Drogheda Interview

1.Can you give us a brief history of the band?

- operating under the name 'drogheda' actually started in late '92, although me and then drummer john had been playing for years up to that point, so the history of the band is quite a long one, but we have been pretty quiet these last few years...but thats about to change. weve played the milwaukee metalfest a few times back in the mid to late '90's(when it was still worth a shit) and shared the stage and hung out with a lot of cool bands.from '97 to '00, we put out quite a bit of music.those were the years when the band was operating at a high level.we were also running our own label, extremist records, at the time. we kinda slowed down a little in 2002, then in 2003, while we were booked to play the first maryland deathfest, john quit eight weeks before the show. we grabbed kevin, who was in the band riphead (and formerly of the band ton), to fill in, and it went great.after johns departure, i started my own label, eme, and we put out a split with riphead. we played shows anywhere we could and were just moving forward. however, the strain of being to two bands and having a fulltime job and a new family was taking its toll on kevin by that time and we parted ways with him. we then found nick through a mutual friend, and although he was very young, we tried him out and went with it. we played two pretty big shows with him, the ohio deathfest and the boston doom and grind fest. we never got to actually released anything with nick, as it too, fell apart. we gave it another shot with kevin for a brief time in 2006, but between work, family and just life in general, we just couldnt make it work. and we have been dormant ever since. however, we are poised to make a comeback here in the near future...stay tuned.

2.How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?
-sonic extremity!a school bus through a chipper shredder!haha! its just extreme music. very fast. grindcore, i guess, but ive seen what passes for grindcore these days, so im not so sure anymore...

3.What is the meaning behind the band's name?
-our first singer actually found the word.he claimed it was some cult/tribe that worshipped the moon and stars. i know its a town in ireland, too. its a cool word, so we went with it. we figured it was better than bloated corpse, ripping entrails or satanicablaspheria...haha! its kinda mysterious and leaves you room to operate...much more than the names i listed above.

4. What are some of the best shows that you have played and which crowds are the best or craziest?
-my favorite would be thanksgiving day in '97 in dayton ohio with brutal truth,immolation and cannibal corpse. obviously, the show was packed, but there is just nothing like watching football and having a turkey dinner with a guy named corspegrinder!our first year at the milwaukee metalfest was special, too. here we are, two small,hometown shows into our career, standing backstage with slayer and signing autographs for people. pretty overwhelming, to say the least. lots of great shows and times, but these stand out for sure.

5. Are there any plans for a U.S or European tour?
-nah, nothing like that right now. we are just looking to run our flag back up the pole, thats all.lets hope there are still a few people interested! haha.

6. How would you describe your musical progress over the years?
-in the beginning, it had a touch of industrial in the mix, then evolved with some deathy influence, then on to pretty much grindcore, although our sound and feel is just a little odd. weve always had that. id like to think that our sound is unique.

7. What releases have you put out so far and what labels were they released on?
-ok, here we go...these are the ones i know about, although i have found a few of our songs on splits that were never authorized...haha.
1993-'DROGHEDA' DEMO
1994-'UNEARTHLY' DEMO
1994-'DROGHEDA' CD (WILD RAGS)
1995-'KILL EXTREMIST' CASSETTE (EXTREMIST)
1995-'POGROMIST' CASSETTE (EXTREMIST)
1996-'POGROMIST' CD (WILD RAGS)1996-'UNABOMBER' SPLIT 7" W/MORTICITE (EXTREMIST)
1997-'A CELEBRATION OF VIOLENCE' CASSETTE (EXTREMIST)
1997-S/T SPLIT CASSETTE W/DISMEMBERED FETUS (EXTREMIST)
1998-'CELEBRATING FIVE YEARS OF VIOLENCE' CD (WILD RAGS)
1998-'BLACKLISTED' SPLIT 7" W/FATE OF ICARUS(EXTREMIST)
1998-FROZEN DAWN RECORDS COMP. FEAT. 5 NEW SONGS
1999-'AGENTS OF PRIMORDIAL CREATION AND ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION' CD (EXTREMIST)
1999-SPLIT CD W/MORTICITE (EXTREMIST)
2000-SPLIT CD W/DYSMORFIC (EXTREMIST)
2000-SPLIT CD W/INTENSE HAMMER RAGE (EXTREMIST)
2000-SPLIT CD W/BRUTAL INSANITY (EXTREMIST)
2001-SPLIT CASSETTE W/FLATLINE CONSTRUCT(EVIL BIKER)
2004-SPLIT CD W/RIPHEAD(E.M.E.)

8. When can we expect new material?
-im hoping to get 1 or 2 songs out here fairly quickly, just to re-establish our existence. but as far as an actual release, we'll just have to see how it goes. the plan is to write and record as many tunes as we can, then see whats out there.

9. What are you listening to nowadays and what are some good bands or releases that you would recommend?-
not much really, to be honest with you. i liked some stuff i just recently discovered from shitstorm(florida). kill the client(who weve played with a couple of times) is really good. in my free time i generally listen to smooth jazz or sports talk. you have to understand, im an old guy now, so listening to blasting, grinding music all day doesnt happen anymore. but i still get in the mood and search for new bands now and again.

10. What are your main influences music wise or non music wise?
-guitar wise would be eddie van halen. no doubt about it. i guess i progressed normally as far as influences and inspiration goes. i loved kiss when i was 7-8 years old, then it crossed into black sabbath,ac/dc,motorhead,van halen,thin lizzy,ect..then in the mid '80's a friend of mine turned me on to metallica,anthrax,overkill and that whole scene. then in the late '89 he played a record from a band called napalm death for me. it had a profound influence,to say the least. from there the whole 'death' thing started creeping in. carcass, morbid angel, atheist, terrorizer ..a lot of the old earache stuff.all of these phases influenced me in some way. i was always looking for something more extreme.

11. What are some good books or films that you would recomend?
-not a reader or a movie buff. sorry. i mean, there are a few that i enjoy, but not that many. i watch sports,family guy, married...with children, and poker. thats about it. other than that, im working at my job or music.

12. Any final words?
-thanks for the intie! its been a long time, so you rebroke my cherry! haha. everyone keep your eye out for some pummeling grind in the near future.check the myspace site for updates and details. myspace.com/droghedagrindcore

13. Thanks for the interview?
thank you.