Over the past five years or so, heavy metal and black metal music in Ireland has been experiencing somewhat of a regeneration. Bands are appearing throughout the country, intent on giving Irish metal a new face, a new band to follow. Recently, the likes of Altar of Plagues, Bailer, Zom and Deadspeak have been flying the Irish flag across the world.

One of the newest bands to appear on the scene is Worn out; a four-piece heavy metal band made up of Xander Coughlan (vocals), Isaac Riordan (guitar/vocals), Brian Bowell (bass) and Evan Prendergast (drums).

We talk inspiration, motivation and how even for metal, social media is a very necessary evil.

 

How did Worn Out come about?

Isaac: I'd been living abroad and wasn't playing any music, which grew to be quite frustrating. When I moved home I saw the local scene was booming with Bailer killing it at shows. Cork is a small place, so I already knew a few heads who were into the same kind of tunes. I started riffing with Xander and Evan, and we recruited Bobo on Bass. The next thing we knew, we were absolute rockstars.

Xander: Once Isaac came back from Prague I was always onto him to start up a band because we are into the same kind of stuff. It took a while, but when he had taken out a loan to buy a new axe I knew the time had finally come.

How did you all meet?

Evan: Brian was my boss. He hired me. Like he actually thought I was employable. Idiot. I met Isaac and Xander through mutual friends. It’s always nice to meet people at shows. It’s like you’re just handed common interests.

Brian: In my defense, we were stuck for staff that night.

Xander: Me and Isaac have been buds for years. We were friends before we figured out that we were actually related. There's some worn out trivia for you there.

Who are your inspirations?

Evan: Anyone with drive. I don’t like to wait around. If someone has an idea and everyone’s all on board I want to get it moving straight away. I get sick of hearing people complaining about their ideas staying as ideas. There is always something you can do if you get off your ass and push.

Xander: For me, it’s my mom. Trent Reznor. Gucci Mane.

Brian: Andrea Pirlo too.

What music do you guys listen to?

Evan: I listen to a lot of Irish artists, not because I feel like I have to but because they’re amazing. Bands like Meltybrains?, Harbouring Oceans, Overhead, The Albatross, Bailer, Red Enemy, Enemies, Two Glass Eyes, Hornets, Axecatcher. I’ll go off on a tangent if I keep going. I have to stop.

Isaac: I'd like to say I listen to everything as it's an easy way out of a tough question but I'd be lying. I have a strange taste and it's not genre dependent. A banger is a banger. I've been listening to Nails, Code Orange, Trash Talk and Every Time I Die recently but I could also flick on some of my boy Bill Withers.

What is the recording process like as the band?

Evan: We’ll probably only ever will work with Aidan Cunningham. He’s a genius. He’s worked with some amazing bands and will always get the best out of any track. He’s in MURDOCK. He’s an Irish Kurt Ballou.

Isaac: We would ideally have a pre-production demo or a scratch track at hand before we get to the studio to iron out any creases. Tracking order normally runs with drums, guitar, bass and vocals at the end.

Brian: Aidan lets us try our thing before telling us if it sucks or not.

What’s the songwriting process like?

Evan: How we write varies. It can start in our rehearsal space as a unit hashing out ideas after trial and error. Sometimes that can be too much on your mental state so we often sit down with a laptop and hand a guitar around and try piece something together that way.

Isaac: It generally starts for me with an idea for a riff or a groove and it grows from there. We have no set way of writing. I try to keep it simple and let it flow naturally.

Brian: It’s fairly varied and democratic. There are riffs and sections written by Isaac, me and Evan. Even when someone doesn’t write as many sections they can be very involved in the arrangement.

What do you think is the most important component of any band?

Evan: It’s a multitude of things. Respect is a huge one. If you don’t respect each other then it is going to fall apart sooner or later.

Isaac: Enjoyment. If you don't enjoy what you do or it becomes to be more of a chore than a pleasure then you're in the wrong game.

What have your shows been like so far?

Brian: We’ve only played 2 gigs so far but I think they went well. Either way I enjoyed myself. I’m not going to be getting famous from this and with this kind of music it’s important to keep yourself in check and not take yourself too seriously.

What do you want listeners of your band to think when they put on your music?

Evan: I hope they get enjoyment. If it brings someone something positive that’s fine with me. If they get something Negative out of it I hope it keeps them up at night when they’ve to be up early the next day

Brian: My only focus is writing stuff that I like or think is fun to play. If I knew how to write tunes that everyone liked I’d be rich by now. Hopefully other people like it but you can’t win ‘em all.

How important do you believe social media to be in regards to rising up the ladder as a band?

Isaac: I remember being in bands back a few years ago where you would have to play countless shows all over just to get your name out there, now it's nearly all accessible at the click of a button. It's great for self-promotion and networking with bands and fans. We love the attention so check us out on all the usual platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bandcamp and Spotify.

Brian: It’s a necessary evil I suppose. You can make music to just as high a standard and still book gigs without paying attention to it, but it definitely removes a few roadblocks when it comes to getting your stuff heard and booking gigs. It’s important to manage time well though, there’s a lot of bands that fall down the rabbit hole of constant photo shoots and promotion and forget that you still need songs.

What are your plans for 2018?

Evan: We have more music to release, videos, Merch and shows. I can’t say everything obviously but this is going to be a very busy year for us.

Brian: Maybe finally get enough free time for a haircut and a holiday too.

Worn Out's debut single, 'False Hope' can be seen below. The band play the Cellar bar in Galway on March 24th