EMQ’s With Worn Out
EMQ’s With Worn Out
Hi Everyone. Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Irish Hardocre band, Worn Out. Huge thanks to their Guitarist, Alex, 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?
Hello there, my name is Alex and I am the guitar player for the Irish Hardcore band Worn Out. For the History: I joined a bit later after the original guitar player left the band. I know that the guys started out in 2017, initially Evan (Drums) and Xander (Vocals) wanted to start a band in the vein of Alice In Chains. That didn’t work out quite as well ha ha! Brian (Bass) then also joined and together with their original guitar player Isaac they started to write songs. In late 2018 after the band played quite a few live shows across Ireland Isaac decided to step away from the band and I stepped in. I just moved to Ireland and was looking for a new band to join.
When we then first met we instantly had writing chemistry so the guys decided to let me join the band. We then played a lot of shows, wrote an EP called “Waste“ and had plans to release it in 2020, you can take a good guess why that didn’t happen, ha ha! In 2021 we then finally released that EP on vinyl, which we completely self-funded and released and then went on to play more shows. Since then, we had the opportunity to play with bands such as Godmother, Palm Reader, Cro-Mags, Brujeria, Unsane, Harbinger and Burner just to name a few and we also made it for the first time across the small pond to tour in Scotland with our good friends in Below The Neck and Lure In. Meanwhile we kept writing new songs which are quite different from our previous stuff and the first release of that bunch of songs is now our new Single ‘Deeper’.
How did you come up with your band name?
There is no real story behind that, it just sounded cool, ha ha.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from Cork in the south of Ireland. The scene here is incredible. There are so many super talented bands across the entire country, and you really get a feel that there is community going on. Our Drummer Evan also runs shows here as well under the name Dead Cult Promotions and I think this is also a big reason why our music scene here is as alive and active as it is. Also notable is the Scene in Limerick where John from Bad Reputation, who runs show in Dolans as well as the twice a year indoor festival Siege of Limerick. These are always jam packed and there is such a big variety of bands playing that you are bound to stumble across something you haven’t heard before. If you plan to come to Ireland, definitely do it when the Siege is on.
What is your latest release?
We just released our newest single ‘Deeper’ with a music video which is the opening Track of our new EP called “Low“, which is quite different from our last EP. We started to make the use of 7 string guitars and also opened ourselves up to more influences outside of Hardcore. While we still have super abrasive songs which also can become a bit more chaotic than our previous stuff, we also incorporated more atmosphere to break up the constant barrage of aggression. I would definitely say this EP has a wider spectrum than “WASTE“, and we are super stoked to finally share this with people outside of the band.
Who has been your greatest influences?
All 4 of us draw their inspiration from very different types of music. Our drummer Evan likes a lot of more straight forward Hardcore stuff, as well as some bands that are more on the punkier side which gives us a lot of drive and aggression. Brian is hugely into Post-Hardcore and a bit more complex music. I can definitely hear a lot of Cave In in the way he writes baselines, which I just love. Also, both of are big Everytime I Die fans, so this definitely had an influence on us in the past. I listen to a lot of Black Metal, Death Metal and Mathcore, basically everything that is dissonant as well as a bit more out there and I would say the bands that had the biggest impact on me writing riffs were early Converge and Ion Dissonance as well as Deftones. Xander draws a lot of inspiration from Hardcore bands as well as some early 90’s stuff.
What first got you into music?
