Johnny Marr on forming The Healers with Zak Starkey and playing Coachella: “We understand each other so well”

Johnny Marr has told NME about the early days of forming The Healers with Zak Starkey, following the re-release of their 2003 album ‘Boomslang’.

In September, The Healers released a re-issue of ‘Boomslang’, which featured previously unheard material. The record saw the former Smiths guitarist join forces with Starkey, who he had met four years earlier at a The Who concert at Madison Square Garden. You can get the album here.

Now, in exclusive quotes supplied to NME, Marr has shared details of their initial meeting, which he says was “When the actual nucleus of the band formed.” He recalled that, although Starkey was playing with The Who that night: “I didn’t know that when I met him. I didn’t know who he was.

“We had this amazing 24 hours. You know you have those mad nights when you meet someone and it’s like right, okay, we have so much in common, and we understand each other so well. You’re both at a time in your lives where you want to have an adventure. That’s how I remember it,” he said.

Marr went on to call Starkey, who is the son of Ringo Starr, “One of the most revered and frankly best drummers of all time,” adding: “I was really excited about looking for something new. Our influences were so specific. The glam rock scene, married to this idea of electro blues. It’s interesting because when you drop the blues bit, you’ve got loads of electro to listen to.”

Marr also revealed that the writing process for ‘Boomslang’ began “immediately” the night the two met. “Originally it was just me and Zak. The musical empathy that we have with each other is such that we didn’t need any of the musicians for quite a while to have these songs working.”

“Zak is such a musical drummer, and I guess I’m such a busy guitar player that for ages we just had vocals, guitar and drums, and we were really digging it!” he continued. “Then I would meditate for hours and hours every day, and try to manifest a girl percussion player and a synth wizard and a second guitarist and an amazing bass player. And lo and behold, those very people arrived.”

The Healers played Coachella in 2003, which Marr told us was “really exciting because the atmosphere of Coachella, particularly back then, suited the style of music.” He continued: “I think the crowd understood us a little more, out in the desert. It didn’t matter that we weren’t played on the radio then, because a lot of British bands aren’t played on the radio in America.

“I think The White Stripes might have been playing too, the Chilli Peppers had got together, and I remember seeing The Stooges’ reformation show. There was a lot of excitement in the air. The Stooges have always been a massive influence on me.

“I was excited to hang out with James Williamson and see Iggy and show him my new band. I thought The Healers playing in the desert as the sun was going down was quite an appropriate kind of environment for us. No one had heard a note of it. Far from being daunting, I actually really liked that.”

Last November, Starkey shut down any possibility of forming a supergroup with the other children of The Beatles’ members.

He did, however, form a band called Mantra Of The Cosmos – featuring Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays, Black Grape), Andy Bell (Oasis, Ride) and Bez (Happy Mondays, Black Grape) – last year.

Speaking to NME in the summer, Starkey revealed that his father Starr “really loves” the group, adding: “He loves Shaun and he loves what he’s singing about.”

He continued: “There’s a line in one song called ‘Belly Full Of Lard’, and he said he hadn’t heard anything like it for 40 or 50 years.”