JOHN EARLS TALKS EGOS, CELEBRITY MATES AND SMITHS REISSUES WITH ANDY ROURKE AND FORMER HAPPY MONDAYS AXEMAN KAV

BLITZ VEGA

One of the ultimate Manchester hook-ups, Blitz Vega unites The Smiths’ former bassist Andy Rourke with ex-Happy Mondays guitarist KAV. The duo’s wild and celebratory music has been a long time coming, as they tell Classic Pop of finally finding a band where the singer doesn’t have an ego.

How did you two meet?

KAV: When I was 16, around 2003, my band A.K.A. Weave didn’t go anywhere commercially. But some of our fans were members of our favourite bands, like The Stone Roses, Oasis, New Order and Primal Scream. One night, Mani brought Andy down to a gig. I’d see Andy around after that and, when I moved to Los Angeles five years later, Andy was living in New York. He started DJing at some of my club nights.

ANDY: We talked about doing something together, but our schedules never matched up. Then, in 2017, we spent Christmas Day together in LA. It’s happened very naturally, because we enjoy the same music.