Intervista 5

MTV INTERVIEW
(19 March, 1996)

Kurt Loder: The Irish band The Cranberries will have a new album
out at the end of April, called "To The Faithful Departed," and,
as the title suggests, it's a tribute to persons of the deceased
persuasion - including among it's tracks a song called "I Shot
John Lennon." Material for the album was no problem, according to
singer Dolores O'Riordan, because she and guitarist Noel Hogan
have a substantial backlog of tunes from which to draw.

Dolores O'Riordan: We wrote them over the past two years. Just
kinda like "No Need To Argue" was written the two years between
the first album and that. We write on the road, so that's pretty
easy. I do the majority of the writing in my bedroom, alone, and
then when we co-write together we do that in Sound Check. It's
just two different ways. So that there is no, uh, there is never,
like, a lack of inspiration, or you know, lack of, we never get
stuck really. We actually have songs we never got to record, you
know, that kind of thing.

Kurt Loder: The Cranberries' new single, "Salvation," will be out
in early April.

(1 May, 1996)

Hi, I'm Kurt Loder with MTV News. Ireland's Cranberries released
their third album on Tuesday, a record called "To the Faithful
Departed." The first video is called "Salvation;" and singer
Dolores O'Riordan told us that one track, called "Free to Decide,"
which is about the media's treatment of pop musicians, was
actually inspired by an example in her own life, in which her
exhaustion forced the Cranberries to cancel some shows after 14
months on the road, and she was slammed by the hacks. Here's the
tale.

Dolores: The media started giving me a really hard time. There
were just pictures of me kind of shopping, packing my groceries,
on the front cover of all the magazines, all the Irish papers and
stuff like that. And it was just kind of really bitchy on their
behalf. And they were just saying that I was being a little pop
star, and I was pulling the Irish shows -- not caring, obviously,
about how I felt as I person, as one side of the media can be like
that. It can be very insensitive and uncaring towards many types
of artists, you know?

Kurt Loder: Now touring Asia, Cranberries will be hitting the road
here this summer.

(6 May, 1996)

Ireland's Cranberries again attempt weighty thoughts on their new
album, "To The Faithful Departed," with one track, called "I Just
Shot John Lennon," climaxing with the sound of gunfire. As for the
rest of the album's not-so-cheery contents, singer and
co-songwriter Dolores O'Riordan recently had these reflections.

MTV: With a title like "To The Faithful Departed," you expect the
Cranberries to be dealing with the topic of death, and they do;
but there are also songs about love and life and "Salvation," the
first single takes on all three in what some could see as a "just
say no to drugs" anthem for the 90's.

Dolores: It's not so much like an anti-drug song. It's kind of
anti- the idea of becoming totally controlled by anything, any
substance at all, because I know what's it's like. And it wasn't a
nice experience and it didn't get me anywhere. It just confused me
more.

MTV: So you tried some of these drugs that you were talking about
in the song.

Dolores: Oh no, I didn't try heroin. I was just trying to find the
answer in getting out of it, whether it was drinking or whatever.
I'm not going to elaborate. But it just, basically, any substances
don't really help. Reality is reality, and unfortunately, no how
much you go away, you come back, and it's always here.

MTV: Two of the albums' tracks were debuted last year, during the
Cranberries MTV "Unplugged" performance. One of them, called "I'm
Still Remembering," was written six months after Nirvana frontman
Kurt Cobain committed suicide.

Dolores: It was kind of sad how, you know, sometimes, when people
die, you expect there to be a silence. But there wasn't a silence.
You know what RIP means. It means "rest in peace." And I suppose
it was kind of sad because nobody seemed to want to let it be.
Everybody was just like, boom! It was just a big media thing, so
it was kind of sad.

MTV: Other tracks on the album deal with such somber issues as the
war in Bosnia, and the children who are victims of war -- all of
which seems to have affected Dolores, who we asked if she
considered bringing children into such a world.

Dolores: I think it's debatable. I love kids and I would love to
but, it's a pretty miserable old planet, all the same. Man!
(laughs) But I imagine having kids and it's like, there's so much
crap going on. Right now, I couldn't deal with that pressure. So
I'll hold off for a few years.

KURT: The Julie Andrews of her generation. Now touring Asia, the
Cranberries will be launching a US tour in late summer.

(24 August, 1996)

It's been a year of marriages, lawsuits, personal injuries -- and
lots and lots of touring for Ireland's Cranberries, and it's not
over yet. John Norris caught up with the band in Vancouver
recently as it launched yet another North American tour.

JOHN NORRIS: What is it about Dolores that so many people are
into?

FAN: Oh, I dig the accent, but she's a just great singer. Have you
ever seen someone who can put a note together like that?

NORRIS: How would you compare them live to being on record?

FAN 2: They're just as good. They're so good. This was a great
concert. It was awesome.

NORRIS: So far, 1996 has been an eventful year for the
Cranberries. It's seen the release of their third album, "To the
Faithful Departed", a $15,000 settlement in a lawsuit against a
British tabloid, the marriage of guitarist Noel Hogan, and now,
after having to cancel tour dates back in June when Dolores
O'Riordan badly injured her knee on stage in Australia, the band
is back on the road and arrive here tonight in Vancouver.

DOLORES O'RIORDAN: (Walking on stage) Hello Vancouver!

JOHN NORRIS: You started up, I guess, toward the end of May over
in Asia, and then there was this mishap. Can you talk a little
about that?

NOEL HOGAN, Guitarist: Well, I guess we had a week left in
Australia by the time Dolores' leg... She had a skiing accident
about 2 years ago, and it just kind of came back at her and she
twisted it in Australia.

DOLORES O'RIORDAN, Vocalist: When I jumped, I do remember
thinking, sh*t, you know, but I just was like, nah, I just went on
with the adrenaline, but I remember when I came offstage it was
just going up like a balloon.

NORRIS: Are you reluctant at this point to move a lot on stage?

O'RIORDAN: It just can be injured so easily, so... I've got the
splint so I can just relax and have fun. It's cool.

NORRIS: How do you guys determine the set list and the balance
between new material and older stuff?

O'RIORDAN: That's one of our biggest nightmares, to come up with a
set list and keep changin' it over and over, but we, we're quite
happy with the one we have now. (Onstage in Vancouver) Well, I
always remember coming to the U.S. and to Canada about two and a
half years ago. "Linger" brought us here.

NORRIS: You're here in North America for a couple of months, and
then the rest of the year? It's going to be like...

FERGAL LAWLER: We have two weeks off then we go to Europe, tour
Europe for about two and half months until Christmas time, and
that's it. Finished. Finished touring.

KURT: The Cranberries play Cleveland on Wednesday.