Mad Dogs, Rock Chicks And Smut Peddlers
In the course of a colourful career as Ireland’s most brass-necked interviewer, Olaf Tyaransen has crossed swords with some of the most intriguing characters in Christendom. Here, he discusses the highs and lows with Anne Sexton
Anne Sexton, 31 Mar 2011
“You can’t print this,” says Olaf Tyaransen – again – and launches into a story I’d love to repeat if it weren’t for those pesky libel laws. Somewhat surprisingly, these titbits are not all tales of excess – more than a few involve relationships gone awry – and the attendant heartbreak. Unfortunately, Olaf promised the people involved that the revelations would be kept off the record.
Luckily, there’s still plenty of meat in the tales that were fit to be printed. Many of these will be familiar to regular Hot Press readers and have been gathered in Tyaransen’s latest book, Selected Recordings: 2000 – 2010. The collection includes some remarkable and controversial interviews and subjects – Courtney Love, Hugh Hefner, Larry Flynt, Ron Jeremy, Tommy Tiernan and Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair to name a few.
Talking of heartbreak, we are sitting in Dublin’s Central Hotel and it was here, in the room next door to the Library Bar, that Damien Rice told Tyaransen about the end of his relationship with Lisa Hannigan.
“The curtains were drawn and it was very dark and cold. That’s at least part of the reason he was able to open up to me. He wouldn’t have said what he said had there been anyone else in earshot. I only realised afterwards that we’d created a confessional type of environment.”
Tyaransen attributes the ability to encourage people to reveal themselves to a combination of luck, empathy and the fact that his star sign is Aquarius. Astrology? Really?
“I only believe in it when it suits me,” he laughs. “The worst interview I ever did was with Sharon Shannon when her first album came out. It was a yes/no scenario. ‘What’s it like to have the new album out?’ – ‘It’s great.’ You need more than that! A drunk came into the bar and tried to sell me a watch and that became the focal point of the interview. But I’ve done interviews where I felt I didn’t nail the person, political interviews more than anything else.”
Johnny Adair seems like a slippery character.
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