Liam McKahey left the southern Irish city of Cork for the brash lights of London at the tender age of 16, and after a heady decade and a half, which he maintains "are sort of lost, really. A lot of lost years" he has found salvation as lead singer of Cousteau, a band already doing great things in Europe, and about to start their first major headline tour of the States.

So Liam, what made you decide to leave Cork?
"Lots of reasons really, all the usual dreams you have as a 16 year old. I wanted to go to art college, and wanted to escape from Cork. I was, and still am, a huge Smiths fan, and when I heard 'William, It Was Really Nothing' I thought it was a personal message to me! 'The rain falls hard on a humdrum town', 'William, William!' I never did make it to art college, but I made it to London."

...another quote:

Liam McKahey: "I saw The Smiths in Cork in the mid eighties, and they got a rough ride because the crowd was so behind the times. Some dickhead spat at Morrissey, and Morrissey walked off. He came back on a little later and continued the gig. I tought there and then - this is the group I've been waiting for. Then and now, if anyone slags of Morrissey I fight his corner. If someone doesn't like the Smiths then I don't think as much of that person. The Smiths changed my life, when Morrissey sang 'this town has dragged you down' in 'William...', I knew he was giving me a sign, personally, to go and find my destiny. Sounds fuckin' corny now, but I still think it's true".
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Just a snippet there. The full interview will appear at www.skipmusic.com. The site is having an overhaul at the moment, so may be a few weeks.

Having seen Cousteau play live -- though their music is darker than than The Smiths, Liam does have the brooding presence of latter day Morrissey. And he has a quiff... which is cool. They are currently on tour in the U.S., dates are on their aforementioned website.