The word ‘indomitable’ comes to mind when speaking to Mike Peters. After The Alarm star, 64, returned from tour in April 2022, he was diagnosed with pneumonia. The leukaemia he’s battled for decades had come back with life-threatening vengeance, and his drug treatment was no longer working. He spent most of that year either in hospital or at home recovering, and then – coming back from the brink – he thought he’d lost his voice forever. But with a successful new drug regimen (and his relentlessly positive attitude), Peters is coming back strong with spirited new Alarm album Forwards, and acoustic shows too.
How are you feeling right now, in this moment?
I feel really good. The new drugs are working better than anyone could have hoped for. I’m on the highest dose you can imagine. It took me a long time to get weaned onto it, but ever since then it’s been working fantastically well. And I can sing much better on the new drugs, too.
You’ve been through the wringer yet again, so when did you find time to work on Forwards?
I actually started writing some of the songs while I was in hospital. I had a drain coming out of my back, releasing the blood that had filled my lung, so I could only lie on one side, for hours on end, for ten days non-stop. I could have half an hour between IV sessions when I could sit up. I knew I was going to be in for a long time, so I had the guitar there. I’d strum a few chords and then it was: “Right, Mike, you’ve got to get back on your side, down you go.”
As an artist and musician, you must have relied on your musical imagination to keep you sane.
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