It’s safe to assume that practically everybody in Malta knows who The Characters are. They are either renowned for their prolific period in the 1990s, during which they released three albums and a compilation, or their temporary 2007 resurgence.
You are bound to be familiar with at least one of their songs, quite possibly Down By The Water, which is easily one of the band’s most endearing songs and an all-round classic tune.
Less known is that The Characters started in the UK almost 30 years ago, rising from the ashes of The Rifffs, who were at the time based in London.
“When Cooks, Humbalance and Najju went back to Malta, Rayvin (Portelli) and I decided to stay on,” says the band’s frontman Ray Mercieca.
Past events aren’t exactly what Mercieca and guitarist Adam Bonello (the rest of the band is indisposed) are here to talk about. Their primary objective is the band’s comeback concert on Friday but talk of the band’s formation in the UK – a line-up that included an American bass player and Adrian Aquilina St John on drums – is too tempting to forego.
“I first met Adrian when he was on holiday in Malta. He was also the drummer with Urban Dissidents, who had played with The Rifffs at the Alhambra, so the connection was already there,” Mercieca recalls.
The band was picking up gigs at a steady pace, but out of the blue, the bass player was deported for overstaying his visa.
“We had gigs coming up so we had to find a solution fast. I got in touch with Gino (Micallef) who was based in Germany back then.”
Micallef came to the rescue and, boosted by Canadian Paddy Ryan on keyboards, the band entered a productive phase that would include gigs at popular venues such as The Mean Fiddler, Dingwalls, The Marquee and The Hippodrome as well as two visits to Malta, during which the band performed at Raffles and outside Tigullio.
Mercieca weaves in and out of different periods of the band’s history at a speed that is hard to keep up with.
Among other things, there is mention of a property developer who became their manager for a while, scrounged rehearsals at the studio used by Motorhead and Siouxsie and The Banshees, who had the same manager as The Alarm and later formations featuring ex-members of Poison Girls, Julian Cope’s band and Eighth Wonder, in which Mercieca “was the only one left from the original Characters”.
He also touches upon a period that he refers to as the band’s “dark side”. After that, the band went on a hiatus, and not long after, Mercieca relocated to Malta.
Back on the island, Mercieca didn’t take long to start playing solo gigs and pulling the crowds. He landed a residency at BJ’s in Paceville, where he first met drummer Tony ‘Gaġġu’ Griscti and hooked up with bassist Gino Micallef again.
Keyboardist Antoine Faure was recruited after Mercieca saw him perform at Rock-a-Buzz. The new line-up didn’t take long to build up a following.
“In the 1990s we enjoyed a lot of success locally and got offered some great opportunities too,” Mercieca explains, going on to describe their visit to Austria and the recording of debut album, Destination Red.
One of the band’s biggest fans was a Scouse chap called Mike Williams, who later became the band’s manager and an essential catalyst in the band’s aspirations.
The first fruit of the new collaboration was The Truth, an album that continued to strengthen the band’s position as one of Malta’s leading rock acts.
In 1998, The Characters followed up their 1996 milestone Luxol concert with another significant performance and released Face to Face, another step in their plans to go to Los Angeles.
“Unfortunately, we lost Mike in a tragic accident around that time – a loss too big for us to handle” Mercieca says, confiding that it’s still difficult to talk about even now.
“He was like a ‘dad’to us, and with him gone everything seemed to collapse around us”.
Long-time friend and supporter Steve Urpani stepped in to try salvage the situation, but it was clear some time off was needed for the band to get to grips with the irreplaceable loss.
The break lasted a few years, with The Characters resurfacing in 2007 for a brief period that yielded two singles.
The return, despite some great performances opening for The Wailers and at the Beer Festival, was marred by a lack of proper promotion.
“We still enjoyed getting up on stage and playing together, but I don’t think we had enough energy for it, so we decided to put it on hold and get together again when we felt the time was right,” says Bonello.
That time, it seems, is now – but what was it that instigated this comeback?
“This is going to sound strange, but I had a dream a few months ago and it just felt complete... it made sense,” Mercieca explains, stopping short of revealing his dream.
Perhaps it isn’t even that important because within 10 minutes, he had called everyone in the band and they were all up for it.
“So Alive was the first song we played and it felt great to be back in the studio together,” Mercieca says with a smile that speaks volumes.
“I must admit I felt a bit of shock at first… we hadn’t seen each other for years. It was an incredible feeling.”
A new chapter obviously brings with it new ideas, and hopefully, new songs.
“We’ve been trying out a few new ideas,” Mercieca says, “but our main concern was to revisit some of the old songs and bring them to another level.”
Bonello thinks this has been an enlightening experience.
“Revamping the songs together has helped us to gel more, as well as discovering new, exciting elements in songs that were written over 20 years ago.”
The biggest test was when people who knew the band from way back dropped by to see them rehearse.
“They told us our faces have changed, the way we communicated with each other was different, but once we started playing, it felt like the band had never gone away. I believe that no matter what we do with our music, as long as it’s the five of us, we always manage to come up with a sound that can only be described as The Characters.”
The Characters will perform at the White Rock Summer Live at Numero Uno in Ta’ Qali on Friday. Tickets cost €10 and are available at the door. For more information call 7909 2468 or 7949 5694 or find White Rock Promotions on Facebook.
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