Interview with Andy from Honey for Christ, by Jen

The CD I have from you guys is from 2002. Your web site said you were working on some new material in the beginning of last year. How is that coming along? When can we expect a new CD from you guys? (I hope soon!)
The new EP “The Darkest Pinnacle of Light” is actually completed, as of last week we reached a final mix. 5 new tracks which are without a doubt the best to date. Our scheduled release date is 17th September 2005. No one else has that information so consider yourself privileged !!!!
Tell me a little about the release Forging Iron Will, when it was recorded, when the songs were written, etc.
Forging Iron Will was recorded in 2002 I think, around the summer. It was that long ago now it’s all a bit hazy I’m afraid. The songs were written over the year previous to the recording. It was a little rushed as we wanted to release it less than 2 years after TAOSA CD. It seemed a bit rough to leave a new release any longer. As a result some of the playing is a bit off. But we learned a lot from that process which is why we spent a little longer (a lot longer in fact!!) rehearsing before we recorded the new material.
How does it differ from your previous releases?>
It’s a lot quicker, and despite what I said in your previous question It had a higher level of musicianship, especially on the drums. Chris played a lot harder on FIW in comparison, which meant I could play faster on the guitar which really appeals to me!! I think overall it has the speed which the previous releases didn’t have, some people liked it, some didn’t! But we only got the hang of it around that time so we utilized it more I suppose. I think we have reached a more balanced approach to the new stuff.
Are you guys shopping for labels at this time? Is there a label you would prefer to be on?
Nope. I gave up on that years ago, got totally fucker off sending 10;s of CD’s away every week to get no response, then we you finally get through on the phone they claim they never got it!! It’s a disaster, so if someone wants to sign us fine, come and see me. Don’t have a preference for a label. I like the attitude Peaceville have had with My Dying Bride, no pressure on releases or style, which would appeal to me, but I don’t think we’d be there kinda thing!
How is the scene in Ireland? Do you get to play many shows? Have you been to the states before? If so, could you compare the two?
The scene in Ireland varies from year to year. For a while there all the other bands that started around the same time as us all quit or split up or changed line up dramatically and renamed themselves!! Also you had a lot more new bands coming out with younger, newer, more enthusiastic kids playing (in some cases) some great stuff, gave us a kick up the arse on an occasion, much needed though! Never played in the states, form what I hear the crowds aren’t that enthusiastic towards lesser known bands, so personally I love a go, we’re a difficult band to ignore!!
The middle of last year, you guys were on BBC- Tell me about that.
It was a very brief appearance to be honest, but still tickles me no end when I see it!! It was basically a report on the NI metal scene, and as we are one of the few “older” bands around, 8 years by the way, we were called along to see what we thought. Didn’t get much chance to say anything, but they played out video so it was cool!
What are some band achievements?
Well, not a lot I guess in real terms, but relatively speaking I’m pretty pleased. We have 3 well received demo’s out, played a hell of a lot of gigs, did a video, got our own t-shirts !!! Played some pretty bug support slots, and held our own. Sold a decent amount of Cd’s, and made a lot of new friends into the same sorta shit we are. In fact overall it’s been a pretty good success, and we’re still going to boot!
You guys have been together since the end of 1998. Tell me about the band- how you guys got together, what it's like playing together after all of this time, if there is anything you would have done differently.
Well it was me and Jason that actually started the band, he would sing, I’d play guitar, I am a long time friend of Chris so I knew he would play drums. Although at the time I hadn’t seen much of him, so that was a bonus too! Paul came in later, I kinda hung round with the same crew as he did so I knew he played bass, I mentioned it to him one night in a club, then kinda forgot about it for a while then when we finally got a practice together I just phoned him up and said “yeah we’re practicing tomorrow” Paul was kinda “I forgot about that thingy, but ok!!!” We had another guy on guitar. Stuart, but that didn’t last any length of time at all, we just didn’t want to leave him out I suppose. He became very left out on the end!!! It’s still brilliant playing together. Far better now than at the start cause we can rely more on each other cause we know how well we can play and what each of us can cope with, it’s fucking brilliant when you get a good gig cause we all excel. At the same time when we get a bad one, it’s cool too, cause we still play well then we come stage and we’re kind of, “ fuck that was hard work – well done guys!” I wouldn’t change one fucking thing. Everything that has been done, or happened to us happened to give us strength and put us in the position where we are now, and they are worse places.
