|
|
Wally is interviewed via email by the one and only Colin Redmond circa June 2003 1)Firstly why are yeh takin so long puttin up the fuckin paypal by the way? Yeh made a bollix of it again didn't yeh? W. Yes, yes and yes again. Indeedy I fucked up the paypal again, twice now I fucked up on the exact same security issue. I wouldn’t mind as much but I was using some trusting pals of mine’s credit cards to get the thing going and they were a bit pissed off when I had to tell them that they had to cancel their cards altogether and re-apply for new ones!!!! The main delay though is because I was back in Dublin for almost 4 weeks and while back in Dublin I can’t keep the biz end of things ticking over… 2) Now that that's outta the way give us a bit of the stomach history... W. We got the thing going about 8 years ago and done the rounds of the usual haunts around Dublin, The Attic, China Man etc. We recorded a few releases for Me Want Money Records and had a few songs released on compilations all over the place. Nothing really came of it, due in both parts to our own laziness and to the pathetic performance by our label. But we just kept plodding along until after a particularly shit gig in The Temple Bar Music Centre, I, Wally of Axe, quit/was sacked from the band. A few months went by and Dave and Damo deicided on a dual guitar attack and Shay and Rozzers were recruited. That didn’t really work out and then all was in limbo for a while. I then gave Dave a ring (I now spent most of my time in Sweden) and told him I was getting a label together and wanted to record an album because we had some great songs and they deserved to be released properly. 3) Yis split up a few times over the years...What made yis get back together? W. There was only really two splits. The first time I went and the second time it was Shay and Rozzers turn to go. From my point of view the reason we got back together is simple, we like doing it, we write good songs and we had the chance to release an album that would be made available internationally. It also never ended properly in so much as we never put out an album (until Substantive) and no one outside Dublin knew who the fuck we were, even though we had some great songs and a shit load of promise. Also nothing we released before done us justice. 4) For anyone that doesn't know, why have you added the 'inc' to the name? W. Simple, there are other bands out there called Stomach, esp. in the USA. We are in a position were we are going to be selling most of our albums over there so the change had to happen. During a conversation with a U.S. distributor he said we will have to change the name if we were to deal with them so the inc came in. It turned out handy enough as it all felt like a new, fresh start and not to mention stomachinc.com was freely available for the internet stuff. 5) Why did it take so long to record and release Substantive? W. Number 1
reason. Wally lives in Sweden. To be honest I knew that things would
probably run late, as they invariably do, so there was no real timetable
to stick to. I knew when I wanted it released and that time crept
up too fast so all I really wanted in the end was to get the finished
product and then plan its promotion and distribution from there.
Number 2 reason. We are bad at organising stuff between ourselves,
why I don’t know, it just is !!!! (the inc in Stomach inc
stands not for incorporated but incompetent!!!). 6) You have a number of releases planned for release right? What exactly are they and when will they be spewed forth for the masses to get there grubby mits on? W. Regards more releases we had to sort out “Substantive”s release first so everything else had to be put on stand-by. Its only in the last week that most of that has been sorted. We had an offer of another label licensing and releasing the album in the USA, Canada and possibly Europe which caused chronic and costly delays in its proper release but we have it sorted out now... I fucking hope so anyway. The label wanted to sign us up for 3 albums with the first release being Substantive in Jan 2004 but what we hope to do instead is go ahead with Substantive’s release over there with ourselves/Wreckage/Praxis doing it and then maybe sign a deal for another 3 albums with them sometime next year. That would be the ideal thing for me anyway!!!! The Euro promo/dist was put on stand-by as well because of the costs of the delays but will be back up and running over the next couple of months... The next release is 99% going to be the “Entitlements E.P.” It’ll be 6 or 7 new songs, 2 covers, 2 live songs and possibly some computer gimmicks or something. It’ll be dirt cheap from the website and cheap enough in the shops as well. We’ve only got a couple of new songs left to do for it and the songs we’ve done so far are fucking great, not sure on what the live ones will be and the debate on what the covers will be continues. Maybe we’ll get it out late this year or early next, maybe even sooner, we’ll see. The other release we want to do is a 7” tribute to the mighty Government Issue but this, as well, had to be put on hold because of the costs of the delays in the release of Substantive. If we do sign a deal for 3 albums the next full length album from us will be Septemberish next year. 7) Will those be recorded in Banned as well? I got the impression from yer interview with UFC that yis like that place a lot... W. Definitely, it was fucking excellent recording at Banned and I would recommend anyone in anyway serious about getting a good sound for their releases to go there. Jonathan Yates does the business as far as myself and my fellow Stomacheers are concerned. He’ll certainly be doing all of our foreseeable stuff, that’s a fuckin certainty. He’s affordable, he puts a piss load of effort into what he does, he gives a shit and at the end of it all you come about with a blistering sounding album… what more can I say (and no, I’m not on commission!!!). 