"I took mushrooms before my audition": Mike Joyce on wild gigs, Marr's jim-jams and Morrissey's genius
Mike Joyce sat in the luxurious suite of the Stock Exchange hotel in Manchester, reflecting on his most cherished gig with The Smiths - a night in July 1986 when their tour hit Salford Maxwell Hall. "It was terrifying," he said, as the band wasn't taking ticket stubs off people coming in, so they were giving them back out through the bog window. The show ended up at double capacity, and the audience was on an emotional rollercoaster before even the iconic song E began.
The drummer of the great indie band, who has just written a memoir about his memories with The Smiths, wanted to celebrate the "majesty" of their music rather than focusing on its negatives. He wrote the book to capture the band's "wonderful and interesting and crazy and weird" era, which stopped after the 1987 split when Joyce moved on to work with Sinéad O'Connor and Julian Cope.
Born in Manchester in 1963, into an Irish immigrant family where "the fear of God was absolutely entrenched," Joyce had a childhood full of love despite facing traumas. After being hit by a car outside his house, he spent six months in hospital due to internal bleeding that nearly killed him. The seizures faded after a year.
Seeing Buzzcocks live inspired him to buy a drum kit, and he became obsessed with the band, once even tracking down frontman Pete Shelley's house. When he auditioned for The Smiths, he took mushrooms but "not a call-an-ambulance amount." He played well enough to get the job before things started to hallucinate.
Joyce found it challenging to describe Morrissey in his book, describing him as a "very funny bloke with cutting humour" but also an "aloof presence." Joyce accepted their difference and understood that their relationship was unusual. He focused more on his bandmates' talents, particularly Marr's inexhaustible productivity. "Every day, you'd go round the house and he'd play some riff sat having a spliff in his jimmy-jams."
The drummer expressed admiration for Morrissey's lyrics, describing them as "unique." He also praised Marr's guitar playing and Andy Rourke's bass skills, which Joyce considered to be miles ahead of him at the time. However, Joyce never felt unappreciated, knowing that The Smiths quickly caught fire.
In 1984, Joyce was called into a meeting with the band's accountant, where he discovered Morrissey and Marr had signed the contract individually. This experience left Joyce feeling intimidated but continued to work hard in his role.
Joyce also revealed that he took legal action against Morrissey and Marr over unequal royalties, claiming they were not equal partners. The case led to a seven-day trial, with Judge John Weeks ruling in Joyce's favour after finding Morrissey "devious" and Marr "unreliable." Joyce was awarded £1m.
The split between the band members was sudden, and Marr told them it was over at a fish and chip shop in Notting Hill. The drummer felt bereaved but has since come out of a 21-year touring retirement to drum for Pete Doherty. There have been ongoing Smiths reunion rumors, including AEG offering a reported $25m for the band to tour.
In September, Morrissey announced his intention to sell his business interests in The Smiths, inviting prospective buyers to send an email and mentioning "Marr, Rourke, Joyce" directly. When asked if he wishes that, Joyce said, "I don't." He expressed confusion over Morrissey's statement but couldn't be prouder of his time as a member of the iconic band.
Mike Joyce sat in the luxurious suite of the Stock Exchange hotel in Manchester, reflecting on his most cherished gig with The Smiths - a night in July 1986 when their tour hit Salford Maxwell Hall. "It was terrifying," he said, as the band wasn't taking ticket stubs off people coming in, so they were giving them back out through the bog window. The show ended up at double capacity, and the audience was on an emotional rollercoaster before even the iconic song E began.
The drummer of the great indie band, who has just written a memoir about his memories with The Smiths, wanted to celebrate the "majesty" of their music rather than focusing on its negatives. He wrote the book to capture the band's "wonderful and interesting and crazy and weird" era, which stopped after the 1987 split when Joyce moved on to work with Sinéad O'Connor and Julian Cope.
Born in Manchester in 1963, into an Irish immigrant family where "the fear of God was absolutely entrenched," Joyce had a childhood full of love despite facing traumas. After being hit by a car outside his house, he spent six months in hospital due to internal bleeding that nearly killed him. The seizures faded after a year.
Seeing Buzzcocks live inspired him to buy a drum kit, and he became obsessed with the band, once even tracking down frontman Pete Shelley's house. When he auditioned for The Smiths, he took mushrooms but "not a call-an-ambulance amount." He played well enough to get the job before things started to hallucinate.
Joyce found it challenging to describe Morrissey in his book, describing him as a "very funny bloke with cutting humour" but also an "aloof presence." Joyce accepted their difference and understood that their relationship was unusual. He focused more on his bandmates' talents, particularly Marr's inexhaustible productivity. "Every day, you'd go round the house and he'd play some riff sat having a spliff in his jimmy-jams."
The drummer expressed admiration for Morrissey's lyrics, describing them as "unique." He also praised Marr's guitar playing and Andy Rourke's bass skills, which Joyce considered to be miles ahead of him at the time. However, Joyce never felt unappreciated, knowing that The Smiths quickly caught fire.
In 1984, Joyce was called into a meeting with the band's accountant, where he discovered Morrissey and Marr had signed the contract individually. This experience left Joyce feeling intimidated but continued to work hard in his role.
Joyce also revealed that he took legal action against Morrissey and Marr over unequal royalties, claiming they were not equal partners. The case led to a seven-day trial, with Judge John Weeks ruling in Joyce's favour after finding Morrissey "devious" and Marr "unreliable." Joyce was awarded £1m.
The split between the band members was sudden, and Marr told them it was over at a fish and chip shop in Notting Hill. The drummer felt bereaved but has since come out of a 21-year touring retirement to drum for Pete Doherty. There have been ongoing Smiths reunion rumors, including AEG offering a reported $25m for the band to tour.
In September, Morrissey announced his intention to sell his business interests in The Smiths, inviting prospective buyers to send an email and mentioning "Marr, Rourke, Joyce" directly. When asked if he wishes that, Joyce said, "I don't." He expressed confusion over Morrissey's statement but couldn't be prouder of his time as a member of the iconic band.
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like Mike Joyce just dropped the most epic book about his wild times with Morrissey & Marr 
i'm low-key obsessed with Marr's jim-jams (lol) and Joyce's story is SO inspiring! 
. And can we talk about Andy Rourke's bass skills for a sec? 
, I mean, can you imagine taking mushrooms before an audition and still nailing it? 
he's all about celebrating the good vibes and majesty of The Smiths' music 
. love how he praises Marr's productivity (lol what a jam session with spliffs?) and Rourke's bass skills 
The Data Dumper here 
! Did you know that in 1986 they played to double capacity at Maxwell Hall? 
That's like a 100% increase from the original capacity! 
. But did you know that Mike Joyce took mushrooms before his audition and still nailed it? 
Not exactly a call-an-ambulance amount, but still... mind blown!
But he didn't let that stop him - he worked hard and even took on Morrissey and Marr in court for unequal royalties! 
And, I mean, what's up with Morrissey's decision to sell his Smiths interests and then invite others to buy them? Is that like, some kind of clever move or something? 
But, at the same time... isn't it kinda bold of him to just throw that out there without even thinking about how it'll affect Mike Joyce? 
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I need more of those stories! 
. Like, come on Mike, you're trying to spin it as some sort of mystical experience that helped you land the gig? I need more than that to believe it 
. And what's with the 'majesty' of their music? Is he just trying to sugarcoat all the drama and tension that went down behind the scenes? 
.
. he's got some crazy stories from the smiths era, like taking mushrooms before his audition lol 
... he's just being Morrissey, you know? 