MacD on Music: On The (Asylum) Road Again

On the first day, God created Heaven, Earth and the Garden of Eden. On the second day, a group (likely featuring Keith Richards) decided that Garden of Eden was a good name for a band and a tradition was born. Yes, for as long as there have been place names, there have been bands taking those place names for their own.

It’s been done by groups as diverse as the Backstreet Boys, the E Street Band and Blackstreet (although some of those places are less fictional than others).

This week I’m talking to a group with absolutely nothing in common (musically, at least) with these groups, Derry’s own Asylum Road. Asylum Road is made up of Brian Smyth (bass), Eithan Murray (drums), (Darryn McCartney (vocals) and Paul Sandy (guitar) and have been making a name for themselves on the metal scene, releasing their debut EP ‘The Fear’ to critical acclaim last year. Recently, they’ve released ‘Cerca Trova’, the title track from their forthcoming EP due in June.

I caught up with the band to talk about their new material and how the band came together. Darryn: “It was actually our old guitarist Dylan who started the band and then he recruited me. It was during Lockdown, and it was me and him writing stuff. Then I asked Brian to come on board because we were looking to fill out the band and we had a few ropey line-ups to begin with.”

Brian: “I came in temporarily. We had a gig in Dublin, so I came in for that and said if we’re going to do it let’s do it properly.”

Darryn: “We had a drummer, but they didn’t fit the style and it was actually Eithan’s neighbour recommended Eithan. I knew him when he played in a band years ago, so I asked him if he wanted to try and have a jam with us and that was it.”

Eithan: “Two years later you can’t get rid of me.”

Darryn: “That was basically it. It wasn’t one of those stories where it was an epic to get everyone together. It was just finding the right people at the right time.”

Eithan: “Then, towards the end of last year our old guitarist decided he wanted to play a different style of music from us, basically, so we thought we’ll do what we can and brought Paul on board.”

Darryn: “We had a great year last year. Our first full year together as a band and we were playing festivals, playing Derry, Belfast, you name it, then Dylan just said ‘It’s not for me any more boys. I’m not enjoying it’ so we reached out for a guitarist. Paul, who I’ve known since school, said ‘I’ll give it a go’ and landed with about 9 billion riffs. The first time we jammed, we had about 70%-75% of a tune done in the first hour and a half, and we knew this was working well. I’d worked with Paul, so I knew what he was capable of, but it’s hard when you haven’t played to know if you gel or not, but Paul came in and it was just ‘Boom!’”

Eithan: “To put it into perspective, that song we had started writing that first night is the new single. It says a lot about how well Paul did gel with us.”

Darryn: “There was a lot of open-mindedness coming in. We had a new style, a new guitarist coming in, what’s it going to sound like? You couldn’t write a better introduction.”

I asked Paul about joining the band: “The boys have been really accommodating. I’d reached out to McCartney when I saw the ad, but I’d just had a kid, so it was kind of the wrong time to join a metal band that’s looking to tour, but it fitted me perfectly. I’d joined, had riffs and within the first minute I knew that this was where I wanted to be. I was chatting on and off with Darryn about it, seeing if it would be a fit for me. I didn’t want to be in another bar band, but these boys are really clued in. The thing I really liked was that everyone had a really clear, defined role. There’s nobody overdoing something, and everybody just seems to get along.”

READ MORE: MacD on Music

And that’s it from Asylum Road. Their single ‘Cerca Trova’ is out now on all good streaming platforms.

Now, onto other business. This past Friday saw Miss Mary Jane announce the first single from her upcoming EP ‘The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea’, a Mike Scott-approved cover of The Waterboys’ ‘Fisherman’s Blues’. The single will be available on all good streaming platforms from July 6th.

Finally, this Thursday will see TeleZura launching their EP in Sandino’s. The gig, presented by NuMuze, will feature support from Charlie Hanlon and CIRCA. Tickets are £8 on Eventbrite or £10 at the door, which opens at 8pm.

And now, time for the socials. Miss Mary Jane can be found on Instagram @maryjane.miss, TeleZura @telezura, Charlie Hanlon @charliehanlon_, CIRCA @circa_, NuMuze @_numuze_ and Asylum Road @asylum_road.