EASPA MEASA Well I've known Byrneos since he was in school coming up to Dublin to play gig's with his band Cheapskate. Their drummer Ken was also in a band I was in called Stress. Oh yeah I also designed their website, so I just had to interview them, the line up has completely changed since they first started. I think personally they have a completely different sound than on their album. They sound to me like a mixture of Tragedy meets Submission Hold. So how did the tour of the UK go, I heard you'd problems with your newly acquired van? What were the best and worst gigs? Damo: Our recent UK tour was a great laugh, the people (promoters/people who put you up, feed you, etc) were really nice to us, we got treated brilliantly almost everywhere we went. On the downside gig attendance and money was significantly lower than most gigs we would play in Ireland. I'm sure that's down to the fact that there are a lot more tours/gigs happening in the UK all the time. As for the van, it belonged to Amy, a friend of ours. She had it for about 5 months, it was a 10 year old Fiat. I'd been on long drives in it before and it had seemed fine, and she had got it services right before we left. However five days into our tour its engine seized as we were doing 70mph down the motorway. Luckily no one was hurt or killed and a replacement van was found. Unfortunately for Amy the van had to be left in Swindon to be scrapped. Best and worst gigs, well I guess everyone has a different idea of what a good gig is, but I know lots of people really enjoyed playing in London as it was in a squat and not a pub like the rest of the gigs. I thought it was good, but the gigs that really excited me were the ones with active crowd participation, meaning Boston, a mad small town with a big hardcorepunk scene where "the kids" like to go off spectacularly; I'm talking human pyramids, backflips off 10 foot high wall brackets, and picking Byrneos, Clodagh and Eric up and carrying them around during our gig. Brilliant. A few gigs had ridiculously small turnouts but I feel we all thought our gig in Liverpool was the worst, purely because we all thought that we had played pretty badly. Byrneos: it went great I think besides the van problems. it was great. changed my view of England as the first tour we did awhile back wasn,t that good.but we saw some cool places this time like some anarchist centres in Brightonand Nottingham and meet some really cool people this time as well. and Scotland was great this time round again. best gigs were Boston the people in Boston are fucking great fun. human pyramids and shit(but the easpa bet them in a pyramid competition in mancherester) or Manchester cause the Boston heads were there and we got to play with our friends snowblood and friendly pub with loads of different beers.the worst was Liverpool where my out of tune bass started the gig on a shit note which seemed to put the gig on a down ward spiral. or Nottingham where there was fuck all people.but I heard later that it was a scab town during the miners strikes so I wouldn't expect them to get punk rock. What's with all the bullet belts? Damo: Crust fashion accessory, promoted by Eric and Ian. I am the only dissenter in the ranks! Byrneos: punk rock !! and so are we A very big decision to all leave your jobs and college to go off on tour, what's your plan? Do you think it's still d.i.y to make a living off your music rather than working some shitty day job to pay to release your own records etc. Would you like to be able to make some sort of living off your music? Damo: Our plans are still in the pre-plan stages at the moment. Its very hard to get together and discuss things properly with six people in the band. However I think it's totally DIY to attempt to live off the band as long as its done properly. The unwritten rule that says punk bands shouldn't/don't need to get paid money is total crap. As a DIY promoter myself I always try and pay a band a decent amount, and if I don't think I can then I don't commit to the gig. Personally I feel that if a lot of work is put into organising tours, rehearsing, making our own merchandise or record covers or whatever then we could aim to at least earn a poor subsistence living off playing gigs, etc. Whether or not that'll happen is a different story. Byrneos: the decision just makes sense do what we like doing instead of working in a job we don't.it 'll just be good to get out of Ireland and meet new people see new things learn stuff ,experience new shit,forge links instead of just playing to the same people all the time.if some one can make a living of there music with out fucking people over then fair play to them.but its not really an option for us I think.if I wanted to make a living from music I'd be in a wedding band that's where the money is.but it is nice to break even and not lose money. How is the cdr release selling, it is completely different than the album, was this a conscious decision? Damo: The CDr is selling really well, we have sold all the copies we've made up so far at gigs around Ireland and the UK. As for a different sound to the album, well as far as I know the songs on the album were written over a number of years by different people from former incarnations of Easpa Measa. After myself, Eric and Ian joined in September 2003, we decided straight away not to play any songs from the "old" Easpa Measa and took the next five months to write a whole new set. In bands generally its usually the guitarists/bassists who come up with the majority of the original riffs that songs are based on, and so with two totally new guitarists who have totally different influences and experiences in other bands, the new songs were always going to mark somewhat of a new direction. Byrneos: the cdr is selling well we made about 150 and their all gone we sold them on the Irish and uk tours.we have to make more. it wasn't really a conscious decision to sound different just with the new blood it essentially a new band with new influences. im glad though its good to evolve it'd be boring and pointless for us and people listening if we were just trying to recreate the old stuff. What do you think of the Irish punk scene at present? Damo: That depends on what mood I'm caught in. Thinking positively, I point to the great people putting on gigs around the country, the handful of great bands North and South of the border and the inspiration coming from the new generation of kids/bands (mainly in Kilcoole but also elsewhere). On the other hand, sometimes all I can think of is how the "scene" is fragmented and any kind of two-bit reformed punk band will pull a massive crowd while new, original touring bands struggle for crowds, especially in Dublin. For Easpa Measa as a band, however, I think some people in Ireland have been really supportive of us, giving us great gigs and encouragement (you know who you are). Byrneos: its the same as it always has been for me, some really good shit and cool people doing cool shit.and also the bullshit bitching.but theirs some interesting stuff like bads books library/video nights/ workshops or punk been more the diy attitude rather than the way a band sounds.like people are more open minded musically I think and go out and surrport stuff if its diy not just cause their mates in the band.and alot of the younger heads are more political which is amazing to see. Future plans for Easpa measa? Damo: Right now we're taking a short break after the UK tour. After that we'll start trying to write new songs with a view to eventually getting an LP out, and we're also hoping to play a few gigs near Christmas time in places we've never been to before in Ireland. Beyond that, there's lots of talk but nothing is definite. PS Ken likes emo. Byrneos: try keep it interesting. keep touring.some 7" on the way maybe if all goes to plan. thanks for the interview good luck with the zine. http://www.easpameasa.com