Music

Northern Irish four-piece The Answer have just been on tour with AC/DC, but singer Cormac Neeson only had one thing on his mind when Football365 spoke to him...

So a Belfast boy being a Liverpool fan - that almost never happens.
Yeah. My dad is actually a Spurs fan, but when I was growing up Liverpool were winning everything, so I went with them! This would have been around 86 or 87, so it was still the glory years. I remember Kenny Dalglish and the lads from around that era just winning everything. Great times.

It's not been going that well recently though, has it?
Not really no. I think we'll be OK once we get a few of the injuries out of the way - get Torres and Gerrard back, get Aquilani fit. Because we've been away on tour for such a long time we only really get drip fed information - we're lucky if we can get a dodgy internet feed to watch the games, so we don't really get all the nonsense that comes along with Liverpool. It certainly gives you a bit of a different perspective.

So you think Rafa should stay then?
Yeah, it's all about stability. We did really well last year, so there's been so much pressure on him this season. We just need to ride out the storm and stay clear of trouble - we'll be OK then. In any case, there are f**k all good managers out there to replace him with, so why bother sacking him?

You don't think you have a shot at the title this year though, do you?
Well...(sigh, long pause)...I'm an eternal optimist, but being realistic there isn't much hope is there? There's just so much pressure on us this season, with people like Manchester City behind us it was never going to be easy. We've suffered from Arsenal's problem last season - there just isn't enough depth in the squad. The past few weeks have been proof that the squad just isn't strong enough.

What about the rest of the band?
Well we've got three Liverpool fans, one Spurs fan but our guitarist Paul is a United fan. He's without doubt the smuggest member of the band. There's certainly a 'friendly' rivalry, and definitely after our recent win against them. We all thought that was going to be a turning point, but it looks like it's not going to be now.

Who's your all time Liverpool hero?
Well there's obviously John Barnes - he was in the team when I started watching them, and of the current lot obviously Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard. Torres has been a revelation too - he's been Rafa's best signing by a long way. I always loved Ronnie Rosenthal too. He was a real character, and that miss against Villa was part of that. There's never a shortage of great characters in our side - we love an underdog at Liverpool.

You've just been on tour with AC/DC - what was that like?
Well we did 118 shows with them, and about 100 of our own shows over the last year or so, so it's been pretty relentless. What we'd do is play our support slot, then try and book our own show at a smaller 200 people club on our days off and tell the AC/DC audience, and get a few people down. It's been a while since we've had our own tour, but we've got one coming up and we're really excited.

It's definitely a bit strange playing in front of so many people that aren't really there to see you, especially in America where we were playing in these big arenas that were all seated. It was a real achievement to sort of win people over every single night. It was really satisfying.

What are AC/DC like? Have they calmed down a bit these days?
They're good dudes. There wasn't much partying, although a couple of them - who will remain nameless - went for it a fair bit. They really looked out for us though - especially Brian Johnson (their singer). He's a Geordie so he took good care of us, always coming into our dressing room for a drink and a chat. They made life really easy for us.

For those that don't know much about you, how would you describe the band?
We're a hard-hitting rock band, with a little bit of blues thrown in. It's a really loud show, so if you want to come down and really let yourself go for a night, you'll enjoy yourself.

The Answer's new single 'Comfort Zone' is released on November 30, and the band start their headline tour of the UK in Manchester on November 25.