Madina Lake come to Ireland to play their first and last headline show here on Friday 20th September. We never caught them when they played as part of the Kerrang tour around five years ago but they have made the tough call to go their separate ways and engage in other projects and in one last tour will be giving Ireland a raucous show to remember them by.
We had a little Q&A with the band on all things Madina Lake and discussed everything from the bands that inspired them, bands who put on great live shows and whether they might ever get back together…
For those who don’t know you. Introduce yourselves
Hola, Mi amo Nathan from Madina Lake! Though we’re technically based out of Chicago, we now live in LA (nathan), Bogota, Columbia (mateo), Philadelphia,(jeezy) and Chicago (matthew). We’re in a modern rock band w/electronic and punk influences.. started in 2005 !
When you started, what artists inspired you?
Smashing Pumpkins, NIN, Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, GNR, Refused, Jimmy Eat World etc.
Is it weird to play your first and last Irish headline shows at the same time?
Well, it’s a shame we didn’t come through Ireland more during our 8 years of touring. We had insanely awesome shows there on the K tour. I think if we can get them to lower the ferry costs that would help? I don’t know what I’m talking about. Either way, we can’t wait to be back.
How has knowing that you are breaking up and this is the final tour changed the dynamic of preparing and heading on tour?
It’s obviously bitter sweet. Fortunately we’ve got another project in the works that is helping take the sting out of it being the last Madina tour. But it also hasn’t set in yet.. I’m sure once we get out there it’ll be really difficult to accept.
How do you relax on tour? (Favourite TV / Books / Websites you like to indulge in individually or as a band)
I get pretty obsessed with Netflix. 24, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Walking Dead, Homeland etc. But lately, I can’t stop with ancient technology stuff.. I’ve trolled YouTube, read books and articles etc. about everything related to Sumerians, Limeria, Annunaki, The Pyramids, Ancient Magelyths, Peru, Bolivia, Giants, etc. Unfortunately, now I’m convinced our species was created by Aliens from Planet X (Nerubu) who came to Earth thousands of years ago to mine gold to fix their atmosphere.. I’d say I’m becoming more reasonable and rational in my day.. wouldn’t you?
If you could cover one song out right now? What would it be? Do you have any particularly good covers in your arsenal?
We covered NIN March of the Pigs for a while and Iron Maiden’s Caught Somewhere in Time Oh and Smashing Pumpkins Today.
Who are you currently addicted to listening?
Lights, Miles Davis (for cred points), Foxy Shazam.
Is there an emerging band you really love and think is going to go big?
Well there’s so much talent out there that it’s flooding the industry, making the actual needles in the hay stacks a lot trickier to find. Though there is an artist Matthew and I have begun working with who, in my subjective opinion of course, is among the best I’ve ever heard. I’m sure ya’ll will meet him soon enough!
What is the best live band you’ve ever seen?
Recently? …. Foxy Shazaam.
All time? … Hmm… Primus or Flaming Lips!
Has there been a show you played that stands out among the others as special during your career?
There have been a few monumental show moments for us but in the interest of our Irish dates, I’ll go ahead with “Dublin”. There were thousands of kids and the crowd was insane.. at one point,I accidentally climbed up a speaker stack and hopped on top of the kids.. in what seemed like an eternity, the packed-like-sardines crowd slowly toppled over. I was under at least a few hundred of them who each had a few hundred on top of them.. ha. it was a nightmare but fortunately nobody got hurt and I eventually made my way back on stage .
What should we expect from this Irish show?
Well, you can probably expect that sort of thing again ha. BUT.. safety first, always! No joke… we are very passionate about performing and the Irish crowds were amazing so it will definitely be high energy and I’m expecting it gets a bit rowdy, in a good way of course. And we’ll have some crazy production etc. But definitely expect every last ounce of us because that’s what we’re bringing!
Might there ever be a Madina Lake reformation?
If there becomes a positive reason to do so, I’d say definitely. We’ve all got some other things to invest ourselves in for a bit but we’ll never stop playing and writing together.. and we usually like to keep a trick or two up our sleeves!
Madina Lake play The Academy, Dublin on Friday 20th September 2013 SHOW CANCELLED