The Last Internationale | Interview

In a rare display of kindness to the Irish people, the Gods have offered up a small sample of summer sunshine on this Tuesday afternoon in Dublin. Particularly chuffed by the presence of that all too elusive yellow ball in the sky are those outside the 3Arena queuing up early to ensure that there is nothing between them and The Who later tonight but the barrier. When the sun shines, the people shine with it.

As work is done to prepare for the evening ahead, the atmosphere inside the 3Arena is equally cheerful. With just over four hours before he is due on stage to open the show, guitarist Edgey Pires of The Last Internationale is chilling out backstage and sampling some nice cold bottles of Irish craft beer, in this case O’Hara’s IPA. On such a fine day, this writer is unable to decline his offer to join him.

He has all the look and stature of a seasoned rocker, but with their debut album ‘We Will Reign” only on the shelves since August last year, it would appear that things have moved fast. Since then the band have ingratiated themselves into the good books of some of the most revered rock stars on the planet, including Robert Plant and now, The Who. “It’s insane man. Just the fact that they take interest in our band to me is mindblowing. We grew up listening to these bands. Never in my life did I imagine touring with them, let alone them being fans of our music.”

Most importantly is the relationship the band have developed with former Audioslave guitar virtuoso Tom Morello. The Last Internationale are one of the latest in a series of bands who have joined his new record label Firebrand Records, the aim of which is to promote radical socially conscious music. In many ways it is a match made in heaven and there may even be a collaboration in the works. “Tom Morello is so supportive. He grounds us in a way. He gives us great advice. We’re gonna be writing some songs together. We’re thinking about doing an EP actually. We’ll probably have him on it. It’s gonna be very exciting.”

In the meantime though there is no shortage of fuel for the creative fire with their latest cover I’m Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song, a stunning vocal performance from Delila Paz which struck number one in the Official UK iTunes Blues Chart in June. In and around the same time the band’s Facebook page reached 19k “likes”. As happy as he is with this, he also feels that it can all be a bit trivial. “The UK charts just mean that people are paying for it. We always encourage our fans to steal the music too and share it. Just as long as our message and our music gets out there. We stay more focused on the actual music and connection with the fans. The internet serves a purpose for us and that is to pretty much to be connected with all of our fans from all different parts of the world.”

The purpose of this connection is to mobilise people and start a movement. There is strong conviction here and the influence of the ghosts of revolutionaries past is evident from the sincere respect in Pires’s voice. “Music is a mobilising tool and especially with the topical songs it can preserve history and keep certain historical events alive like the 1913 Massacre by Woody Guthrie. Che Guevara said that love is the driving force of revolution. Those two go hand in hand.”

So the revolution continues across Europe now. The band are eager to secure more headlining shows, due to sheer demand. The finances can be tough though. Apparently some fans are already getting a little testy with them. “If we do that tour that you want us to do, I don’t know how I’m gonna get there. We’ll show up with no instruments or no equipment cause we’ll be dead broke!” he jokes, breaking into laughter.

While the realities of life on the road are being sorted out, the writing continues. With the ever pressing issue of race resurfacing in the US psyche, and the advent of movements like Black Lives Matter, there seems to be no shortage of avenues for the band to direct their music. Lead singer Delila Paz has been working on a song entitled Soul On Fire, which connects soul singers of times passed who were oppressed because of their race to the current struggle for black rights.

This is one area that will probably permeate any new material, says Pires. As long as there is injustice, there will be those who rally against it. The Last Internationale will certainly have its work cut out for them. Peace.