Australia has world class metal bands living in the shadows. Lord’s latest release ‘Set In Stone’ is some of the best metal music the country has heard. Andy Dowling is the man behind the bass and took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions.

How did you start playing metal?

I think like most young kids getting into metal for the first time, I started with Metallica, and progressed from there.  You really have to hand it to that band, because their music is pretty much the perfect starting point not only for a listener, but as a musician as well. Some of my fondest memories (being around 13/14) are of turning the lights off in my bedroom and playing along to each album, imagining myself on stage.

What would an average day for you be?

Unfortunately when we’re not on tour, most of my days are stuck in front of a computer sending emails, updating all our pages (facebook/myspace/youtube/etc), and other band work (whether it be label, merchandise, show booking, interviews, etc). Apart from that I’ll get some practice in, and just try and de-stress the best I can.

What is your favourite song you have written?

Out of all the songs I’ve had a part in, my favourites would be Forever (from Set in Stone) and The Calm (from Ascendence). The main bass line in Forever was written when I was 15, so it’s very cool to see that material I wrote so long ago is quite usable now. It means that I have a lot more archived that I’ll need to bring out in future.

The Calm was based around an acoustic guitar part that I had written quite a few years ago, and would be nice to eventually turn into a real song. It works extremely well on the album though, and is a great contrast and lead in to Limb from Limb.

Lords’ sound is massive overseas. Has the thought of making the move to base Lord overseas and trying to crack that market occurred?

The thought has crossed our mind, but at the moment the music industry (and metal more exclusively) is in a very vulnerable state at the moment, with many labels collapsing and support becoming harder to find. There is also the risk of becoming a ‘needle in the haystack’ so to speak as there are a lot of bands over there (more so than here) aiming for the same thing.

I think we have a lot more to achieve here in Australia, and our closer territories (like Japan) first, before we even think about relocating anywhere. We can still make plenty of buzz in Europe from here for now.

What is your opinion on the whole Metal vs. Hardcore issue?

I think people have too much time on their hands. Just listen to what you enjoy, and leave it at that. Both genres have their idiots, bad bands, posers, dickheads in crowds, etc. So no genre is better than the other.

I have a lot of respect for many of the hardcore bands, as they are working a lot harder than 95% of any other bands in any genre, so there will never be any bad words from my end!

From when you first started playing in bands to now, how has the scene changed?

It’s a hard question to answer, as you’re always learning and discovering more about the live scene as you go (years ago my opinions could have been a lot more naive/ignorant). I know that in some areas, metal has increased in popularity and more people are coming to shows, while other areas have suffered in recent years. I think it will always be up and down.

With the introduction to more intense social networking (myspace/facebook), a lot more people are getting connected. Not only to others in their area, but people interstate and overseas. I do think this has helped the ‘community’ in a way, and has a lot more people feeling involved, which is always a good thing to see.

Who are the one band you believe should be successful that aren’t?

In Australia?? Off the top of my head Voyager (from Perth), and Toehider (from Melbourne). I wouldn’t say they aren’t successful, because both bands have proven themselves already and found a degree of success, but it is disappointing to not see them get the true recognition that they deserve. Especially with their music being so accessible and the hard work they have put into what they do.

In the end, none of us have really cracked it (in Australia) to an extent, where the general public turn their heads. There are countless bands working hard, have the songs, but just can’t get enough support to make it to that next level. The great thing though is that we still have found success within our ‘scene’ which is fantastic, and means that we will always keep working hard and releasing music.

What is something about Lord that fans would not know?

That we’re hopeless at booking rehearsals? Haha. We’re pretty open with what we do, so I don’t think there is anything terribly hidden that people wouldn’t already know. Of course there are things in the future which no one knows about yet, but we need to keep at least a few secrets!

What is your favourite experience from being in Lord?

There’s been lots of great times in the band, from playing with international bands, to touring across the country, making it to New Zealand and Japan, discovering and watching our fan base grow right in front of us, etc. There’s just too many to mention! The band pretty much consumes our lives, and I don’t think any of us would have it any other way.

Plans for the future?

Well we’ve just released a new video clip for ‘On a Night Like This’ (Kylie Minogue cover), so we’re getting that out there as much as possible. We have some more recording in the works, a couple more video clips, and will be hitting the road later in the year to remind everyone that we’re still alive and kicking (we will have a few surprises as well no doubt).

So even in the immediate future, we’re going to be very busy! Beyond that, it’s all hush!

Lord are not a band to waste time. They are about to head back over to Japan in October and just released a video clip for their killer cover of Kylie Minogue’s ‘On A Night Like This’. If you have not already checked out Lord, do yourself a favour and go to their website or myspace now.

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