8) Why do yeh hate Rejected Records so much by the way? Out of all the bands that worked with Mero youse lot have to be the only ones that complained about him (in a fanzine no less)... W. I (I not we) dislike Rejected because I hugely dislike and distrust Mero, the multi-faceted bullshit artist. He’s a rip-off artist plain and simple. Everything for the accumulation of green. I used to work on promoting his releases and it was like dealing with a mentally under-developed over spoiled child “I want…” “Wheres my...” “My money” “That’s mine”, “I want, my money, I want, I fukin want...” Got hugely ripped off in the process as well… surprise surprise. “We’re the only ones to complain about him”... I don’t think so. Frankie Stubbs and me have at least one thing in common... 9) It must be a pain in the tits havin to go over and back form Sweden all the time Wally...How do you stick it? W. A pain in the tits is an understatement. The fukin costs are phenomenal because as well as plane fares I have to take time off from work. If I don’t work I don’t get paid, simple as that. To be honest we are working on getting my time in Ireland to be more productive so as to cut down on the amount of time I’m in Dub and I’m trying to arrange that I can do some of what I do, workwise, while in Ireland. But the biggest pain in the tits, probably getting away from the music a bit but anyway, the biggest pain is the fukin state of the country, especially Dublin. I think its because I skip back and forth that I see more of a change than others but fukin hell, the time for revolution is nigh. I cannot believe the rise in prices of stuff in Dub, everytime I’m back prices have gone up and its not just some things, its everything. Rip-off artists and amateur thuggery everywhere and the place is a fucking tip. I’m sick to my back teeth of seeing the same fucking junky begging on the fucking street who has been there for at least as long as this band has been around (8 yearsish). The fucking authorities must be aware that he needs fucking help but its easier to let Joe Public toss a euro into his cup and clear their consciences. Fianna Fail or Fine Gael??? Don’t make me laugh. Its time to learn how to vote people, time to learn how to vote… get the cunts out, give the lefties a go. 10) What's it like over there anyhow?Yer big into death metal aren't yeh? That place is a haven for that sorta stuff... W. Its good over here to be honest. I have a lot of very, very good friends in Dub and the going for a jar with them is the thing I probably miss most. But Sweden has been very good to me. Me girlfriend is a Swede (which is why I moved over) and my being self-employed (Praxis) would not have worked out unless I moved over here. I am not sure of the reason why that is so and I remember trying to explain to Dave why and couldn’t explain it properly, but at the same time he knew exactly what I meant because he ran his own business in Dub as well. Also, very weird but, Stomach would not have released Substantive if I had not moved over here… I’m fairly sure that won’t make much sense to those reading this but that’s how it is…. But yeah, Death Metal over here is huge as is punk and alternative music and non-chart stuff in general. At number one in the Swedish charts at the moment are Turbo Negro, you’d never see that happen in Ireland… Yeah I’m a huge metal fan and my all time favourite band are Entombed and their Swedish as well. It was funny when I moved here and started looking at the addresses of some of the bands on me records and seeing that a lot of them were Swedish and in fact it was weird to see some of them live damn close to me here in Gothenburg… almost neighbours… fukin weird… 11) Plans are currently to get the substantive album into America yeah? Who's gonna control the distribution over there?Do yis have a big following there? W. Probably an error in hindsight but I (Praxis) put far more time, effort and money into trying to get ourselves sorted in the USA and Canada than in Europe. I didn’t set out for it to be this way, in fact I would have preferred concentrating on Europe, but the thing was I have been working with various people over the years in promoting small independent releases and most of the success I have had has been in conjunction with those in the USA and Canada so when they heard I had a band and was releasing an album they wanted to help out, which was fucking nice of them I can tell you that for nothing, but it took the onus away from Europe and onto North America. The distribution for the first album will be done via Praxis to 4 or 5 of the smaller yet effective independent distributors over there. I have to re-write a promo plan due to fuck all money at the moment but I’m hopeful for it. Its hard to say