mates, were both from northern ireland, and an mike are old friends going back to the early 90s.

Your tour with Therapy? Is massive going all over mainland Europe and running right into December are there any shows you are looking forward to on the tour more than others?
Glasgow in the uk, because of the almighty, Berlin, Prague will be good, never been there before, theres a few places that i havent played, ive been to Germany loads of times and were gonna be playing places there that ive never been to before so thats gonna be interesting,

You've got a halloween gig coming up, what are you dressing up as?
Im not giving anything away, Its gonna be a surprise!

You have toured with many different bands and artists across the world but which has been the best to tour with?
They've all been pretty good, def leppard, motorhead, iron maiden, its hard to pick one because ive been a fan since i was a kid, ive been very lucky to play with bands that i love.

You have played 100’s of shows in the music industry, so you must have some crazy rock and roll story’s from the road, do you have any you would like to share with our readers?
I bought a brand new mac book, that i got in LA and bought back to Ireland, i checked into my hotel and was downloading a song then went out with a mate,got hammered, woke up the next day at about 11, i look at the mac book and its completely covered in water, there no bottle of water in sight, no leak from the ceiling, id got up in the middle of the night in a drunken stuppor and pissed into my laptop! it was a pretty expensive story!

You have played in bands such as The Almighty, New Model Army and Circus Diablo is there any chance of any of these bands reforming at any point?
Well the Almighty is in a state of hiatus at the moment, we havent officially split up but were not officially doing anything either, it was alot of fun doing a few shows not long ago, , but nothings happening right now because everyones so busy.

What do you think about the current state of the music scene?
Its in a complete state of flux, its going through changes, people are panicing, in the 50s people were up in arms about rock and roll on the radio and they thought no one would buy records anymore, people will always want music, but the way people are going to buy it is going to change radically, people are still gonna want to go to shows, the whole watching gigs on the internet was gonna be the next big thing but it never really took off, people want to come to shows and buy stuff from the merch table. Theres many ways to get music these days its great.

You are playing an homecoming show in Ireland on the 23rd December which means you will be at home over the Christmas period, what is a typical Christmas like at the Warwick household?
its crazy because my wife and i have many kids, we have christmas dinner, maybe walk along the beach, open the presents, its gonna be mad, being a father is great this time of year because im not gigging and im at home being a father.

One random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a Zebra and Giraffe which one would you be and why?
A zebra but i dont really know why!

Is there any message you would like to leave to your fans reading this?
If you dont come to the shows i cant do this anymore, so i want to thank all the people out there for coming to the shows.

Interview by Robert Lawrence