When I was a child I couldn’t sleep one night and snuck into the living room to watch some TV (don’t tell my mom). I turned on MTV and they played the music video for ‘New Noise’ from Refused. I was so shocked and frightened of that song, but it also stuck with me. Around the same time a Punk band were practicing in the same youth club I went to and as shy as I was, I just asked them if they would let me watch them jam, they were pretty cool about it though and let me watch. That’s the first time a played drums and after that I knew I wanted to be in a band.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
That’s a tough one! I think it would be cool to collaborate with someone who is very removed from what we are doing, kinda like the “Thou and Emma Ruth Rundle“ record. Either that or someone who dreams up some haunting soundscapes over some of our songs. So, I don’t have anyone particular in mind but that would be my idea.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
There are 3 festivals I think we could fit. The first is Arc Tangent because I think even though we are a hardcore band we kinda let a lot more influences into our sound which made us kinda sound different from what some people would label as hardcore, and of course they always book line ups that for me personally are very close to what I wanna see. On the other hand I still think we are very much a Hardcore band and we love chaotic and energetic shows with hard as nails pits, stage dives and what not. So, Outbreak Fest would definitely be a bucket list thing for us!
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Not a weird gift, but something really cool actually. I am a total nerd and when Steve from Grey Stag just gifted me some Warhammer miniatures while we were at a show, while a band was playing in front of us was, just priceless! Thanks so much again Steve! I still haven’t built them ha-ha.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
To all the people who are following us, streaming our music, buy merch and come to shows to have a good time, thank you all so much. It’s always a blast seeing when someone digs our stuff so from the bottom of my heart thank you for the, it is very much appreciated from all of us!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
A. I don`t know about the “rockstar“ but Caleb Scofield from Cave In. This guy was so influential and everything he touched was just absolutely incredible. He really just left this world far too early.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I enjoy playing shows and I hate playing shows ha-ha. Don’t get me wrong I love the shows itself, the energy and the interaction with people. It’s generally the greatest time ever and I absolutely made friends for life that way. What I don’t like is the travelling. Being stuck in a van or car and then having to setup and tear down the gear every day. This can be sometimes a bit stressful especially when you have a long drive back and it is super late already. Then on the other hands thee drives back are usual super fun because everyone is still pumped from the show. so yeah, it all has its ups and downs, the pros outweigh the cons though.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Take the power away from the streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. I feel too much emphasis is being placed on how many people are listening to an artist there and this can have pretty big implications for artists in general. Also, as someone who generally buys a lot of physical media I would love to see any form of physical releases make a bigger comeback, but that is just wishful thinking.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
There can only be one for me: Ion Dissonance – “Solace”. This record changed completely how I write music and turned my entire world upside down. To this day I don’t think any Mathcore band matched their intensity. This is just one of the angriest and most uncompromising pieces of music ever created.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Oh, definitely Vinyl! I started to collect Vinyl myself over the pandemic and I feel you just listen completely different to an album or EP if it is on vinyl. Also holding the big artworks in your hand and placing the record on your turntable has just some ritualistic… oh and it’s a money hole.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
For me it was the Siege of Limerick 2022. A packed venue, it was the last show of a short Irish run, so we played very tightly, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it a lot. I have seen videos afterwards and still think this belongs at the very top of the shows we played. Another testament on how great the Siege of Limerick is in general.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I had a point in my life where I thought I would be done with music and just the fact that I am here answering these questions shows that there is no way in hell I would be doing anything else ha-ha. If I wouldn’t be playing music I would just sit at home and play video games, but I would feel absolutely unstimulated.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Easy: it would be my band, our main photographer Dylan (check out his band Pretty Ltd), as well as Jongo . This will start off very relaxed but will escalate as the night moves on, so interesting stories will happen ha-ha.
What’s next for the band?
At the time of writing this we just released the single ‘Deeper’, which will be followed by the Release of our new EP “Low“ in august. After that we have some tours in the works which we haven’t announced yet, so I have to withhold the details there, sorry. What I can say though is that we will be playing Ireland and hopefully the UK as well in the near future. More on that when the time comes on our socials.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
You can basically find us anywhere on social media.
https://wornoutnoise.bandcamp.com
https://twitter.com/wornoutnoise
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
When I think of a round piece of bread, maybe hand sized I think of a Bap, but who knows I could be absolutely wrong here. So I stick with “bread rolls“.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thanks for having us! And check out our newest Single ‘Deeper’, available on all streaming platforms.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
