I first met Skinny from Dublin based band Coldwar when he was the bass/singer in Coitus they stayed in my house in Cork in around 1992, they were a great band. Everyone in Coldwar have been in various punk and metal bands for years, they've now blended both styles really well. After seeing Coldwar many, many, many times I had to interview them. I also designed the artwork for their album "In the sun's dead rays". They are at times very black metal and at other times like Final Warning or Napalm Death. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE RECORDING FOR "IN THE SUN'S DEAD RAYS", WHEN IS IT DUE OUT? YEAH,PRETTY MUCH.WE SPENT A LOT MORE TIME ON IT THAN "WHOREBRED AND HELLRAISED" AND BROUGHT DEREK MURPHY IN TO DO ENGINEERING AND MIXING FOR US.ANYONE WHO HAS HAD HIM DO THEIR LIVE SOUND WILL KNOW HE KNOWS HIS SHIT,SO THE SOUND ON THIS ALBUM IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE LAST.THE ALBUM IS OUT IN JANUARY AND WE WILL BE DOING TWO RELEASE GIGS. COBH 14TH JAN AND DUBLIN 21 JAN. HAS THE MUSIC CHANGED SINCE GETTING IN THE NEW SINGER, TREVOR? WHY DID YOU, SKINNY GIVE UP ON THE SINGING? WHOREBRED WAS WRITTEN AS A THREE PIECE AND HAS A MORE HARDCORE FEEL TO IT DUE TO BRAYOS STRAIGHT UP PUNK DRUMMING AND IANS HARDCORE GUITAR STYLE.WHEN PAUL JOINED AND BRAYO LEFT TO BE REPLACED BY GAV AND LATER, MARTY,THERE WERE A LOT MORE METAL INFLUENCES COMING THROUGH IN OUR WRITING SO THE MUSIC JUST NATURALLY CHANGED DIRECTION.IT WASNT A PROBLEM FOR THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE BAND AS WE ARE INTO EXTREME METAL ANYWAY.WE WANTED A LEAD SINGER COS MYSELF AND IAN WANTED TO BE FREED UP FROM MIC DUTIES TO CONCENTRATE ON THE MUSIC AND MAKE THINGS A BIT MORE INTERESTING.TREVORS STYLE IS A LOT MORE EXTREME THAN MINE AND I JUST DO BACKING VOCALS NOW.ITS WORKED OUT QUITE WELL. SOME OF YOU HAVE BEING PLAYING IN BANDS FOR A LONG TIME, DO YOU THINK THINGS HAVE GOTTEN BETTER OR ANY EASIER BEING A BAND IN DUBLIN/IRELAND FROM WHAT IT WAS? THINGS HAVE GOT EASIER FOR BANDS IN THE LAST 5 YEARS OR SO DUE TO PEOPLE LIKE TOXIC,EMERALD,THE KIDS ETC. PUTTING ON REGULAR GIGS AND SUPPORTING LOCAL IRISH BANDS . THERES ALSO PLENTY OF GROUPS/INDIVIDUALS DOING GIGS/LABELS ETC ALL OVER THE COUNTRY SO ITS A LOT BETTER THAN IN THE 80'S AND 90'S. THE DOWN SIDE IS MAYBE WE ARE A LITTLE SPOILT THESE DAYS BECAUSE GIGS WERE SO FEW AND FAR BETWEEN IN THE 80'S,THAT THEY BECAME BIG FUCKING EVENTS AND SEEMED MORE EXCITING AND FULL OF ENERGY. STILL ITS A GOOD COMPLAINT.FINANCIALLY , BEING IN A BAND IN IRELAND IS ALWAYS A STRUGGLE. THE NEW CD IS TOTALLY SELF FINANCED WITH ALL THE RECORDING/PRESSING/ARTWORK/PROMOTION ETC. BEING PAID FOR BY OURSELVES. SO ANY MONEY WE MAKE OFF GIGS GOES STRAIGHT BACK INTO THE BAND BUT YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO DIG INTO YOUR OWN POCKETS ASWELL. YOU PLAY METAL AND PUNK GIG'S, DO YOU FIND THE CROWDS ANY DIFFERANT? WE HAVE DONE SO FROM THE START REALLY. WE COULD BE PLAYING WITH A STREET PUNK BAND ONE WEEK AND THEN A BRUTAL DEATH METAL BAND THE NEXT.THE WAY I SEE IT IS THE UNDERGROUND IN IRELAND IS SMALL SO IT MAKES SENSE TO CROSS OVER,PLAY TOGETHER AND MIX IT UP A BIT.THERES STILL A LOT OF SMALL MINDED PURISTS ON BOTH SIDES WHO HATE TO SEE THAT HAPPENING AND MOAN THAT WE ARE TO PUNK OR METAL FOR THEM AND TO BE HONEST I COULDNT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THEM. THEIR LOSS .IN GENERAL THOUGH MOST PEOPLE SEEM TO GET INTO IT. ARE BRUTAL (IAN'S EX-BAND) AND COITUS PLANNING ANYMORE GIG'S, DECO WAS SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING PARANOID VISIONS BACK TOGETHER WITH YOU(SKINNY) ON BASS, IS THIS STILL GOING A HEAD? BRUTAL ARE,TO QUOTE IAN "DOING FUCK ALL" COITUS HAVE NOTHING PLANNED BUT WE USUALLY GET TOGETHER MOST YEARS TO DO SOMETHING, USUALLY FESTIVALS / ALLDAYERS ETC. WE GET OFFERS BUT WE ARE NOT ALWAYS ABLE TO ACCEPT THEM DUE TO LIVING IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. HOPFULLY THIS YEAR WE WILL DO SOMETHING AND BE NOSTALGIC OLD FARTS FOR A FEW DAYS.TO BE HONEST I'VE HEARD FUCK ALL ABOUT P.V REFORMING. I HAVENT SEEN DECO IN AGES.MAYBE HIM AND PETER ARE PLOTTING SOMETHING. FUTURE PLANS FOR COLWAR, ANY PLANS OF TOURS ETC? ONCE THE RECORDS OUT WE WILL DO SOME GIGS TO PROMOTE THAT.THERES PLANS FOR A TOUR IN EUROPE THIS YEAR, COS APLART FROM A COUPLE OF TRIPS TO THE UK,THE LAST TIME WE WERE ABROAD WAS THE U.S TOUR IN '02.WEVE SOME VINYL COMING OUT ON FRENCH LABEL SHOGUN AND WE ARE BUSY WRITING THE NEXT FULL LENGTH ALBUM WHICH WILL BE RECORDED SOMETIME IN '05. ITS HALF WRITTEN ALREADY. WE WERE TALKING ABOUT DOING A LIVE AT CBGB COLOURED VINYL 7" AS A BIT OF FUN FOR OURSELVES REALLY BUT WE ARE HAVING HASSLE GETTING THE MASTER TAPES WHICH ARE STILL IN NEW YORK. BUT AS SOON AS WE GET OUR HANDS ON 'EM....................................... CHEERS FOR THE INTERVIEW SEAN AND GOOD LUCK WITH THE ZINE. http://www.coldwar667.com