Stories of Love, loss, triumph and heartbreak are told with unwavering honesty, while the Mine Road soundtrack, which is far more Schwarzenegger than film noir, rages gleefully on.
Mine Road meld their heavy grooving guitar punch with high octane vocal assault as usual, but the unit is a far more cohesive songwriting animal in 2024.
Taken from the full length album, ‘Tomorrow’s Sky’ (released today), the new single is the third release following, ‘Snowplough’ and ‘Tightrope’, both of which were aired multiple times on Irish radio including RTE and Radio Nova, with the album generating widespread interest.
Check out the new single, ‘American Dream‘ below…
We spoke to vocalist Ken Carthy about the album, and much more…
Tell us about the new album ‘Tomorrow’s Sky’, and when the writing process began.
Kenny – I suppose the correct answer is that it began in 2011, but there was a gap in between while the band went on hiatus. During this time Steve and Stuart began trading ideas and coming up with a huge amount of songs. Most of which were due to be used in another project.
However, after many different versions of bands and members I was asked to sing again in 2019, and from that point on we decided that Mine Road had unfinished business. We then focussed the writing in the Mine Road direction or what felt like the direction the band would go. With a couple of lockdowns thrown into the mix it was suddenly 2023 and we were ready to record.
Was there an overall theme to the record, or did you just take it song-by-song?
Kenny – I wouldn’t say there is an overall intentional theme to the album, however in many ways, one sort of developed without us knowing. The title of the album is meant to be one of hope and looking toward the sky to try and tell what is coming in the future. Along with the unknown and the ability to be able to see tomorrow’s sky tonight. As the lyric says.
Reflecting on many of the songs on the album there are many songs about hope and despair and overcoming adversity. All of which lead to wanting the ability to see into the future and see if everything works out ok.
There is no question that that bands sound will appeal to fans of bands such as Foo Fighters, Alter Bridge, Shinedown, etc. As far as influences go, do you all have a mixed bag of artists that you take influence from when writing?
“We all have many varying influences. The one band that pulls everyone together is Metallica. It may not come across in our writing sonically, but their ability to write a song with killer hooks, riffs and melody is second to none. We tried to take that on board.”
Apart from that we all love Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Guns N Roses, Led Zepplin, along with all the greats.
With regard to writing, is it a collective process between you all or do you have a specific member that does most of the writing?
“Stuart is our main song man. He normally comes in with sometimes fully finished songs or sometimes just ideas. The rest of us do write songs and parts to songs which get used up in a song. Generally we take the idea and tear it apart, each member adding their stamp to it and making it sound like Mine Road“.
What tracks were easiest to record, and did you have any issues during that overall process?
“We don’t do anything very fast in Mine Road. Everything is thought out. Songs are pulled apart until everyone is happy with the overall idea. There are no egos in the band when it comes to songs. I may come up with what I think is amazing but 4 weeks later it could be gone. It’s just the way it goes and we don’t get precious about them. They more than likely will end up being used again as a verse or chorus in a new song.”
As far as the band’s sound goes, there is a very obvious influence from American Rock Music, was this just something that happened naturally, or was there a conscious decision to achieve that particular sound?
“It was a very conscious decision. Everything we love in music comes mostly from America and the production the great record producers use from there. Steve is our Production maestro and we defer to him on most studio stuff. We all know what we want it to sound like but sometimes trying to achieve that can end up being nothing like it. We learnt a lot recording this album. It is paramount to find your own sound, Mine Road’s sound! Referencing your favourite albums and wanting their sound can leave your song sounding like a mess”.
Are there plans for any live shows in the coming months?
“Yes we are currently in the process of booking some shows around Ireland and hopefully some in the UK. News on that will be released soon”.
Despite the album only being released now, is there new music currently being created by Mine Road?
“Yes, our live set contains 2 new songs and also a couple of songs that didn’t make the album for whatever reason. We already have our second album fully written and waiting to be recorded. We also have the bones of a third album done and lots of songs that need to be pulled into shape for it. Writing music and song ideas are not an issue in Mine Road. It’s nearly an issue as we tend to spend a lot of time going down the rabbit hole pursuing them”.
Given the option, would you release an EP next, or go for another full-length album?
“We have been discussing that very idea of late. We have been toying with the idea of releasing an acoustic based EP and then possibly the second album or a heavier sounding EP then the album.
As I said, we have so many ideas it would be great to be able to get them out fast for people to hear. ‘Tomorrow’s Sky’ was a long time in the making because we wanted it to be the best version of MR and what we do. Whatever we do next will have the same amount of energy and focus put into the songs but we want to find a way to make the process faster”.
Full length debut ,“Tomorrow’s Sky”is the long-awaited follow up to their Satellite EP, and it does not disappoint. Stream the full album here.
The band toured nationally to test material before entering the studio and settling on 11 tracks that have signature muscle, but also weave real emotion into the Mine Road soundscape which makes “Sky” quite the journey.
‘Tomorrows Sky’ track listing:
Snowplough
Tightrope
Into the Storm
American Dream
Blood on the Floor
Hold on You
Recall
Tomorrow’s Sky
Reeling
Start To Believe
I’ll Be Home
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2024
