The Smiths drummer Mike Joyce has announced his autobiography, The Drums.
- READ MORE: Mike Joyce tells us about ending his feud with Johnny Marr, The Smiths’ reunion row and a mural for Andy Rourke
Joyce took to social media this past weekend to announce the book, which is due for release in the UK on November 6. It’s available for pre-order now, with HMV offering a limited hardback edition – limited to one copy per customer – signed by Mike Joyce himself.
Details surrounding the book’s global release have yet to be announced. Per HMV’s description of The Drums, it’ll offer fans a “no-holds-barred” view of the band from “the perspective of the self-confessed biggest Smiths fan in the world”.
The book also admits that it’s not looking to add anything entirely new to the Smith’s heavily documented past: “The written history of the Smiths is not missing an encyclopedic account of everything that happened over the years; but Mike’s honest, entertaining and deeply human memoir is what Smiths fans have been waiting for. This book truly conveys what it felt like to be a member of the Smiths.”
The Drums marks the third Smiths memoir. Morrissey published the first, titled Autobiography, in 2013 via Penguin Classics. Three years later, Johnny Marr released Set The Boy Free.
While bassist Andy Rourke – who died in 2023 – did not release an autobiography, he extensively interviewed for Tony Fletcher’s 2012 book A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of the Smiths.
Speaking to NME last year about the chances of a Smiths reunion following the death of Rourke, Mike Joyce said: “Other people will have other ideas but, as far as I’m concerned, with Andy not being here, it’s impossible to have a reunion of The Smiths.”
Most recently, Mike Joyce joined Pete Doherty’s solo live band, and in May performed a number of The Smiths classics ‘Panic’ and ‘How Soon Is Now?’ with the Libertines frontman.
In June, Johnny Marr revealed why he turned down an “eye-watering” amount of money for a Smiths reunion tour: “It was a little bit about principles, but I’m not an idiot, I just think the vibe’s not right. It was an eye-watering amount of money, but also, I really like what I’m doing now which makes it a lot easier. I like where I’m at. I still want to write the best song I’ve ever written. I want to be a better performer.”
