The Thunder guitarist on the band’s final days, career highlights – and his new band…

Luke Morley is at something of a crossroads as the band he has led for the past 20 years prepares for another lengthy UK tour. But not just any old Thunder tour: the band’s last hurrah; a nationwide jaunt with five chaps he still regards as his best pals, playing venues he has played so often in the past two decades they almost feel like a home from home.

Morley, meanwhile, has been keeping focussed and busy, today unveiling a new project with Pete Shoulder, former frontman and guitarist for Winterville (nominated for Best New Band back in the 2006 Classic Rock Awards). To hear a track by them, go here.

Classic Rock’s Lee Marlow got Morley on the phone for the low-down…

So… Danny’s leaving to become an agent. Has he gone ever so slightly mad?
Luke Morley: “Ha, ha, no. Well, at least I don’t think so, no. He has three children nearing university age and he’s been doing this for 20 years. I think he wants a sense of stability in his life for a while. He’s been working as a booking agent on and off for the past few months and he enjoys it. His cup was overflowing a bit, I think, so he had to make a decision.”

Did you try and talk him out of it?
LM: “No, not really. I’ve known him since I was 11. I knew his mind was made up. You know, when we split before [back in 2000, they reconvened just two years later] it was about the frustration we all felt with the music business. And that was probably more to do with me then, if I’m honest, more than anyone else. This is slightly different. But it’s fine. Danny is a great singer. But he doesn’t create the music. Maybe his bond with it is not as strong as it is for me. But I think he’ll do well as an agent. He took care of a lot of stuff for us. He knows the ropes, he knows all about the music business. We’re looking forward to the tour now.”

Did you think about replacing him?
LM: “Not really, no. It wouldn’t really be Thunder without Danny would it? Twenty years, old boy – that’s a lot of songs. Those shoes would be too big for someone else to fill. I know it’s happened in the past. Other bands have done it. AC/DC did it. They made arguably their best album when they did it. Genesis did it. We could have done it, took the band somewhere else. But I didn’t fancy it. I’ve been lucky enough to worked with some great singers – Danny, Robert Palmer , Rick Astley…”

Woah there. Rick Astley? Surely some mistake?
LM: “Yup, he’s a surprisingly good singer. But Danny is up there with the best of them. It’s been great for me as a song writer. I can take the music anywhere I want to and I know that Danny won’t struggle with it.”

You’re 50 next year. How do the Thunder tours today differ to the tours you did in the early 90s?
LM: “Not that much really. We drink less, I suppose. But you have to, it’s self preservation. Back then, we drank like it was going out of fashion. I think I spent those first two years in Thunder permanently drunk. Not now. My hangovers are too bad for that. I love playing and I don’t want to jeopardise that for the sake of a few beers. So I play my show and maybe have a glass of nice red wine after rather than, you know, a crate of lager and a bottle of vodka, which is what it was when we started.”

You must still have the odd night out though?
LM: “What? When we let loose? Fuck me – of course we do. We’re a rock band. Whenever we go to Japan, that first night we go out and drink ourselves into oblivion. It’s something of a Thunder tradition. If you’re going to feel like shit with jet lag you may as well have a hangover on top of that as well.”

And the smoking?
LM: “Nah, I stopped that about seven years ago. When we started we were all smoking and drinking. Now, Harry is the only smoker left. We treat him like a leper, hahahaha. You’ve got to be realistic about these things. Your body slows down.”

And the groupies?
LM: “Well I’m living with someone so that’s not something I get into now. Our groupies… hmmm… I think our audience has aged with us, so there’s a lot less hair and teeth around these days. No, no, I’m joking. Can I just say that I’m not going to dignify your question with a response?”

That seems a shame. You were renowned as king birders were you not?
LM: “Well, let’s just say it was a favourite past time of ours. It was an obsession, even, for a while when I was younger man. Do I miss it? Fuck me, you’re not letting this one go are you? I don’t miss it, no. Time passes. We move on. As, I think, we should now. Next question.”

Will it be an emotional final tour?
LM:“I think it probably will be, yes, for some of us more than others. There will be laughter and piss-taking and I’m sure there will be emotional moments and poignant moments. It will be good. It feels strange that I’m sitting here talking to you about our final tour and everything coming to an end, because we still all get on. We genuinely do. We enjoy each other’s company.”

Will you cry?
LM: “Me? Nah. I won’t cry. I’m emotional, but not sentimental. Chris [Childs, bassist] will. He’ll be crying like a big puff at the end, I’m sure. But I think at the end, at the final show at Hammersmith, we’ll all be rushing to the bar. I might have to write that next day off. And the one after…”

It seems a shame it will end this way. You’ve been pretty consistent since your return in 2002. Your last two albums – Robert Johnson’s Tombstone and Bang! – are up there with your best, aren’t they?
LM: “I’d like to so, yes. I think, also, The Magnificent Seventh is up there, too.”

