Stevie McLaughlin – Tasteful Empires

Friday, 18th May 2018

Dead Rhetoric: Many outsiders struggle to understand why when securing dates for Europe when it comes to touring, many metal bands bypass the UK/Ireland. What difficulties or challenges come up between the promoters and venues in getting the right support for these bills to come through?

McLaughlin: The UK and Ireland has a real problem when it comes to European tours. It’s an isolation feature. We are very jealous, because a German band can jump in van, drive to France, play a music festival, and be back at work on a Monday morning. We just can’t do that- it takes us three days to get from Ireland to Europe- and three days to go back. It’s a very expensive prospect, so anytime we want to go and play in Europe we have to make sure that the tour is big enough and that there are enough dates to make enough money on the table to make it financially worth our while to go. Exactly the same thing happens the other way around- when your trying to organize European tours, promoters face that exact same challenge getting into Ireland – it requires a lot of time and money, and there aren’t as many venues in Ireland that would justify the journey to the country. It may be a wee bit better in England.

I discovered growing up in Ireland that we never saw as many bands coming through Ireland playing, as what other countries would see. It’s always fascinating to me that all these bands that I loved were constantly touring through Europe and very few of them could afford to take the trip across to Ireland. It means that when I go to see bands I still have a very juvenile hero worship for those bands, because it’s a rarity to see one of my heroes playing locally on the stage.

Dead Rhetoric: Do you believe as a result that it was that much more important for Irish musicians to get that seasoning and improve their chops by paying attention to other bands in the domestic scene?

McLaughlin: The local scene was pretty much all we had. So other bands in Ireland, and other bands in our hometown, and whatever bands played in the local venues, that’s what we paid attention to. The lucky thing about Ireland, and I’ve talked about this with my friends, is Irish people are quite critical of music when it’s not done well. In order to pick up an instrument and play in front of an Irish audience, you better be good. I think because of that, Irish musicians try much harder to be very, very good- in all different genres. You find that there are a lot of Irish guys get to high levels as musicians – it’s not unusual to look at some of the biggest bands in the world and find the session guys are Irish. They punch above their weight for how small a country this is. The local scene was all we ever had- it’s not as if I could go to a Metallica concert and see them in the flesh – the only act I could see was maybe the local Metallica tribute act, and that’s what I aspired to.

Dead Rhetoric: What types of hobbies and interests fuel your free time away from music and work when you have the free time to pursue them?

McLaughlin: My free time is 100% taken up with my wife and my daughters. That is all my time, and my free time is when I get to play the guitar. My life is being a husband and a dad- and sneaking in the guitar playing here and there.

Dead Rhetoric: Are you still involved with IronHeart as well, and how do you differentiate you work in that band versus your Sandstone activities?

McLaughlin: It’s actually surprising how quickly news about IronHeart spread. People were still talking about me joining IronHeart when it was already decided that I wasn’t going to be joining that band. I realized when I started rehearsing with the guys and starting to talk about tours, I had already come into the gig with Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and we had a new Sandstone album on the way – I thought I couldn’t do it. They found someone else, so it didn’t get beyond a few rehearsals. I was a wee bit disappointed with that as well, I really liked the band and they are really nice guys. Their album is fantastic- but you can’t just decide to join every good band that you see, you have to focus on some things at the expense of others.

Dead Rhetoric: What worries or concerns you about the world we live in today?

McLaughlin: I’m going to avoid the trap about talking about (Donald) Trump to an American (laughs). I will be general instead. My current biggest worry is not that we are headed towards a nuclear disaster or that we are heading towards an environmental disaster. My biggest worry is that we have lost respect for the truth. Far too many people now ignore the opinions of experts, and consider their own ill-informed opinion to be just as valuable as the opinion of an expert. We have the Brexit association here, and enough people spread racist propaganda, and they cause an entire country to shoot itself in the foot financially. The disrespect for the truth that the current American administration has – it’s a spreading thing that you see within your own social media. People spread their own opinions and disrespect the truth- and I think that will get us into a lot of trouble soon.

Dead Rhetoric: Has your definition of success changed from when you started as a musician to where you currently are today?

McLaughlin: Yes, absolutely. Let’s say I could go back into a time machine and meet the 15 year-old me. Practicing scales and arpeggios in a bedroom. What is my life? I would be saying I’ve released five albums, I’ve toured with Tim Owens multiple times across Europe. That person would go, ‘oh- so you’ve totally made it then?’. I suppose from that point of view, people would think so. I’ve achieved far more as a musician than I would have ever imagined- but I thought it would go hand in hand with fame, or money, or something. Looking back now, I feel a little bit like be careful what you wish for, because I’m glad I’m not famous. I wouldn’t mind some money. It’s more important for me today to be able to have the freedom to make music, and the freedom to not make music when I don’t feel like it. It’s just a matter of on a day to day basis, am I happy with my life? Do I feel like I want to try harder on the guitar- or do I feel like I don’t? Do I want to spend time with my family? That is my definition of success today- to have that level of freedom. When I was younger it was more the Steve Vai- guitar hero type thing. I don’t even think I have the personality to attempt something like that.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s next on the agenda for Stevie McLaughlin? Would you ever consider showcasing this material in a live setting, and if so do you know the players you would assemble to pull this off – or will this just remain a side venture when time, inspiration, and creativity allows?

McLaughlin: Currently, the thing I am working on is on the video side of things. I’m investing in some video equipment, to start to shoot my own videos for the album. I want to shoot videos for the entire album, but that’s a big undertaking and may take some length of time to do. The moment the album was announced, the guys from Sandstone all sent their support, and if I ever planned on touring this, they want first refusal. There’s no shortage of good musicians who are totally up for taking this out live. I keep thinking about it and I keep being tentative about it. I really want to do this video thing first. If we can build enough momentum with the videos, and if there is a genuine opportunity to take this out live, then we will absolutely consider it.

About Sandstone, it’s been a couple of years since we sat down and wrote some new material. Sean has become a far better singer, and some of that has been as a result of being on the road with Ripper and watching a world class guy doing it first-hand. What’s really happening with Sandstone is we put a few years into the band, we tried to do all the things that you want to do to be successful, and everyone has reached an age where girlfriends are on the scene, people are getting jobs, mortgages- life is a wee bit more complicated. We’ve never officially said that the band has split up or not doing anything- we will do more together, and when it’s the right time we will. We are mates and still friends.

Stevie McLaughlin official website

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