'We are loud, high-energy, full-on commitment'

The 1980s was a vibrant decade known for voluminous hairstyles, bold fashion and energetic music that left a lasting impact on the world. Among the many musical styles of that era, alternative bands stood out by breaking away from the mainstream and embracing a more experimental sound that continues to feel fresh and influential today. One of these is English alternative post new-wave band Then Jerico, who are making a welcome return to Spain next week as part of their current tour. Following gigs in Barcelona (7) and Valencia (9), the '80s hit band will perform at Sala Roka in Malaga on Saturday 10 October.

Over the years, various lineups of the band have returned to Spain for performances, with appearances spanning from 1991 to 2025. As vocalist Mark Shaw puts it, “It is always a pleasure to return to Spain”.

“To be honest, I think we get a better reaction from the Spanish than we do from the English. The Spanish audience doesn't just come to watch; they come to join in. The English crowds are wonderful, but maybe a little bit more reserved. In Spain, they go crazy all the way through. They are amazing,” the 65-year-old vocalist tells SUR in English.

Shaw formed the band by putting an advert in the London music press claiming to be an “experienced singer”, despite having never sung before. All he wanted was to “be noticed”.

“I don't know why I wanted to be a singer. I blame David Bowie to be honest. I always assumed I was going to be this lead singer who was a great guitarist, but I soon figured out this was not going to happen,” he says, bursting into laughter.

He decided that the best thing to do was to “do what came naturally”, which was to “just sing, strut about and pose”.

“It's not about being able to sing, it's about whether you can pull it off and deliver a song. I knew I had the confidence to do it and I knew I wanted to be a song writer. So, I got a bunch of musicians together who could produce the standard that I needed to make my songs sound the way I wanted them to sound,” he explains.

Although the band's name comes from the Bible, Shaw says that he is “not particularly religious”.

“I used to live in a squat and there was like two things to read, the Bible and a porn magazine called something like screaming orgasms, (laughing again). I've always been fascinated by the story of the Walls of Jerico. It was a metaphor for me. I saw it as something great because music can change the world,” the charismatic rocker declares.

Then Jerico's story began in 1983 and took off the following year after they signed to London Records. They produced five top 40 hits in the UK during the late 1980s, including The Motive and Sugar Box. They also produced two albums, First (1987) and The Big Area (1989), which went gold and produced the band's biggest selling hit, Big Area.

The band's reputation as a live act grew rapidly, earning widespread praise for Shaw's energetic stage presence, the musicians' high level of performance and their ability to reproduce their recorded songs with remarkable accuracy in a live setting. This was a time when the UK music scene exploded with a constant stream of hugely respected bands, many of whose music remains as fresh and exciting today as it was four decades ago. Among them were The Alarm, Big Country and Simple Minds - bands that Then Jerico was often compared with at the time.

“The '80s made a huge impression on me. There were so many amazing bands. The music moved away from the anger of punk, but there was still that attitude, but everyone was so individual. It was great. We were all kind of highly charged. Most of these bands predated Jerico, but I wasn't really aware of them. I've always been a fan of Simple Minds, but I don't think we sound like them: they're a much better band than we will ever be,” he says, with conviction.

Then Jerico split up in early 1990 after Shaw left the band to pursue a solo career, although the original lineup reformed in 1998. In 2014, after the three original musicians left the band, Shaw continued with a new lineup.

During the 1980s, Then Jerico had a sound that sat between new wave, alternative rock and polished pop-rock. Their music evolved noticeably between their debut album and The Big Area. The debut album had a distinctly late-80s British alternative character, with a driving rhythm section and angular, chiming guitars. By 1989, the band had become considerably bigger and more polished. The Big Area album moved towards arena-sized pop-rock, while retaining the band's new-wave roots.

“I wanted a band that had that anthemic stadium appeal that we could use as a platform to express our social and political beliefs. We were described as a rock band with a pop band screaming to get out. We didn't care what people labelled us as, because all we wanted to do was make music,” he says.

A major part of the Then Jerico sound was Shaw himself, who was not simply the vocalist: he was central to the band's creation and direction. His voice was high, urgent and emotionally exposed, much the same as it is today. He remains active as the frontman of Then Jerico, and for the last 12 months he has been performing both with a full-band and an acoustic show, which he describes as deliberately more spontaneous arrangements of the familiar Then Jerico songs.

“The songs create so much excitement and the crowd seem to love them. I never get bored singing them because I take myself back to when I wrote the song. I still get the same buzz playing them today, because I believe they have stood the test of time. We wanted to come up with a timeless sound, so I purposely tried to steer away from what everyone else was using at the time. I wanted something that would be unique and beautiful, totally organic,” he says.

For the Spanish dates, the full band will reproduce a selection of songs from First and The Big Area, with a few of Shaw's solo songs. He says he is “really looking forward to seeing the Spanish fans again”. Jokingly, he adds that the Malaga audience can expect “utter chaos”.

“We are loud, high-energy, full-on commitment. I work with three excellent musicians and we go out there to give everything we've got. If we don't come off stage absolutely exhausted then it hasn't been a Then Jerico concert,” he concludes.