You recently just lost your singer Jason. What happened there? You do have a new singer now, how did you find him? How are shows with him now, any different?
Not totally sure ourselves to be honest. He had kind of been having problems singing over the material for about a year but he sort of told us he was ok after a while, and has always been very positive about the band, so we thought it was all sorted. Then in the middle of recording the vocals on the new CD he was like, “sorry I’m leaving the band.” Bit of a bollox really. Yes we have a new singer now, Andy. He was really easy to find, knows all the tracks and people seem to like his style of singing, in some case even in preference to Jason. By the way it’s me. The shows are different cause Jase was a real live wire and ran about the stage a lot and was a big guy, so he had a big visual impact. IT really concerned me about the live thing cause I have to play guitar as well, so I’m restricted by that in terms of movement and crowd interaction. But like I said when we did our first gig without him no-one really gave it a second glance, and in some cases thought the band looked better. Personally I prefer were we are now cause there are no more doubts in the band,. Any one could have left when Jase did and used him as a scapegoat, but no-one did. It shows we are stronger now than ever before and people can see that and respect the band for it.
What have the reviews been like for the band? Good responses, bad responses?
Depends, without sounding cocky, we have never had a bad review! HFC are one of those bands that you either like or you don’t. Either way though you can’t say we’re shit, cause we’re not, it’s more like some reviewers are like “ I love the heavy music, but keep expecting this guttural vocal, then some guy sings at me!!! confusing” But on the flip side we have had CD of the month on a couple of occasions and mags have said how come no labels will pick this up? I love reviews, they really amaze me, especially when they compare us to bands I’ve never even heard. I love reading people’s interpretation of our music, very intriguing.
Favorite band to play with? Any terrible playing out experiences? Anything you do in particular to get your pumped up before a show?
My Dying Bride for me, always wanted to support them, then we did – my life is complete! Bad experiences – all the fucking time. Breaking strings. Falling off the stage, playing so out of time it’s incredible, forgetting riffs, forgetting words (now!!!) Getting tired, becoming annoyed with bad sound, hecklers that I what to fight there and then, but I’m the only guitarist so if I jump in the music stops, loads!!!!! I don’t think so, I don’t drink before I play which helps keep me calm, I get incredibly nervous before I play so I guess I kinda feed of that. Once I get my hands round my guitar and we start playing I’m fine though.
Influences of the band?
Alcohol. Plain and simple.
What is the band listening to these days?
It really fucking varies, there are only 3 of us now and we still couldn’t agree on 1 band we all like bar Slayer!!!! We are quite a collection of people when it comes to our listening. At the moment I’m listening to a lot of Katatonia, My Dying Bride ,and In Flames.
How long have you all been playing your instruments?
No idea, probably over 10 years, but I’m really not that good on the guitar, more of a song writer!!! I’ve been singing 4 months now! Paul and Chris are far better at what they do than I am, they both are playing over 10 years as well.
How would you describe your music to someone who never heard you before?
100% raw, heavy fucking metal!!!
Is there anything else you would like to add, or plug?
Not really, thanks for the interview, this is our first since Jason left, so you are getting an exclusive!! 17th September “THE DARKEST PINNALCE OF LIGHT” is released, al info on our web site, www.honeyforchrist.co.uk Thanks again, and keep it metal Jen!!!
http://www.honeyforchrist.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/honeyforchrist