By now you folks probably know one of my favorite pastimes is to expose unsigned bands doing really cool shit. So when Censura from Ireland was first thrown my way, I braced myself for what I thought would end up as another Celtic flavored folk band on a 6th generation wave of heritage cashing. Instead I was greeted with a very current fresh look at something going on in metal from the last place I'd expect to hear it. A few weeks ago Metal Injection premiered Censura's music video to the world, and it wound up being one of the most popular music videos on our network this year. Today I bring you a closer look at Censura as I interview guitarist Dom Mc Inerney.
Frank: What is it like being a young metal band in Ireland, is it hard to find like-minded metal musicians in your area?
Dom: Jimmy, our singer is working in USA with other bands for years, same for our French bass player Kal. We are definitely not a real Irish band, I am proud of being Irish but I think Censura is just a metal band in the end. Yeah Censura has had a fair few line-up changes in the past and I think it's definitely because of how hard it is to find like minded musicians to work with. I think the new line up has come together so naturally and it's because we have such a similar attitude and work ethic.
Frank: I figure just about every Irish band has a hint of Celtic influence, but when I heard The Island EP I was completely taken by surprise at how current it is. I'm guessing U2 isn’t your biggest influence, but that begs the following question, what is?
Dom: That’s exactly it! We didn’t want to do what everyone would expect from an Irish metal band. Well there’s probably some sort of Celtic influence in there somewhere, like who doesn’t love a bit of Riverdance! haha, but on a serious note, our biggest influences are bands that have a really different sound, and bands that really push the boundaries in the industry. Artists like Devin Townsend and American Head Charge to Pendulum and The Prodigy are major influences when it came to writing the The Island.
Frank: Censura has a knack for mixing technical groovy parts right beside Dubstep and DJ parts without falling into an obnoxious or obvious state I find many others doing. What goes into perfecting the music writing, and the relations between crossing two different genres of music?
Dom: In fact we write riffs first with Kal (Producer and Bassplayer) around the bones of the song. Then we try to make it match with cheesy synchs! haha. We then send the spine of a song to Jimmy, and Kal produces Jimmys singing, and then we go back to record and program stuff, adding arrangements. We produce everything with our Protools, Ableton and Controllers.
Frank: Can you tell us about your experience shooting the music video The Voice with Ben Cappelletti?
Dom: It was great working with such a professional director. His ideas were great and he really understood the message we were trying to get across with the song. It was actually amazing how he used the Irish landscape without it looking cheesy! Throughout the two day shoot, we learned so much from Ben and all the crew. Everyone worked together so well and I think for our first music video it turned out pretty well!
Frank: I understand the EP is all self-produced and recorded in France at your Bass player’s studio, is there any tension during the recording process when self producing for you guys?
Dom: We basically produced the EP in my bedroom with Kal before going to bigger studios to make it sound more pro and for Kal to go back to his producer post. Kal has a lot of experience as a producer and a musician, (Sikh, Really Addictive Sound, etc…) and works also with guys like Mudrock in LA so recording with him is super fun, positive and extremely intense: he won't stop asking me to play my guitar again and again until he says "ok this riff is not so bad! " hahahaha There is no tension during recording, we are a really positive band. I might be the worst one stressing about whatever haha
Frank: What is your favourite and least favourite thing about your band?
Dom: I think my favourite thing is the fact that we have defined our own style: we don't sound like other metal bands. We take risks try to make Censura a different band with different emotions. Jimmy our singer is a really positive guy and we try to put that in our lyrics. The least favourite thing about the band: too early to say haha
Frank: What’s next for Censura? Can we expect a LP release soon?
Dom: We are actually talking to several labels at the moment, and we hope we will find one as crazy as us haha! We go back into the studio in December in the south of France because we have a lot of new material to put in the box. Another tour in April, Ireland and UK and we hope to hit US in June!.
[tv]https://metalinjection.net/tv/view/7675/censura-the-voice-video-premiere[/tv]
