What’s new with the band since taking the break?
Gary: Well since the break, we have acquired a second guitarist to beef up our sound. His name’s Shane Booth and were very happy to have him in the band. His guitar style is different to that of mine, which is good because he brings fresh ideas to the table, which I’ve always wanted. Were back rehearsing and trying to get prepared for a busy summer ahead.
What were the reasons for the initial hiatus and what are fans and punters to expect from this inception of B.O.T.S
Sean: Well first of all Adam, it was decided that the name of the band should be changed. We felt a more suitable title should be used. So we came up with… Utopian Ruins, which we feel suits our lyrical theme better. The initial hiatus came about at xmas time. We were pretty burned out over the latter half of 2008 due to the fact we had gigged an awful lot in that period of time and with work commitments as well it was decided that we should cool off to recharge our batteries. Punter’s can expect us to back playing shows around the country come the summer time. We’ll have new material, a second guitarist and a new title. Should be good…. Fingers crossed.
Are there any new releases on the horizon
Sean: Yes indeed there are plans in place. Our current plan to is to focus on getting back gigging and maybe we’ll have a demo out this year. But the plan is to get new material ready to bring into the studio and hopefully we can start recording a full-length album in the New Year. We’re also planning a split Cd too… that’s all I can say on that now.
Do you have any gigs lined up and will you be adding new material to any upcoming shows
Gary: Yes, our next show is on April 24th. We’ll be playing in The Stables in Mullingar with the Belgian Metal band Thurisaz as part of their Irish tour. Should be a great night. Material wise… we’ll be hatching some old stuff as well has some fresh stuff.
What’s the origin of the bands name?
Jordan: The name stems from the ideology of our form of democracy being the only way to run a country or society. The rot that’s seeped into every ‘free’ country in the world has birthed stale and corrupt governments and allowed the gradual build towards accepting the new world order. Puppet governments are forcing words like freedom and democracy down our throats so we can’t use our voices to speak out against them! They preach democracy, as we know it, as some kind of utopia. As the world falls deeper into the recession and the gap between the rich and the poor grows larger every day surely even the blind can see that their utopia lies in ruins.
Where are some of your favourite & least favourite venues to play so far?
Jordan: The best places we have played so far would have to be The Spirit Store in Dundalk, RockD @ Katy Dalys in Belfast, and the Lethean on main street Portlaoise. These are just great venues and getting good crowd interaction going always makes the gigs much more fun!
I don’t know what to put down as worst places we have played, anywhere with a corner to play music in and a bar is generally ok by us!
Sean: The worst place to play for me was The Boom Boom Room in Dublin. It has so much potential but with the stage size being so small, it makes it hard for any band to feel comfortable on it.
Which are your favourite songs to play live
Cozzy: For me I like the heavier side of our music and love when we play fast bits and we can rock out!! Our songs Chard Remains and Overcoming Tyranny have some thumping parts that are just fun to play.
Do the band collaborate as a whole when writing songs or are their main songwriters and what influences the song topics?
Sean: The song writing is a band collaboration. We tend to always start with a riff and mould it into a rough skeleton for a song. Once we have the basic structure down then we add the likes of fills, solos, drum rolls and of course vocals. Then the fun part starts when we can rehearse it until its solid.
Do you think the music has evolved much since you started playing together?
Cozzy: I think it has, since myself and Jordan got onboard we have been working hard on the song writing and it really has evolved since our first rehearsals. We’re starting to really find our sound at this point and with our new guitarist on board it’s going to take another shift in some unknown territory and who knows what we’ll end up with.
Do you do a lot of your own promotion, managing, recording or have you outside help
Sean: Nope, no outside help Adam. We take care of our own promotion and recording. We have the facility to record our own demos etc, but when we have a solid idea for the studio we go else where for that. The management side of things is handled mostly by myself but sure it would be nice to have full-time manager taking care of things.
Any last words?
All: Cheers for the interview Adam, it was a pleasure.
Check out our myspace page for updates on upcoming shows, merch and releases.
www.myspace.com/utopianruins