EMQ’s with LORD
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Sydney/Wollongong, Australia based Metal/Rock band, LORD. Huge thanks to bassist Andy Dowling for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My name is Andy Dowling and I play bass for the Australian Metal band LORD. We formed originally under the name Dungeon in 1989 and changed our name to LORD at the end of 2005. Across the two eras of the band we’ve released 9 albums, a couple of live albums and a stack of EP’s. We’ve toured internationally and across Australia for the past several decades.
How did you come up with your band name?
LORD originally came from our frontman Lord Tim however over time the name has taken on a life of its own. There were a lot of reasons behind the name itself and its ultimate change from Dungeon. Tim spent considerable time putting together a fantastic blog post on our website called “What’s in a name?” which explains it far better than I ever could!
(Reference: https://www.lord.net.au/whats-in-a-name/)
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
We’re based in Sydney and Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. Australia has a fantastic metal scene and over the years we have had a stack of bands that have gained international recognition as well as popularity here at home. I’m sure most metal bands the world over would be able to name at least a handful of Australian metal bands these days which is absolutely fantastic. We’re a proud bunch down here!
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Our latest EP release is “Chaos Raining” which came out on June 12 via our label, Dominus Records. Available via Bandcamp (https://lordofficial.bandcamp.com) and all streaming platforms.
Who have been your greatest influences?
There have been a lot of bands that certainly inspired me to pick up a guitar and want to play in a band. Many of them are obvious picks like Megadeth, Metallica, Maiden, Priest etc however as I discovered more music I continued to develop a taste for wanting to do it myself and get on a stage. As far as influential people are concerned, there have been many people in my personal life who have inspired me to pursue my endeavours whether it be friends, family or even observing others from a distance. To this day I am constantly influenced and inspired to do more and continue to grow as a person.
What first got you into music?
The radio and old compilation cassettes as a kid got me into music generally, in particular rock music. With regard to metal, it wasn’t until I was in my early teens and was given a dubbed tape of “…And Justice For All” by Metallica that my life changed forever. I had never heard anything like it before and I was instantly hooked.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
John Farnham would be the ultimate. I think we could put together an awesome song for one of the greatest singers of all time. We’ve covered some Farnham songs in the past (eg: Playing to Win and Break the Ice) so we’re primed and ready!
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Bloodstock would be really special for us as we have never had the chance to play in the UK yet. To play a festival like that would be a fantastic way to say hello to our UK friends who have followed us for so many years. Putting that aside, we really love to play any festival as there’s a great opportunity to not only connect again with friends but make new ones as you often get to showcase your music in front of a large audience.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
I’ve received pairs of socks on multiple occasions from Japanese fans on tour. I’ve also had photo albums given to me from the previous tour when I had photos with the same friends in Japan. Some of the most thoughtful and generous people we have met. I certainly wouldn’t be getting socks from fans/friends anywhere else in the world, that’s for sure!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Our fans are our friends. We are all cut from the same cloth. We love music and in particular metal. We’re huge fans ourselves. The only difference is that every once in a while we jump up on stage to play some music for everyone. With that being said, we are so incredibly humbled that we have had so many amazing people connect with us over the years and build friendships with the band and each of us individually. Our friends are our inner circle of LORD and we will continue to make sure they know/feel that.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
I really miss Dio. I think he still had so much to give and a huge hole was left for me when he died. One of the greatest singers and writers in metal. I’m incredibly thankful that I got to see him a handful of times and more importantly will continue to be captivated by his music for many years to come. He left us with so much to enjoy.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The hard work, trial and error, experimentation and then feedback and reward you receive over the years. It’s incredibly satisfying and enriching on a personal level. I don’t necessarily hate anything in particular however I sometimes feel that individual personalities sometimes bring themselves and others down. There’s more than enough opportunity to go around these days and an inflated ego or poor behaviour in general is simply unnecessary. Luckily, those people are few and far between.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
A little more regulation from a business perspective. There are too many inexperienced/unqualified people working in music industry related jobs or as businesses who create a lot of problems for the overall industry. I also think that more government support/funding for music in Australia on all levels would be incredibly beneficial not only for musicians and industry representatives but for the wider public. Music has a lot of benefits for people in general. The more opportunities people have to enjoy music in a variety of ways, the better it is for the community as a whole.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
“So Far, So Good… So What!” – My all-time favourite Megadeth album. Scrap the Sex Pistols cover and it is absolutely flawless. Original recording as well. Not the remaster!
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
None of them. I love them all and they all serve their purpose depending on where I am and my preference at the time. From a musician perspective, they all are beneficial and for the most part still a necessity for us in order to provide people with format choice to listen to our music.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Most memorable is definitely playing at ProgPower USA in Atlanta in 2016. A fantastic festival, great crowd and we recorded the audio/video for our last live album. A real time capsule of great memories.
Best gig performance wise? The 2nd of back to back shows in Tokyo back in 2013. It was the last show of a run of shows throughout SE Asia and Japan and we were a well-oiled machine. We don’t often get to do long runs of shows but that showed our real potential as a band. I like to think that we always put on a great show, but that really went next level musically for us.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Something involving me talking a lot of shit. In fact, I got into podcasting back in 2015 (hosting The Andy Social Podcast and Nod to the Old School) which has been a huge part of my life. I probably would have been doing something like that regardless! I’m really good at dribbling all sorts of nonsense into a mic.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
John Farnham, Adrian Smith, Iva Davies, Mark Furtner and Alain De Botton.
What’s next for the band?
We just released our latest EP “Chaos Raining” which is available on Bandcamp and all streaming services. We’ll ride that one for the short term but we are already starting to put together details of the next release which might come out later in 2020. Maybe a new studio album in 2021 as well if all of the creative elements and time falls into place. Either way, we’re going to be busy!
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
www.open.spotify.com/artist/6mLDXLOEh4fcvxm5ICKfhE
www.music.apple.com/us/artist/lord/18929843
www.lordofficial.bandcamp.com/
www.youtube.com/user/lordofficial
www.facebook.com/lordofficial
www.instagram.com/lordofficial
www.twitter.com/lordofficial
We’re in most places! Search for “lordofficial” and you can usually track us down.
Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?
I’m not sure if we have Jaffa Cakes here in Australia but going by the name it SHOULD be a cake. If it was a biscuit, then it would be a Jaffa Biscuit. That might be too logical haha. It sounds awfully sugary.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thanks for the opportunity to answer these great questions and talk about our band. We love what we do and feel honoured to be able to keep putting new music out after so many years. We’ve made so many great friends through music and I’m looking forward to making many more.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.