Terri Hooley isn’t an actor or director but, unusually, the actual subject of co-directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn’s Good Vibrations, the biopic filming of Hooley’s establishment of the titular record shop during Belfast’s ‘Troubles’ back in the ‘70s and ‘80s and his kick-starting of the area’s punk scene. Here he cheerfully discusses how much he loves the film, how he feels about Richard Dormer’s portrayal of him, and much more.
How are you, Terri?
I’m a bit worse for wear as I had some friends over last night, but I’m fine… And yes, I’m here in Belfast, which is really the centre of the Universe – or at least the centre of my Universe! It’s a small city, and everyone knows everyone, especially everyone in the music industry. It’s just tremendous, and there are lots of great bands here… I get a lot of Australians coming here too, and lots of them come after seeing the film. They seem to see it on the plane over [laughs]. I’ve got a lot of friends in Australia and New Zealand who haven’t seen it yet and they’re really looking forward to it! It was actually released here on Good Friday last year, and there was a big celebration, and it was just fantastic, seeing all the old faces and some of the original bands on the stage again… The film’s just a tremendous success all over the world, and it’s just fantastic, as we weren’t sure how it would travel. And before I saw it, they showed it to some students in LA, and they loved it, so that really gave us hope.
Yours is perhaps not a story that many over here would know that well, Terri. The Undertones were probably your most popular band, but here we know lead singer Feargal Sharkey better from when he went solo in the ‘80s…
The Undertones were the biggest band I ever signed [check out their catchy classic Teenage Kicks], and they still tour, but without Feargal. And The Outcasts are still going, and a whole lot of other bands of ours… Belfast is probably the last remaining stronghold of punk in the whole world, really. There are punk bands and punk gigs and punk reunions, and it’s great. It’s strange seeing all these old punks coming along to gigs with their kids and their kids’ kids.
Did you have to give the filmmakers some sort of approval?
No. One night I was working late in the shop and pricing records and getting them on the shelves, and I was called over by one of the big producers from Dublin, and he started asking me questions about my life. I was telling him about Belfast in the ‘60s, which was fantastic, so vibrant and colourful… You could go out and hear live music, and then the ‘Troubles’ came. They asked me how I kept my sanity during the ‘Troubles’ and the hunger strikes and everything, and I said, “What sanity? I never had any!”… And then he came back with a treatment, and we were offered deals by two different Dublin film companies, but I said no, as it had to be Belfast, all Belfast. I mean, Dublin’s only 100 miles away from Belfast, and they had gigs and clubs and everything was normal, and they were living in Heaven and we were living in Hell… And so I held on so that Belfast could get put back on the music map, and it gave me the chance to relive my youth. I was never a punk, you know, I was an old hippy… Glenn and Lisa were wonderful. In fact, everyone who worked on the film was wonderful. A great team, and everyone had a great time, but I didn’t go down to the set all that often. I just let them get on with it. I mean, everyone just knew the story so well, all the bands and everything. My ex-wife thinks it’s terrible but, you know, I didn’t want them to gloss anything over, and I never was an angel. I’m good-bad but not evil, as the Shangri-Las song goes… I was one of the last people to see the film, actually. I wound up seeing it at a special screening at the Belfast Film Festival with family and friends. You couldn’t get a seat for love or money.
So you weren’t required to give your permission, as the film is about you, after all?
No, not really. I spent some afternoons talking with Glenn… In the end I just let them get on with it, and I knew it would be great. I’ve seen it 27 times now, in cinemas all over the world, and it gets me crying every time. It’s so honest and funny… And it’s sad too, as I lost so many friends during the ‘Troubles’. It brings back a lot of memories, and not all of them are good. The violence against me was played down… I mean, you couldn’t ignore the violence, you couldn’t just pretend it wasn’t there. I’ve seen too many bad movies set in Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’, but this is a different story, and a very uplifting story. The Belfast Telegraph over here said it was the best movie ever made about the ‘Troubles’, which was just wonderful… The great thing about Belfast is that you’re not allowed to get big-headed, and so people are asking me if the film has changed me, and I say that it has, but only because before I’d go out and get a brandy and a Guinness, and now I go out and get a brandy and two Guinnesses. Everybody just loves the film in Belfast, and I keep waiting for the backlash to come, but it never does!
What did you think about Richard Dormer, who plays you?
Oh, he was great! At one stage it was going to be Michael Fassbender, whose Mum is from Northern Ireland, and that would have been good too, but his career was just going ballistic and he couldn’t do it in the end… But Richard was great, and does me better than I do me. He’s got the walk and the talk and everything just perfect! Oh, but there is one thing: he can’t drink as much as me! The last time I saw him he was covered in blood for some horror movie, and it probably helped that he’d played me before doing that! [Is this the Irish chiller Dark Touch that Terri’s talking about here? Or Dormer’s role as Beric Dondarrion in Game Of Thrones?]
And what are you up to now, Terri?
I’m still travelling with the film. It was shown in Germany, in Cologne, recently, and I did some interviews for that, which was great. I was criticised for my guest list at the after party… Someone said that there are two things that you can see from space: the Great Wall of China and Terri Hooley’s guest list!… The reviews there have been outstanding, and I do hope it does well in Australia too. And everyone should come over and see me here. Do you want to come? You can stay with us if you like!
I Wake Up Screening 