Gama Bomb

Ireland’s most lethal export, GAMA BOMB, are one of the best bands that has emerged in the so-called thrash revival scene in the last few years. The new revival has witnessed awesome bands carrying on that thrash spirit when Exodus, Metallica, Slayer, Overkill, Nuclear Assault, Testament, Megadeth and Anthrax first were metal thrashing mad. New bands such as Warbringer, Toxic Holocaust, Municipal Waste, Bonded by Blood and Evile are playing old school ’80s thrash metal with vigor and gusto. And they’re damned good at it, too. One such band is Gama Bomb. Born in 2002 in Newry, Northern Ireland, the lads were playing their beloved thrash even before the whole thrash resurgence began. A journalist by day and metal zombie by night, vocalist Philly Byrne graciously chatted with me after a gig at Reggie’s Rock Club in Chicago.

Metal Mayhem: This is a great bill with yourselves, Forbidden, Bonded by Blood and Evile. How has the tour been going?
Philly Byrne: Excellent. I don’t even know where to start, it’s just so good. It’s good on a people level because we’ve got Evile, us and Bonded by Blood. We’ve toured with both of those guys before. We’ve obviously known Evile for a long time, and Bonded by Blood a long time, so on a people level, it’s awesome. Sometimes you tour with bands, can’t name names, but you tour with them and they’re not very nice people. But Forbidden were immediately very accessible guys, very friendly, very forthcoming. This is a cake walk. Everybody is very friendly. There’s always enough beer to go around. Everybody shares the beer, that’s the most important thing.



MM: I just interviewed Alex from Bonded by Blood and he said that you guys are the biggest drinkers on this tour.
PB: Well, naturally, we’re Irish! (laughing)

MM: That’s what he said!
PB: That’s one thing we like to live up to (laughing). It depends on the person too. Evile aren’t big drinkers, but two of them can drink more than I can, but as a band, they’re not big drinkers. Bonded By Blood ... not really big drinkers, but when they get drunk, they get, as they say, drunk as fuck. That’s their saying. They’re still young. I’m still willing up to (drink) up till 3 a.m., that’s kind of my cut off point.

MM: You’re considered part of the new thrash revival. How do you feel about being labeled with that moniker?
PB: That’s fine. We’ve been around for a long time and there was nothing going on. Nobody knew what thrash was. We use to play shows in Belfast in Northern Ireland and we had to explain to people what thrash was before we went on stage…walking around, trying to sell demos to people. I used to have a whole salesman spiel. I’d be like, “Do you like Nuclear Assault, Megadeth, Anthrax, Metallica, SOD and Slayer?” Because people hadn’t a clue of what we were talking about. So, years later and fast forward, that not only people are conscience of it, but that it’s actually back. So, it’s amazing to be regarded as part of it. And of course the perception, whether it’s just within the media or within a certain quadrant of metal fans, but there is a resurgence. And that’s got us a record deal and got us here in the US and I don’t have to be home in Ireland. I’m touring and doing this. In that way, yes, I’m very grateful for it, but at the same time, we’re not a limited band because we were around before it existed. And well be around after it existed in whatever form that we continue to be around. So we’re not too worried about it being as a fashion or becoming passé or becoming unpopular because we are essentially an unpopular band playing an unpopular kind of music. As long as we keep doing it to please ourselves, and people are on the same wave length as us, that’s all that matters.

MM: You can definitely tell who some of your influences are, but what were you trying to achieve when you first formed Gama Bomb?
PB: We were trying to achieve being Nuclear Assault! (laughing). I was trying to be John Connelly. Nuclear Assault was just the thing. Me and Joe, our bass player were 11 years old, we went from listening to Bon Jovi into Jimi Hendrix to Metallica, via Aerosmith. Then Joe started listening to Megadeth and we bonded with Luke, our guitar player, when we were about 17 and listened to Survive by Nuclear Assault. That is really where it started. They started a band and they were listening to and trying to sound like Nuclear Assault, doing cover versions. In the end, they got me to join because they wanted someone to do falsettos ... I don’t know if you’re looking for a history, but that’s what you’re getting ... I got very drunk one night in Joe’s garage and I started singing. There was this guy who used to sing who thought he was a real rock star and started trying to do the falsetto and sucked at it. So, I just started doing it to annoy him, then after that, they thought I was a suitable candidate. That’s how I got in. But initially, the whole point was to cover Megadeth and Metallica songs, because we weren’t good enough to actually play Nuclear Assault songs. That’s something that stuck for about four years. We don’t really think about Nuclear Assault anymore when we write songs.



