MURDOCK (Ireland) (Metal-Core/Punk)
Posted Aug 23, 2011, by Josh Snider.
What part of the Ireland are you from and what was it like growing up there? Growing up here was fine for all of us, but as you get older you start to realize some truths. Ireland has a fairly small population, and it feels like we are closed off from the rest of the world here on our little island. I actually love the physical country, but in a lot of ways we are still stuck in the 1800's, and I don’t mean quality of life or technology, Its more the way people are afraid of things that they don’t know previously know, and for a band like us, it's not the most fertile ground to have started out from.
Where have you guys toured or played shows at? So far, all our shows have been in the U.K and Ireland, but all going to plan we will slowly take over the world and maybe get that world tour with White snake.
What are your plans for the near future? As of this minute we have just finished some U.K dates and we have just played with The Dillinger Escape Plan. So, now its back into the studio for more writing and demoing. And when we get the new record into shape we will head out on the road again.
What bands did you grow up listening to? It varied a lot. Like a lot of people my age it started with Nirvana. I remember getting a copy of 'Bleach' on cassette tape and I could not stop listening to it. That album is so raw and filthy and I’m pretty sure somehow that rawness has become part of my guitar playing, or at least it set me off in that direction. Stuff like Green Day, Blink 182, Sum 41 we responsible for setting me off down the punk road, and that eventually led to my love of hardcore punk Modern Life Is War, Sick of it All, Converge, earlier Hatebreed I'm gonna say that the 4 bands that changed my life (and I mean that in the literal "changed my life" way) are Deftones, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Modern Life Is War and Poison The Well. I’m into a lot of the new punky stuff to, like The Ghost of a Thousand and Gallows. Bands such as Hell is For Heroes, Hundred Reasons, Every Time I Die, Cult of Luna, Converge have stayed with me although my teenage years, right to my ripe old man age of 25 now. I’m really into Norma Jean and The Chariot at the moment, such inspirational bands to me.
What difference do you see between UK punk and punk that comes out it the states? Overall, U.K punk is grimier, dirtier and has a lot more bile being spit out. I think USA punk has a lot more of a cathartic melodic vibe to it. But it is hard to generalize; there are so many awesome bands from both sides of the Atlantic.
What sets your band apart from others? What we are is 3 guys playing as passionately as they can. When we record, our songs are recorded as they are played live, we don’t rely of fancy production gimmicks and tricks or overdubbing loads of guitars and vocal lines. The songs are very much their own entity, and sound the same on cd and on stage. We do everything for this band including recording, mixing, artwork, and music videos. We have a work hard DIY punk ethic, and an Integrity that I like to think keeps us motivated and grounded.
What advice could you give to someone who is just starting a band? To play the style of music you want to play, not what you think people will want to here. Cos life is too short to try and please anyone.
I noticed a lot of merchandise that looks pretty cool. At what point did you know it was time to start getting merchandise and booking more shows? It started out as 'it would be cool if we had some shirts and some people wore them' so we ordered up a small run of about 50 shirts around the time we brought out our first album, which was about 9 months into our being a band. And we soon realized that this was a way to help us put fuel in the van and to finance the huge expense that is touring. As for the shows, I don’t think it was a conscious decision to book more shows, it just naturally went that way. We have so much fun playing shows and it really is one of the best feelings that I have ever had, so to try and do it as much as possible is natural. Even if people stop listening, I’m pretty sure we will keep playing hah.
Anything you would like to say to people reading this interview? Thanks for taking the time to check us out. If you like what we do, don’t be a stranger and say Hi, and keep an ear out for some new material soon! And thanks to Josh for contacting us to do this interview.
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