The Moshville Times - Interview: Andy Cunningham of Malthusian (Part 2)

Continuing on with Malthusian’s Andy Cunningham (read part one here), matters turn towards the recent album and the inner workings of the band.

Can you tell us readers where the album was recorded and mixed? Did it take some time before you got the sound you wanted?

It was a long drawn out headfuck to get the album to a point where we were all happy. We recorded it with James Kelly (Altar of Plagues) in Hellfire Studios in Dublin last September. We hadn’t really figured out exactly what sort of sound we wanted to go for, which was our own mistake. We knew it had to sound big yet retain an organic feel. We aren’t the type of band who will record twenty or thirty takes of riffs to get everything perfect. Once we got the sound right through the amps we fairly ripped into it and it’s far from perfect in of the guitar playing, but it has a lot of energy and character which is more important to us. The mixes we got back from James just weren’t capturing the right energy and we went through a period of wondering if we had just recorded a big stinking turd that was unsalvageable. After much gnashing of teeth we sent a song over to Phil Kusabs in New Zealand and the first mix he sent us back blew our minds. The whole thing was completely transformed. We ended up redoing the vocals with Shauny Cads in Dublin because our original attempt was all over the place, so that was another delay, but it was worth doing. So yeah, it was a long and stressful process but the results are perfect to our ears.

How was the lyrical content of the album created? Was this artistic freedom given to your vocalist, were the lyrics written by yourself or was it a mixture of both?

I write all of the lyrics and they were compiled over two years and went through many changes and edits as we went along. I take inspiration from all sorts of places, usually something I’m reading will set of the creative switch in my brain. Inspiration can also come from poems, artwork, my work as an archaeologist and the interesting locations that can send me to. I think that once I am in that mental state I become more receptive and alert to everything around me. I can’t just sit down and write lyrics though, I have to naturally find myself in that headspace.

Thankfully you as a band are what every band wishes for and that is to have a solid line up. What would you say is the reason behind the stable line up and how do you keep it that way? Are there times of disagreements but they are more constructive rather then destructive now than before?

There are always disagreements because we are all such opinionated dickheads and we can be bullish at time which has occasionally resulted in physical violence. Ultimately though, we all know when an idea is good or bad and we will soon let the bad ideas wither on the vine. I think that the four people involved bring so much to the band that I can’t imagine how it wold sound with anyone else involved. The album, to me, sounds like the result of all of that tension that is always lurking beneath the surface. I think it has helped us to achieve the sound that we have in some way.

How often is the band able to get together and rehearse in the studio? Where do you get together and record?

We have recorded in a couple of different studios around Dublin over the years. We practice in a small shed with boarded up windows behind a flower shop and a bingo hall in North Dublin. It’s small and cramped and very basic and as I mentioned earlier, in winter it freezes and in summer it melt. It suits us perfectly. It’s messy and awkward like the four thick cunts in the band.

How are the songs constructed in the studio? Are there the main songwriters of songs that take care of everything or is Malthusian a band where all contribute to the songs?

Myself or Matt will come in with a riff and we will go from there, spending hours and hours building it up, hammering it into shape and then often cutting it up and rearranging things. Johnny has a really good ear for structure so, between us, through endless arguments and insults a song will eventually emerge.

With being in bands beforehand and now currently a four piece band in Malthusian, do you feel that you are all writing the music that you want to record? Is there a bit of negotiating between when songs and ideas are being recorded or are the band always on the same wavelength when it comes to song writing?

We are always on the same wavelength, even if we battle to get to that point. We seem to instinctively know when a song is finished; it just feels complete when you play it. A song might take countless twists and turns and head down a few cul-de-sacs along the way but we are always in agreement as to when something needs to be fixed.

I love it when a band has more than one vocalist as it adds so much diversity to the music. With Malthusian having three vocalists, was this a deliberate act by the band or was it an accident that you found that you have three accomplished singers in the band?

I can’t exactly if it was a planned thing or if it just happened naturally but as soon as the three of us began layering up vocal parts there was no going back. My vocals are the clearest in of delivery so I tend to provide something more structured sounding while the other two lads add more of a chaotic buzz with their howls, growls and yells. I think we all pushed the vocal parts on the album more than we had before. The first take we did, we were totally pissed drunk and went too far into nutty territory so when we redid the vocals we had that same sense of wildness in mind but we refined it more to give the whole thing more character and coherence.

So when do the fans get to see Malthusian this album on tour? Any UK dates planned?

Nothing lined up at all yet but in the new year we will hopefully be out and about, touring, gigging and playing festivals.

How hard has it been to juggle the touring side of things with the everyday jobs? Do you have plans to go on bigger tours and further afield in 2018?

It’s always a juggling act but we figure it out as we go along.

I thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. A fun question to end this interview. If you were a DJ and were allowed to bring 5 CDs to the party, what would they be?