ANDY ROURKE of THE SMITHS

Andy Rourke, as the former bass player of The Smiths, spent his early years honing his bass and guitar skills. He joined several rock groups including the funk group, Freak Party, alongside his school friend, John Maher a.k.a Johnny Marr.

It was Marr who introduced Rourke to the Smiths in 1982, replacing Dale Hibbert after just one gig with the band. Inarguably, the Smiths were one of the most significant alt-rock bands that materialized from the British independent music scene in the 1980s. Throughout the band’s career, Rourke’s playing style was unmistakable on each album adding a distinct tone, which was derived from a fully cranked tone knob and pick.

He created a number of memorable bass parts, such as his funk bass solo on “Barbarism Begins at Home.” Marr commented on Rourke’s bass playing skills on The Queen is Dead LP as “something no other bass player could match”. Before the release of their fourth studio album, Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987, The Smiths split apart. Attempts were made to continue recording together but their efforts failed and in the end the group moved on their separate ways.

Rourke went on to play and record with many talented artists in the years following The Smiths, including Morrissey, Sinead O’Connor, The Pretenders, Badly Drawn Boy, and Aziz Ibrahim. He formed Moondog One with Oasis’s former guitarist Bonehead, which also involved Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon, and he created the unique bass super-group Freebass in 2005 bringing in Peter Hook, formerly of New Order and Joy Division, and Gary Mounfield “Mani” of The Stone Roses & Primal Scream.

Currently, Rourke DJ’s worldwide and has a TV show called Tune In Tune Out, which is a short format online show on FKR TV with creative director David Cross. On the show Andy sits down with different guests to find out what song they wish they heard when they were born and what they want to hear when they die. He’s interviewed The Flaming Lips, Jackson Browne, Adam Green, Jaleel Bunton from TV on the Radio, and Little Boots to date. He also collaborates with multiple artists, including James Franco & Tim O’Keefe, who have a project called Daddy, Dolores O’Riordan (The Cranberries), Syd Butler (Les Savy Fav), Johnny Aries (The Drums), and Olé Koretsky (Jetlag). Ole and Andy have put out a couple remixes as well, including a remix of “Breakneck Speed” by Tokyo Police Club, “Washed Up” by The Glass, and “Long Night Out” by MAG!. While The Smiths currently have no intention of reuniting, one should never say never.