MM: With your lyrics, you seem to have an infatuation with horror, sci-fi, war and zombies, but what gives you your inspiration for writing your songs?
PB: It changes every time. Answering this question over the years, the answer was the same for a long time. Initially it was things we were in to. ... Robo Cop, Tales from the Crypt, or whatever movie we were talking about. On our last album it was a bit harder to pull things together. For the first time we were coming up with our own concepts to write songs about. I had to dig around a lot more to find ideas for songs. Some things it’s just stock things that we can think of, because people identify with them. It’s us just trying to write our own horror stories. We’re kind of the Stephen King of metal. Or maybe even the George Romero of metal. I’ll leave it up to other people to decide that about us.

MM: You were the first metal band to release an album for free on your website, despite being signed to a major label. Whose idea was this?
PB: It came from both ends. I would say that it was me and Joe’s idea. Earache would say it was their idea. But the truth is, we met in the middle. Earache had the idea for releasing an album for free because they’re still the owner, proprietor, and controller. Whenever it came to making a third album for us, I sort of saw the limitations that were placed on us with our second album, quite clearly in terms of how much PR we got. Everything costs money. We couldn’t get PR, couldn’t get interviews. I don’t think I did any interviews in the US, for example. There was only one proper radio spot in the UK. So, that kind of stuff really got to me. I was thinking, “What are we doing? “ We could be at home just having a job and going to bed with your girlfriend. Why would you do this if you can’t reach people? So I was thinking that if we did one more CD, this is going to stop happening because the frustration will be too big. We’ll butt against the walls in every stage in terms of the PR, in terms of distribution, in terms of the shows, in terms of the managers/agents and in terms of the money people are willing to pour in behind us which will thus reach the people, which is all we care about. We don’t give a fuck about the money, but we need it to get there. So the whole idea of giving it away for free just has endless PR. Give it away for free, and people will write about it and talk about it. I’m a journalist at home, that’s what I do. That’s my job, and I know if other people did that, I would talk about them and everything else. On the other end of it, that’s how I got music. I haven’t bought a CD since 2007. But I’ve listened to 50-60 albums a year. So, it was kind of meeting in the middle. On the one hand, it was an honest indication of where the music industry was going, and it was us not being hypocrites. On the other hand, it was us shrewdly angling, trying to get more people talking about us. I think the fact that we can come here tonight to Chicago ... never been here before, never done any press in this territory. But we come here and there’s 16-year-olds in the audience wearing our T-shirt. That, I think, is an indication of our decision. Plus, our free album, Tales ... has physically out sold Citizen Brain, the album we released before that. Our experiment probably won’t be remembered very well in the future, apart from a few people like yourself or the people who read this feature. But I think that it’s an important stepping stone, because when a major label did (that) with a medium sized band, in whatever genre, they’ll see major benefits from it. I think it’s going to change the face of the music industry and I’m just glad that we were kind of there first.

MM: What’s next for Gama Bomb? What are your expectations, and are you committed to more albums with Earache?
PB: We had one commitment album and three options. So we have another two albums on Earache ... If they back up the option. I think we’re selling well and I think they will back up the option. I think a lot of bands aren’t honest about this kind of thing; about what kind of contract you have or about how it works. I think the more your fans know about how things work (the better it is.) I think Earache will back it up. If they do, we’ll start writing it late next year. We’re not in a rush. We’re going to go back home, have Christmas, sit down, and not look at each other (laughs). Then, we’ll get back together, do some shows, and go around Europe, South America and the UK. Then, late next year, we’ll talk about writing some songs. For a while, we were toying with the idea of instead of making an album, making a movie, and making a soundtrack to the movie. We haven’t talked about that in awhile, but I think that would be an awesome thing to do. To make a horror/sci-fi movie with us doing the soundtrack. There will definitely be more albums coming, no matter what happens. We’re firm enough friends and we know each other enough to know we are cooler people doing this. This is how we get to spend time together and how we get to meet people who give a shit. We’re committed to doing this. Of course you’re also under pressure; we all have jobs, you’re under pressure to have a normal life at home. You can’t drink five bottles of wine a week without a couple of quid coming in. So we’re going to balance with our real lives. I won’t say the names of the thrash bands or the people that are in them ... But one thrash metal singer I know works in a paint shop. The other one sells drills. The other works for a local council. One of them is a History teacher. One of them owns a truck depot ... those are people in very famous thrash bands. People outside of the Big Four. The people inside the Big Four don’t, but everybody else, that’s what they do for a living. There’s nothing wrong with being those guys, but I feel like there’s something different I want to do. And so do some other bands. So we all try to commit ourselves to our normal lives, careers and families as well. And I think that’s something a lot of people don’t realize, but you got to be a real person first. And that doesn’t mean you can’t tour. We’re committed to the future, but we can guarantee when you come see us in 10 years we’ll still be smiling.

Interview by Kelley Simms