► Fighting with Wire is just about to drop its second record; what is the general feeling in Camp wire?
Cahir O’Doherty : We’re very excited, its been 4years since man vs monster so we know it’s been a long wait – but it’ll be worth it I think.
► After such a universally adored debut album, Man vs. Monster, did you feel a huge weight whilst writing this second record? Or did the competitive element of wanting to better it drive you forward?
I have to say I stressed hard on this new record because I had to up my game, this record had to be better in every way, it was a huge challenge but one I was happy to take on. I feel if you’re a band given an opportunity no matter how big or small you have to pour your heart and soul into it, otherwise what’s the point?
► You recorded your new record in Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones). How did this process differ to recording your debut album with Northern Irish producer Neal Calderwood?
With the first record we had a lot of time to perfect the songs and we had a clear vision of what we wanted so the process was relatively easy, Neal is great to work with he totally got what we were trying to do and nailed it. With Nick it was all hands on he essentially joined the band and got to know us well so he knew what we liked and didn’t like, he was great fun to work with and is a proper hands on rock producer, his sounds are so nasty … love it!!
► In the studio, as a three-piece rock band, did you ever feel any limitations? Or are there several layers on the new songs?
There’s a lot you can do with a 3 piece and we tried to stay true to that on this record. The most important thing is the song, we are there to service the song, I think a lot of bands forget that it’s not about you as a player, people don’t give a fuck if you can widdle like jimmy page or if you can play faster drums than joey jordison … they want to hear that song!
► You treated your fans recently by uploading a chunk of songs you demoed for the new record, but that ultimately didn’t make it; how many songs did you have in contention? Are we likely to hear some more demos?
Oh I think we wrote around 50 songs for this album, so there’s a lot of material floating around – Bsides and bonus tracks a plenty
► Fighting with Wire is very well-known for energetic live performances; what were your best and worst shows as a band?
Best shows, worst shows, it’s hard to say. I feel as a band we’re pretty consistent but when we shit the bed we really shit the bed. I guess for me best show; when we played reading festival few years back packed out tent and people going crazy to our music; I felt we had really got through to people. Worst show, we played belsonic 2 years ago supporting Biffy Clyro, I slipped and fell on my face while rocking out, then my guitar stopped working and we had to cut our set short; that was a real shitty gig, nightmare!
► With a full Irish tour looming, and March and April sewn up supporting the magnificent Helmet around Europe, it seems like this year is off to a boom for Fighting with Wire. Will you be playing many new songs on these tours?
Yeah we’ll be playing lots of new songs, we’ve been gone for so long it feels like we’re starting over again which is exciting in a way. We’re gonna play some of the songs that didn’t make the album too, so hit our soundcloud for a listen.
► Cast your mind back around 5 years ago; what are the main differences in the Northern Irish Music Scene then and now?
I guess there are more bands/artists which is great. I feel for so long the perception was it was very difficult to break out of NI and have a career in music, but I think that’s disappearing now and lots of people are finding their call within the industry, partly because today it’s so much easier to learn how to do it yourself and that’s a great thing especially for NI
► Rank these three things in order of importance – Originality / Honesty & Perseverance.
Honesty and perseverance counts, originality isn’t that important, like I said – the song is the most important!
► Finally, what NI Bands are you expecting big things from in 2012?
Axis of / The Rupture Dogs / More than Conquerors / Rams Pocket Radio
