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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned Dublin band Strangers With Guns to find out more…

Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the band name.
Rick – The band consists of Jeff Crosdale, Paul Rennick and Rick Wright. We all met at a cooking class but burnt our first attempt at a cheesecake and got talking about music, decided music would be a better creative outlet.

Jeff – The band name was I (Jeff) was trying to remember a QOTSA song and didn’t know the words but had the melody and my head filled in the blanks with “Strangers With Guns” and I thought “ooohh I like that”.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Jeff – Was fairly oblivious to music as a kid. I remember wrestling really is what got me into it, wrestlers’ entrance music in ECW when I ordered their video and they came out to bands like Alice In Chains and Pantera. Few people in school start getting really into music and I gravitated towards them and found Megadeth. Megadeth changed everything, even now they are the band I’d listen to more than anyone. But there’s everything in there, big Mike Patton fan and more recently The Butthole Surfers, Count Tornado.

Rennick – Thin Lizzy, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Acid Bath, Texas, Barbara Streisand.

Rick – I grew up listening to my Spanish flamenco music and my father’s “The Who” records which explains my hatred of music.

How would you describe your sound?
Jeff – I think we sound like a mix of The Melvins, Butthole Surfers and Rollins Band. Which is odd. But I went through about 3 years of listening to nothing but Alice In Chains really and I think absorbed a lot of it and it’s stayed with me. I’d like to write faster songs but this is what comes out.

Rick – I would describe Strangers With Guns as heavy spaced out escapism stories.

Rennick – I think we sound like Blur, but like how they would sound if P Diddy fronted them.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Jeff – Our latest release was our debut album “Degenerate Art” it’s just what came out really.

What’s your local music scene like?
Rick – The music scene in Dublin city is getting better lately with more live gigs but it’s outside of the city where the crowds seem to give a better reaction

Jeff – Commercially music is doing great, like rap is flying and very much “in” and it’s so accessible and easy on the ears it probably always will be. Fair play to the guitar bands leading the way like the fontaines dc and murder capital, they’ve clearly worked very hard and spent a lot of time trying on outfits and different hair care products, but if you give us the opportunities they’ve had we’d be on a world tour right now, musically it’s a wash, cept for I can’t sing or wear slacks. I like what the more neglected artists like Post Punk Podge and what TPM are doing. Was just at Irish Music Week actually and you can see most people who get into the industry from label, pr, bookers are more so people who like being around music and there’s not many musicians that take these roles, more business people.

Rennick – I audtioned for the fontaines but they told me I had to walk around with a newspaper all the time and I kept forgetting it.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months? Any albums or festivals?
Jeff – Fully into applying for festivals at the moment, would like to play abroad and land a good support slot. Have enough material for an album but since we just released not sure how to play it yet.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Mik Pyro, and we have. Monkey King on the album. I hope Republic Of Loose get back together they would be massive if they were around in this era, musically and performance they blow all of us away.

Rick – TPM or Versatile.

Rennick – I’d love to collaborate with Bon Jovi, I always sing “Bad Medicine” in the shower.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Rick – At the album launch my pedal board malfunctioned and totally cut the sound of the bass.

Jeff – Repeatedly, ah I tend to not see the humour in these things. Sometimes we’ve been playing and I’ve had a few and forgotten verses and I do be scarlet for my ma.

What is the one thing you want readers to know about you?
Jeff – We love kebab recommendations.

You can find out more about Strangers With Guns via Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.