Johnny Marr’s formation of the Healers had a classic feel. He met drummer Zack Starkey at a Who concert, and Noel Gallagher recommended bassist Alonza Bevan, formerly of Kula Shaker. Chemistry was key for Marr, and fate played a role in gathering the right members for the band.
In addition to Bevan and Starkey, Marr enlisted Liz Bonney on percussion, Lee Spencer on synth, and Adam Gray on guitar to give tracks like “InBetweens” a bluesy edge. The process felt organic, yet the creation of the Healers’ sole album, Boomslang—released in 2003 and recently reissued—was anything but traditional. It was driven by the technology of the late ’90s and early 2000s, with synths and guitars steering the sound.
Reflecting on Boomslang in an interview with MusicRadar, Marr discussed how the recording process was deeply influenced by the rise of digital technology. He shared, “As a band, nearly all of the Healers were very into technology and synthesizers. I was super into guitar technology and still am. We wanted grooves that could’ve been done in the ’60s or ’70s, but it wasn’t retro—it was about marrying retro and digital sounds.”
Marr’s experience with The Smiths and Electronic had given him the tools to produce and lead the album, bringing his deep understanding of blending guitars and synths to the forefront. He recalled, “I learned how to produce records with The Smiths. I knew how to mix guitars and synths together after years of working with Bernard Sumner in Electronic.”
Recorded at Forest Edge, a remote house-turned-studio, the band had a communal setup where they lived and worked together. While the vibe was hippie-esque, it fostered creativity, and the band used both modern and vintage tools. Marr explained, “I’d bring a song in, and we’d jam it out. I don’t often work that way, but for The Healers, I was more open. We’d then give tracks to Lee Spencer, who would chop them up and add programming.”
Tracks like All Out Attack, which appears on the 2024 reissue, came from this collaborative process. Marr noted, “It’s one of the strongest things we did.” Similarly, songs like Bangin’ On and You Are the Magic came together through experimentation, while others, like Down on the Corner, followed a more traditional songwriting approach.
Marr also reflected on the spontaneity of some tracks, including a vignette called Something to Shout About, which he improvised between takes. “I started playing, and it came together. We left it on the album as a little atmospheric piece,” he said.
While Boomslang was the only album released by the Healers, its legacy lives on in Marr’s solo work. The experimentation with guitars, percussion, and cutting-edge tech during that period laid the groundwork for his later projects. Marr’s 2022 album, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4, featured similar blends of synths and guitars, harking back to the Boomslang era.
Despite Marr’s leadership, the Healers was a collaborative project. “It was a mix of a jam band, my singer-songwriter side, and ’90s/2000s dance music technology,” Marr said. “We had Moogs, Korg 101s, and Space Echoes—it was the early days of hard disk recording, pushing the boundaries of what we could do.”
Ultimately, Boomslang was a snapshot of a moment when technology and music were evolving together, shaping the future of Marr’s sound while paying homage to his past.
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