Maybe You'll Never Go Away - Joe Rooney On Revisiting The Music Of Guernica, 30 Years On

Dublin in the late 80s was a hotbed of creativity and, for a while at least, no band was hotter than Guernica. Starting out in the mould of Joy Division and New Order, they morphed into a powerful live band driven by guitars and synths, and the rock-solid rhythm section of Darragh Broe on drums and Derek Lee on bass. At the mic stand was Joe Rooney, who later later find fame as a comedian and actor, but back then he was an enigmatic frontman and with a stunning album in the can, the band were seemingly destined for great things. A sudden split brought that dream crashing down, and the reverberations still echo sometimes in the lives of those who were part of the story. Back then I was a teenage hangaround who idolised Darragh, Joe and the lads, and when I heard that now, over 30 years later, that never-released album may finally see the light of day, I had to talk to Joe to fill in some of the blanks of a story. For all its disappointment and tragedy, it was and is an electrifying and inspiring tale that left us with music and memories. Even though Darragh passed away in 2009, his son David - also a drummer - is a driving force in ensuring that the world is reminded of his father and of that brief, glorious time when Dublin could lay claim to being the creative capital of the world.