WE ARRIVE ALIVE - E.P. EXCLUSIVE
W E A R R I V E A L I V E // M Y F R I E N D , T H E B O M B M A K E R
We Arrive Alive’s music is a constant surprise. Movement between slow / fast / run / fall / run. Their conversational instruments speak in constant battle or harmony, depending on how you care to interpret them. Their music is nothing short of filmic. With the release of their second E.P. ‘My Friend, The Bombmaker’ - the five strong group present another collection of songs that are, in equal measure, devastating and beautiful. Shapeshifters - they are anything you want them to be.
The title track of the E.P. is called M Y F R I E N D , T H E B O M B M A K E R - and the perfect introduction to a witheringly good quartet of songs. We will be presenting a new track here each day for the rest of the week. Enjoy.
We Arrive Alive are : Neil Dexter, Adam Faulkner, Ben Healy, Michael Naude & Andrew McGurk.
Cover Photo Credit : Niamh Forbes
I N T E R V I E W w i t h W E A R R I V E A L I V E (part 1)
What is the meaning behind the name ‘We Arrive Alive’?
Neil : No idea ask Andy.
Adam : I don’t believe there is one. We were having a hard time choosing a new name and this was the only one that most of us liked.
Ben : The initial plan was to form a road-safety-jingles-band
Michael : It was originally the final line in a piece of verse Andrew wrote to be spoken during the quiet interlude during our song “Walls”. In the end we scrapped the verse but liked the phrase “We Arrive Alive”, and we’d been juggling abour four different names so it was an easy way to just pick one.
Andrew : Someone’s going to mention a road safety sign on this one. Our first song “Walls” initially had a really faint, underlying poem in it during one of the more chilled out parts of the song. I don’t know if the lads will remember this or not and sadly I can’t remember the other lines of the poem now but the last line of it before a giant dynamic jump was “…we arrive alive” - So that’s where the name came from anyway…
What is the meaning behind the name ‘My Friend the Bombmaker’ for the EP?
Neil : Let’s just say Michael reads a lot of Stephen Leather…
Adam : t’s the same as the first song on the EP and I think we chose that because we felt is was right. The meaning behind that name came from the way it was put together. It was originally called A-Bomb (as in atomic) because we had these two song ideas that we couldn’t really expand but we wanted a new song for a gig that was coming up so we rammed the two ideas together to have a song and, by sheer luck, it worked!
Ben : it felt right to name the EP after My Friend the Bombmaker as we felt it was such a ‘tour de force’
Michael : The name was actually intended for the title track, not the EP itself. I came up with it because I like the weirdness of the idea. “My Friend the ____ ” seems to me like the title to a children’s book, so it’s a bit of a shock when the next word is so violent. We then arranged the tunes to tell a story, if you like, wherein the bombmaker is introduced and unleashed his fury, ooze and flames consume the place, followed by zombies and nuclear fallout and whatnot, and then everything fades to a desolate peace. Fill in the details however you like.
Andrew : Michael came up with the name so i’m not actually sure what he had in mind but I personally think it’s just a great visual.
What is currently your favorite Album / Song?
Neil : Santana – Abraxas
Adam : My first proper album for sure, Live and Dangerous by Thin Lizzy. My favourite song changes weekly, at the moment it’s somewhere between Wasting time by Booka Shade, Recurring by Bonobo and Alter Ego by Tame Impala
Ben : In Utero - Nirvana
Michael : Album: Radiohead - Hail to the Theif
Song: Explosions in the Sky - Catasrophe and the Cure
Andrew : At the moment i’m listening to loads of In Utero by Nirvana, Very Ape is great for getting energy to wake up in the mornings. Such a badass tune.
CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR TRACK TWO ‘DACHAU’…
