Interview With 'Dead By Monday'
Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?
Ciaran: We're a Punk group based in Glasgow that have been together (in this current lineup) for about 7 or 8 months. I joined the band after they advertised on a Facebook page for a drummer and they tolerated me enough to keep me on!
Murray: Well I first met Declan in college, he went to the same sound production course as me, after a while I met one of his friends Paddy and we started talking about starting a band. So we booked a practice room at The Audio Lounge in Maryhill *shameless plug* and started messing around, a month later we had wrote some songs, all this time we were looking for a drummer; we had some people mess us about so we put a "drummer wanted" ad on Facebook and that when we came into contact with Ciaran, he seemed really enthusiastic so we sent him some demos I recorded at home, the next practice he came to he sat down at the kit and impressed the fuck out of us with his playing, since then we continued to write, started gigging, recorded and released our first EP and now we're looking forward to gigging across the country and introducing people to what we have to offer.
What were you all up too prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?
Ciaran: I always knew music was what I wanted to do with my life. I've been playing drums for well over half of my life now and I've played "professionally" for ceilidh bands and such since I was about 13. However I studied maths for a year at Glasgow Uni before deciding to focus all of my time on music.
Declan: It's kinda funny how we all met, I knew Paddy's little brother before Paddy moved back up here, and me and him randomly auditioned for the same band and found out we lived about 5 blocks from each other. About the same time I was at uni but dropped out to do a sound engineering course at Anniesland college which is where I met Murray. Ciaran answered a wanted ad...
Paddy: I was studying at university and mixing dubstep in my spare time before coming up to Scotland. I still dabble with the decks from time to time but performing in bands has always been my ambition ever since I can remember.
Tell us about your latest EP and why our readers should check it out.
Ciaran: I can honestly say that 'Almost Punk' is my proudest release so far in my musical journey. It's energetic, it's raw and it'll grab you and not let you go once you start listening to it!
Paddy: As well as being mind bendingly heavy in parts, I think 'Almost Punk' is very accessible with huge riffs and chorus’ which everyone can enjoy. We believe we've only just begun to scratch the surface in terms of our songwriting on this EP.
Who would you say is the bands main song writer or is it a group effort and where do you draw your inspiration lyrically and musically from?
Ciaran: There isn't really a main songwriter in the group which is really nice actually. Most of the songs are a combination of lyrics we have which makes the writing process pretty entertaining. In terms of inspiration, a lot of what we write is pretty politically charged, however we like to mix it up every now and then like in "Choke" off of the EP.
Declan: Definitely a group effort. Someone might come in one day with a full song and a vision for it and were all cool to go along with it, other days one of us will have a riff or a chorus or something and we all piece it together. But we're all really good at taking criticism, we basically know how to say 'that's shit' without hurting anyone's feelings. We split all credit equally too, we feel like it really is all about the team effort.
Paddy: It’s really hard to list all my influences simply because there are so many! I was raised on classic Punk Rock acts like The Clash and The Dead Kennedys but I draw a lot of my songwriting influence from Nu Metal, Hardcore and early 2000's Metalcore with a healthy dose of classic 90's Hip Hop tunes in there for good measure!
As a band what do you believe is your greatest achievement to date and why?
As a band we would have to say that our EP is our proudest achievement to date, and the EP launch to go with it! We couldn’t be happier with the way everything sounds and the positive feedback we’ve received from everyone who’s listened to it shows us that this is just the tip of the iceberg for Dead by Monday!
Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?
Ciaran: Wow, this is a difficult one... is it cheesy to say my dad? He is the most musically talented person I've ever met and one of my inspirations to pursue a career in music! Every time he picks up an instrument and plays it flawlessly I'm slightly awestruck, and he plays lots of instruments!
Murray: I once met John Williams, when I was a kid I went to see him in a guitar duo, we managed to catch him at the side door of the venue, we got talking about how I wanted to be a musician and he gave me some advice, he said "if you want to improve as a player, always play with people better than you, that's how you push yourself" advice I still follow today.
What do you enjoy most about touring?
Ciaran: Playing music. Constantly. Just being immersed in the thing you love doing the most with the people you love doing it with.
Declan: I love travelling. I’m the driver too so there’s something really great about getting in my van and knowing you could end up anywhere.
Paddy: I love that fact that you can head to a city where nobody knows your band and then by the end of the set you’ve won over most of the crowd. It’s a very rewarding feeling and it shows me that we’re on the right path for doing what we want to do.
If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?
Chaos and a sweaty, high octane performance. Being up on stage can be quite an isolating experience and so we want the crowd to feel as close to the band as possible. We don't hold back when we play live and the raw energy our songs have on record is increased tenfold whenever we take to the stage. At every show we go all out, we want all our shows to be a mental fucking party, as our name implies, we don't want you to survive the weekend!
If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?
Paddy: For me, Stray From The Path are one of the most talented Punk bands out there at the moment and I feel like we would slot seamlessly into a tour with them and be well received to boot. Our songs share a similar ideology and aggression so it’s a no brainer really!
Ciaran: I would normally say Rush for a question like this but I'm such a big Rush fan that I would want to see a whole set without support! So for Dead By Monday I would have to say a band like August Burns Red who are one of my heavier inspirations.
Murray: Definitely Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes, the crowds at those gigs are always the rowdiest bastards, and that's what we like.
You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about?
Ciaran: Neil Peart, from Rush, without a doubt. My dad sat me down and made me listen to 'Red Barchetta' when I was 8 years old and I knew from that moment I wanted to do everything I could to play music like Rush. I would talk about his practice techniques and tips for making a (40+ year) career out of playing drums!
Declan: Jamie Lenman from Reuben. I heard 'Freddy Kreuger' on Scuzz one day at my mates house and ever since I've been completely hooked. To me they just sounded unlike anybody else. One of my old friends made me a Reuben patch which I managed to get one of the guitarists in his solo project to take backstage and got it signed. I’ve also met his wife and his brother at various shows. I swear I’m not a stalker though, honest. I would talk about his songwriting process and how he combines sick riffs with really intelligent lyrics.
Paddy: Oh that’s easy, I’d love to have a coffee with Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit and try and convince him to lay down some ridiculous lyrics to one of our songs. However Ciaran is a Prog Rock purist so he wouldn’t be best pleased with that!
And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?
Paddy: I’ve never seen Die Hard but it’s set at Christmas isn’t it so doesn’t it go without saying?
Declan: Obviously! And the second one is as well.
Ciaran: I have never seen it either so I really can't comment but the common answer seems to be yes!
Murray: Yippee Ki-Yeah motherfucker!
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