Will The Smiths ever reunite? Will anyone ever hear "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and "William, It Was Really Nothing" played live by the only four guys in the world who should legally be allowed to?

We spoke with former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke over the phone from his Manchester, England, home — two weeks away from a DJ set he'll spin Wednesday at NextDoor — for the downlow.

But first some perspective ...

The Smiths: This Manchester-based quartet was the genre-defining British indie rock band of the '80s; it effectively killed the synth kids.

Core members: Morrissey, vocalist, 46; Johnny Marr, guitarist, 42; Andy Rourke, bassist, 42; Mike Joyce, drummer, 42.

Founded/disbanded: 1982/ 1987

Studio CDs: "The Smiths" (1984), "Meat Is Murder" (1985), "The Queen Is Dead" (1986), "Strangeways, Here We Come" (1987)

And now, here's Andy ...

On trying on celebrity DJing: "A friend of mine asked me to DJ as a one-off at a Manchester club. From then on, the phone started ringing ... and I started playing all over the world. ... It's just a totally different medium from playing live on stage. I enjoy meeting people. There's a lot of young kids who never got to see The Smiths play live. Seeing me do a DJ set isn't close to that, but they can come and get their albums or CDs signed or have a chat."

On his DJ sets: "I suppose in America they call it Brit-pop: Happy Mondays, Joy Division, The Libertines, The Editors, The Clash, The Doves, Arcade Fire, Pixies, The Breeders. I just play stuff that I like, basically. If people come up and ask for requests and I've got it, I'll play it."

On his set having Smiths songs: "Yes, of course it does."

On still playing live: "I was in a band with Mike Joyce called Vinny Peculiar until about six months ago. I just put on a charity gig in Manchester where ... myself and Johnny Marr got up and did 'How Soon Is Now.' Myself, Mani from Stone Roses and Peter Hook from New Order have a band called Freebass."

On The Smiths never playing Hawai'i: "It was tough enough getting Morrissey over to the (Mainland) states. He really hated flying."

On The Smiths' accomplishments: "When The Smiths came out, there was nothing like us. ... The '80s had Duran Duran and Howard Jones and all this really awful music. And we came along and gave it all a big kick up the (expletive). ... In a way, we sort of invented what we term indie music in England."

On The Smiths' underrated rhythm section: "We (Joyce and Rourke) did play a big part in creating our sound. But the media — with Johnny and Morrissey being the main songwriters — had the spotlight on them a lot more. ... People are beginning to realize (our contributions). It's nice to be paid your dues."

On a Smiths reunion: "People have moved on. Johnny's got his own band. Morrissey's doing his own thing. ... Even if it was just for one tour ... it would be nice just for us all to put the past behind us and enjoy our company again. (The Smiths disbanded when Marr abruptly left in 1987.) ... My stock answer is, 'Never say never.' "

On the last time he spoke with Morrissey: "Since probably just before Mike's court case. (Joyce sued Marr and Morrissey for more than $1.75 million in owed royalties in 1996 and won.) ... I was subpoenaed to give evidence on Mike's behalf. So obviously that made things a little bit strained. ... I'd love to meet up, have a coffee or cup of tea with him and have a chat ... see where his head is at."

On Morrissey's claim that the band turned down $5 million for a one-time gig at 2006's Coachella Music Fest (in Indio, Calif.): "I never got to hear that, so obviously Morrissey turned that down. Not any of us."

On the irony of his side job, given the 32 times-repeated lyric "Hang the DJ" in The Smiths' "Panic": "Yeah, it's quite ironic. No one so far has been a nuisance to me about it. Hopefully, the music I play isn't so bad that anybody would want to hang me ... (Morrissey's lyrics have) nothing to do with me."

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.