There aren’t many rock bands releasing albums 20 years down the line which are as good as their early ones. What do you put that down to?
LM: “I dunno. All sorts of things. It helps that we still get on. But rock and roll is like anything else – as long as you maintain your interest and enthusiasm, you should get better. It’s like a craft. We’re certainly better at writing and performing today than we were in 1990. And we never took our foot off the gas . We enjoy playing. We enjoy being in the studio. There are some bands – some great bands, too – who seem happy just to tread water. The Stones haven’t released a decent album in 20 years have they? Each new new record is something to record, release – and then get out on tour.”

What’s your favourite Thunder album?
LM: “I don’t have a favourite one. I really couldn’t say.”

You must have one?
LM: “No, I don’t. They all resonate differently for me. It’s difficult to be objective. The first one [Backstreet Symphony] will always be special. That got us going. That was an amazing time for us. We went from small bars to the Hammy O in 18 months. We were 29 , 30 and we’d been round the block so we appreciated it, we really did. It’s been a privilege being in this band. I can’t think of anything finer, anything I’d rather do or be. Maybe a golfer. And yet, even then, who am I kidding? I’d rather be doing this…?”

Are there any Thunder songs that you listen to today and think: ‘Jesus, what was I thinking there…?’
LM: “Ha ha. No, not really. Some are better than others, sure, but it’s like anything else – it’s a numbers game. You can’t sit down and write a classic every time. If you write 20 songs and you’re really happy with 10 of them, that’s a pretty good return. You can’t make the perfect album. No band can. Believe me, we’ve tried. But there are always things that you hear later and you think: ‘Shit, I wish I’d have done this or that there…’ Really, though, I’m the worst person to ask about this.”

But they’re your songs. Surely, you’re the best person to ask?
LM: “I’m not, I’m really not. You know, when I wrote ‘Love Walked In,’ I thought it was a dog. An absolute dog. I never felt good about it. I was going to scrap it and then Andy Taylor heard it by chance and insisted it would work. And it did. And yet, there have been others, like ‘A Better Man’, for instance. I wrote that in 10 minutes. It came together ridiculously easily. And I kind of knew, as soon as I put the guitar down, that it would be all right. Sometimes you know, sometimes you don’t. It’s always worth listening to other people. Other people’s opinions – the people who buy your records, the people who come to our shows, the people who review our records – your opinion is more important than mine.”

So the obvious question is: “What’s next?”
LM: “Well, there’s the tour…”

And after the tour, when Thunder are no more..?
LM: “Uhhmm. I feel a bit odd, a bit strange, talking about what might happen after the tour when I’m gearing up for that.”

I’m sure I won’t the first, or last person, to ask you this question…
LM: “Well, I’m writing some songs with a guy who’s a great musician, a guy called Pete Shoulder. He was the singer and guitarist in Winterville. He’s an amazing talent; a great singer and a great guitarist. I’ve helped him out with advice in the past and I’ve done a bit of production for his band. We’ve written a few songs and they seemed to come together really well. I said to him: ‘We should do something with this.’ So, the plan is, that we will do. Winterville were a good band. They made that one album [2005’s ‘Everything in Moderation’] and then they split. They had no backing, no finance. It’s hard for new bands today without a decent set-up behind them. We get on well. He’s from Durham and he’s a gent, a thoroughly nice guy. I couldn’t do this with someone who I thought was a complete git.”

What have you got so far?
LM: “I reckon we’ve got 5 or 6 songs so far. We’re keeping it fairly quiet, fairly under the wing at the moment because I’m concentrating on Thunder and the tour.”

So what does it sound like?
LM: “It’s good. It’s rock, but bluesy, perhaps a bit more epic than some of the Thunder stuff, a bit more widescreen. Pete’s into a lot of contemporary stuff, although we both like The Beatles, Zep, so it’s a little bit different. It’s hard to describe. Like I said to you, I find it hard to judge this stuff. I think people who like Thunder will like it.”

Do you have a band yet?
LM: “Yes and no. We have a wish list. Whether they will all come off, it’s a bit early to tell. Will you have heard of any of them? Yes, one of them, I’m sure. But that’s all I’m saying. Nothing is set in stone yet and it wouldn’t be right. There’s no name or anything as yet.”

To hear a demo of Watch The River Flow by Luke Morley and Pete Shoulder, click here.