So what made you start up 'Underground Movement'?

The Basic lack of labels in Ireland was one motivation, the other was to try and document the underground scene which is how the Intoxicated compilation series came about, and to really raise the standards of presentation and to try show people here and outside Ireland that even though the Island is small, there is a thriving healthy scene lurking underneath these green pastures.

Intoxicated. Volume 1 2001

How did you go about starting up the label?

I started it in 2000 with John Foley of Toxic Promotions, the label originally started out as Toxic Record but then changed to Underground Movement in '03 when John went on to concentrate on the gigs etc, he does all the bookings for the Voodoo Lounge in Dublin and brings over most of the big name Punk and Ska acts.

How long did it take to get the label up off the ground?

A long time, and to be honest I don't think any underground label gets off the ground fully unless you're the likes of Earache or Roadrunner who are known world wide, I mean you do get the name out there and people in the underground Irish Metal scene know who you are and what your about. The main problem for people like me is the time and money, when your trying to build up a hobby the main thing your trying to do is gain peoples trust and hopefully they wont by pass your product and buy the international Metal releases just because they think your release may not be up to scratch. Both I and labels like Sentinel, Midher, Invictus, Alderwood Records, the Distortion Project and a few others are trying to change people's perceptions, so if we can get the Metal Buying public to buy quality Irish Metal then the labels are sure to become bigger and stronger.

Ho do you think the metal/hardcore/punk scene is progressing in ..:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />Ireland?

It's certainly able to stand on it's own two feet, I mean bands are now putting a lot of time and money into their releases, the standard has raised considerably over the last 10 years, bands have now realised the advantages of getting a good production on demo recordings and getting a professional layout done with commissioned artwork. Even down to the live performance, gone are the crappy little combo's and in come the professional half stacks

Tell us about some of the bands on your label.

At the moment my main band are Coldwar, I used to play guitar with the lads up until the start of '06, the label has released the bands last 2 albums "Whorebred & Hellraised" '02 and "In the suns dead rays" '05, and now we're releasing the bands third release "Bloodfire Sunset" which is scheduled for early June, a release show has been set up for Fibbers in Dublin with support from Ground of Ruin, Two Tales of Woe and Nefridium,. Other Irish bands that have appeared on the Intoxicated series are: The Dagda, Abaddon Incarnate, The State Pathologist, Stichnien DC, Kingdom, Honey For Christ, Brinskill Bomb-Beat, Geasa, 2000 Strong, Pogrom, Mass Extinction, Era Vulgaris, The Swarm, Devilmakesthree, Morphosis, Victim X, Overoth, Chosen, Slave Zero, Parhelia, Dawn, Carraig, Diatribe, Pete The Killer, Flatline, Scavenger, The Dangerfields, Puget Sound and a good few others. I'm hopping in the next couple of months to try concentrate on getting some more bands on board for album releases, like I said before there is so much talent coming out of Ireland at the moment just not enough labels!!

Coldwar: 'In The Suns Dead Rays'

Metal bands in Ireland are gaining recognition worldwide, how do you think this progression has come about and as someone in the business what can you see for the future of Irish metal/ punk and hardcore?

It's down to hard work and sticking to your guns, I mean the main band flying the flag are Primordial, who are really getting the recognition and fantastic reviews that the band have worked so hard for all these years, now the band are signed to Metal Blade one of the longest running and most respected label's in Metal worldwide. So the proof is there in black and white, if you work hard enough it'll happen at some stage and I think that attitude is rubbing of on many others who are now well recognised in the International circuit, bands like Mourning Beloveth, Abaddon Incarnate, Mael Morda, Geasa, Scald, Coldwar, Cruachan, Old Season, Putrefy, Mass Extinction, Gama Bomb, Stand up Guy, Residual Effect and Dublin Punk legends Paranoid Visions, the list goes on and these bands have all hit foreign shores be it for a couple of one off's or general touring. So yes the future is looking a lot better for all involved.

How is your current project "Aggressive Tyrants" coming along and how can our friends in The States get a hold of a copy?

It's almost finished, it's been about 2/3 years hard work trying to put it together at time I've felt like I'm getting nowhere with it but then some old friend will get in contact saying they have found a piece of information that I've been spending months trying to find. So in the end I'm just gonna bring it out with all the info photo's, logo's etc that I have, I know I'll be hearing "well you left out such and such" and "what about this and that band" but what can I do? If I was to wait around to get everything bang on, it may never see the light of day. So with that in mind keep an eye out for Aggressive Tyrants volume one 87 – 93 featuring: Killer Watt, Predator, Moral Crusade, Asphixia, Panic, Cursed Earth, Primordial, Tricifix, Sleeping Village, Richard III, Helpless and a good few others coming your way this summer. Also in the pipeline is Irelands first Tribute to Trash called "Trash & Burn" featuring: Mass Extinction, Manifest, Sorrowfall, Viocosis, Reign of Fire, Primordial, The Dangerfields, Carnun Rising, Era Vulgaris and a few others, should be out during the summer, Oh and Intoxicated volume 5 should be out by the end of summer. Anyone looking to buy the releases can buy online from the www.myspace.com/undergroundmovementireland address or the label's main site www.undergroundmovement.net Intoxicated volume 4 is highly recommended to anyone from outside Ireland who want to hear some of Irelands latest Brutality, it has a 12 page booklet with band photo's/logo's bio's, contact etc etc.

Special thanks to Suz for the questions and good luck with everything.

So there ya have it guys, everything you need to know about the Irish Metal scene including some great bands to keep an ear out for and a few albums to help put your credit card to good use. So drop by their page, take a listen and let me know what you think.

Rock the fuck on!

Suz