what will happen in the world of music distribution, esp. in North America because they have taken a pounding in recent years by file sharing communities and the availability of broadband. I reckon half the labels/distributors I was dealing with over there 18 months ago are now out of business… We have a decent enough following considering we’ve never toured and never really released anything outside Ireland until now. There are a lot of people out there in bands and fanzines and ezines who are saying very nice things about us. Some of the reviews of the album, esp. in Canada and the USA have been fucking spectacular so I think people are beginning to take note of who we are. We have even got very nice compliments from members of Government Issue and Dag Nasty, 2 bands who are probably part of the reason Stomach exist, which is fucking great. I also spent a few quid and a lot of time promoting our website and the results are great and getting better all the time. We get a lot of emails now, not a day goes by where we don’t get something, which is fucking great. We get asked a lot about Damo’s sexuality strangely enough but I can state on his behalf, categorically, that his arse is STRICTLY exit only. 12)On the collaborators page on yer website it says yis have Big Del and "Stainless" to sort out anyone who gives yis bother...Why do need others to fight yer battles?I bet Mero doesn't have any hired goons... W. We are big and ugly enough to sort out our own bother!!! That thing was just an excuse to put silly pictures of people we know on the site. I hope to expand on it soon, when I get some more time to meself. I’m going to ask people to send in silly pics and I’ll display them on the site… should be a laugh. Mero is a clown. 13)Boz done the artwork on the last album...Will yis be workin with him again?has he done much artwork for the band in the past? W. Mr. Boz done the layout for the album and I’m not quite sure if he will be doing the next one… he probably will end up doing it, we’ll see. He done the artwork on the Stoamch/Steeky thing… he’s done various things over the years including posters and stuff… He has a website now at www.praxisireland.com/boz which has loads of his drawings that are far better than our album cover!! 14) That Government Issue 7" yer doin'-is that just gonna be Stomach or will there be anyone else on it?What sparked the love affair with that particular band?Have yis met any of them? W. It’ll be just us. Pure Stomach. 3 songs possibly 4. I am not sure how the love affair started or why it’s continued... but Government Issue are, simply put, a fukin brilliant band who everybody needs to listen to. We have done a lot of covers by them and we will probably end up doing more... Its weird in that myself, Damo and Dave have very varied tastes in music, there is some stuff they would listen to that wouldn’t get anywhere near my stereo and vice versa but there are some bands that we share a passion for and top of that list is Government Issue. The three of us are just big fans of the band. Regards meeting any of them, Dave searched down and asked for permission from John Stabb of G.I. for us to do the cover of “It Begins Now” on the Substantive album. They struck up a friendship and when Dave went to the USA on a holiday he nipped up to Mr. Stabb and stayed on his floor for a few days... rock’n’roll or what! 15) What's planned for 2003 as regards gigging/touring? W. Gigs in Ireland certainly. We are not sure about elsewhere as we only sorted the thing with the yankee label last week. If we had signed on the dotted line we would have had to organise a tour of the USA but now that’s postponed we’re not sure. We still want to do something over there but it’ll be next year. Priorities I think will be recording and rehearsing more material for releases. We might get across to the U.K. and possibly over here to Sweden but we’ll have to see how things go over the next month or so. Personally I want to do more internet related things and expand the website so ONCE AND FOR ALL it’ll have the paypal thing... sell t-shirts and stuff. The great thing about the possibilities for bands and the internet is that if someone wants to get our releases they can come directly to us, if they want info on us, its all there, they can even contact us via the email. Less ineffective middlemen to deal with, I love it. The music industry needs shaking up and the Internet is doing it... 16) How can people get in touch with the band? At gigs, come up and say hello, we’re far more approachable than made out... well maybe not Dave on a bad day, or come to that Damo either. In fact don’t say anything to me either, fuck off and leave us be… only messing, feel free to say hello or whatever at gigs or drop a line to punk@ireland.com or info about us is at www.stomachinc.com where by the time this is printed the paypal thing HAS to be sorted. In fact if it isn’t Stomach will sign a 50 album record deal with Rejected Records. 17) Okay that's everything...Thanks for doing the interview...Anything yeh wanna add? To create is difficult. To destroy is easy. People of Ireland, learn how to vote. Colin of Redmond, good man for the interview. We of Stomach or Stomach Inc. or whatever moniker thou shall thrust upon us salute you... Blessed are the Creators...
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |