SHACK

Illuminated by the psychedelic Merseybeat of brothers JOHN and MICHAEL HEAD,SHACK were the cult band’s cult band before addiction, misfortune and disappointment waylaid them. In the time since, their music – and legend – has grown in stature. As the band ready for their first tour in over 15 years, we hear how sobriety, family and chemistry have played a part in their unexpected reunion. “It’s natural,” they tell Tom Pinnock. “It’s beautiful.”

M ICHAEL Head is standing across the road from the Liverpool Olympia, a mischievous gleam apparent behind his shades.

“Buffalo Bill brought his travelling circus here back in the 1900s,” he says. “They built bear pits and elephant pits under the stage, and apparently they’re still there. Imagine… fuckin’

Buffalo Bill on the West Derby Road!”

At the moment, he and his brother John are showing Uncut round their childhood haunts. As it transpires, this ornate, time-worn hall in the city’s Kensington district is a key location. Their mum used to go to the bingo there back when it was a Mecca; now the Olympia is the location of Shack’s first gig for over 15 years. It ends the longest gap in their activity since the group rose out of the ashes of The Pale Fountains in 1987 and went on to create some of the most dynamic and beloved indie rock of recent decades. According to the band, though, this is no reunion. “In interviews over the years, people have said, ‘Why did Shack split up?’” says Michael. “I say, ‘Shack never went anywhere.’ We didn’t split up, we just went our separate ways for a while, until now. To actually play again with John and Pete and now with Ian and Nat, it’s so natural.”

This, then, is the first Shack interview in at least 15 years – the group can’t remember exactly – and they’re visibly excited to be back and discussing their future. Even John Head, long reticent of doing interviews, is keen to chat. While they didn’t officially split, this reunion was never a certainty, especially after the death of longtime drummer Iain ‘Tempo’ Templeton in December 2022. But the new lineup of the Heads and bassist Pete Wilkinson, joined by The Coral’s Ian Skelly on drums and Red Elastic Band guitarist Nathaniel Laurence, are soldiering on.

“It was a surprise and it wasn’t,” says Wilkinson, as we meet the rest of the band at a café underneath St George’s Hall, once the Heads have concluded their guided tour. “I’d been gently chipping away at [the Heads]… It felt like there was still a lot to give with Shack. For me, there’s never been a more natural band and a more natural home for my bass playing. But when Tempo passed, I thought that was it. It was too special and too sacred, this band, so I was quite prepared to not go there as well.”

“I was dead worried we wouldn’t be able to get the chemistry again that we did with Tempo,” says John Head. “But it’s happening with Ian, it’s great for us. I think it’s to do with understanding songs.”

Although the band have been wrapped in their fair share of myths, the treasures of Shack are their songs, which have only become more loved during their absence. This growing appreciation has been stoked by a continuing set of vinyl reissues John Head has masterminded, as well a run of excellent solo albums from Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band. Shack’s live return is the latest chapter in the incredible, wild story of one of Britain’s greatest ever groups.

“I’d never been in a band before until I joined Shack in 1989,” says Wilkinson. “I think within a week everything had changed. I’d experienced a lot, let’s put it that way. I remember saying to Mick, ‘I feel a bit tired.’ ‘Why don’t you take this?’ ‘Oh, OK… What is it?’”