UN: 20 Bulls Each will probably be a band that is new to a lot of people reading this interview. Can you go through a brief history of how the band came to be? Where any of you involved in bands prior to forming 20 Bulls Each?

Gareth/vocals: The band started around 2002 here in Dublin. None of us knew each other really it was an ad in the paper/online thing. We all had different ideas about what type of band we wanted to be in but we chanced our arm and just started banging out tracks to see what would happen. We still play our first couple of songs actually; they are on the Lost Causes album. The line up has been pretty stable save for bassists; we've been through a few of em now. But Ciaran seems to be settled in nice now.

As for other bands, I think we've all been in a few before but this is the first real band we've been in with all the touring and records etc.

UN: I was curious to ask about the band name. What exactly does 20 Bulls Each mean? It definitely has an interesting ring to it and stands out as unique for a band of this genre.

Gareth: That is the number one question we get asked all the time! I really wish I had something cool to tell you. Some of the ideas people have about it are one hundred times better than the reality. So I'll let you in on the secret.

We were in practice one day just playin away when we realized we had gigs lined up but no name. We found a newspaper in the room from a few days previous and said fuck it well pick a name from the paper. There was an article about the Bull Run they do in Spain where they basically let some livestock loose on a town and everyones gotta fuckin run like hell or get mauled. And somewhere in that article was the phrase 20 Bulls Each. It was temporary at the time but the name kinda stuck. It was either that or Spoon included from a yogurt ad. Now it's just the name of the band and we don't even realize it's so stupid, but we still get looks when we tell people.

UN: Your album Lost Causes has been out for awhile now. How has the response been? Did you guys sell a lot of copies of the album on your 2007 US tour?

Gareth: We've sold a fair few, nowhere near enough for it to actually show in our wallets though. All the bills and shit needed paying for the recording, mastering and duplication kills any sense you have of being rich at the end of a gig you know? The States has always been good to us for CD sales and merch etc. For example, last tour I think our second gig was in Delaware and by the end of that gig we were sold out of about 85% of all our stuff which was crazy. Then there was a crazy rush to get more stuff printed which failed badly. We couldn't get anyone to print shirts on such a small deadline, all the CDs were in Ireland too so we were kinda fucked. Luckily we had a few copies of the album left and some random shirts so we could wiggle our way through just about.

UN: What can you tell us about Minimum Wage Maximum Rage? When can we expect the album to be released? Are the songs along the same lines as the songs from Lost Causes?

Gareth: I fucking love the title of this EP, though I'm not sure if we are actually going to go ahead with that name. It's kind of a working title for now. Seriously Minimum wage/Maximum Rage is possibly the worst/best name for anything EVER. But we are kind of sick of all the doom and fucking gloom in music these days. I mean yeah our songs aren't exactly Disney but that's no reason not to have some fun. But yeah we are finished recording this week. Guitars and vocals are getting started this Saturday. As for when it's out I really have no idea. We are looking for someone to put it out, the last few records we put out we did on our own label Fail Records but I don't know if we are going down that path this time. We are fucking broke as broke can broke. So we are talking to a label or two to see if they have any interest in putting it out. Problem is that most of the decent labels are in the States which suits cause it seems most of the people into us are Americans or Canadians. But being a couple thousand miles away will put the dampers on a label looking for a workhorse band that tours up and down the States every week.

Hard to tell how the songs will sound at the moment as they generally come out the other end of the recording process a bit different. That's down to Peter Slankster, he's our yoda in the studio thats worked on everything that we've ever done. It's always melody this and play it this way which is good cause god knows what would happen if we were left to our own devices in there. There's a decent mix of styles on the record I think though, a little oi and some punk and hardcore (obviously) all trying to mash together to get that sound we like.

UN: Would you say it is important for you guys to have a varied sound? It seems like you draw from hardcore, street punk and even metal at times. It definitely helps to give the band a sound that is much less one dimensional.

Gareth: Big time, we all listen to different shit so to make music that fit into one genre would leave a couple of band playing something that they dont really like. And as it stands we all like what we play but there's always something else trying to sneak in. Sometimes we allow it but it can be tricky to mash so many styles together without having parts and no one can do a metal part, a punk part, a hardcore part etc well except The Dwarves. We try and make the music flow as well as we can, it's tricky to get right and so many songs have been scrapped or rewritten it's insane. But like I said we try and bring in a little of everything while still keeping it sound like us.

UN: One aspect I really like is the use of double bass. It adds a bit more energy to the band and emphasizes the heavier aspects of the band. Do any of the fans of pure punk or hardcore ever find the double bass use to be a negative thing, even though it clearly isnt?

Gareth: It depends, I personally love double kick when it's done right. If its blasting all the way through a song then its pretty useless, it looses all its impact. But when used correct it adds a whole new dimension to the songs. Some bands dont need it at all though, look at Wisdom in Chains. Those guys are fucking unreal and not a double kick in sight, not that I can hear anyway. We like it as you can make the heavy bars or breakdowns have an impact. But I don't think anyone has commented negatively on the double kick to our faces anyway.

UN: This summer you guys will be embarking on your second US tour. Are you guys planning on hitting some different cities this time around? I'm pretty sure your first trek was 14 days; will this tour be of the same length?

Gareth: It's actually our 3rd tour, We were over in 05 I think but stuck around Michigan as one of the labels we work with Hell City Records are based in Detroit. So we did a week or so of shows with one of their bands The Whiskey Diaries who were awesome but unfortunately have broken up since.

It all comes down to money and time off work really. If we were on that government dollah dollah wed probably just fuck off over there for a month or two a few times a year. But being so far away from the States we have to work to make the money for flights and van rental/gear etc. We all work for a living too so we have to schedule these tours with crazy accuracy working in weekend and public holidays etc to squeeze out as many days as we can. As it stands at the moment we are planning a 16 or 17 day tour starting in Boston then on to New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Rhode Island and maybe a few other places.

Another factor is the visa issue, we have musicians visas which are fucking expensive and hard to get. It takes months to get one and they are roughly a grand a year. Sneaking into the country isn't really an option as we know guys who have tried it before and got caught and trust me, it's not worth it.

UN: Aside from the US where have you guys toured? Is there anywhere in particular that you guys would like to tour in the future? Any thought ever put into doing a Canadian tour?

Gareth: We've been up north here which is officially another country, England, Scotland and Italy. We havent really gotten around to doing a full on European tour yet though its on the cards for next year. We really really want to do Japan at some stage and weve heard great things about Russia too so well look into those too. Italy is amazing too so well head back there soon. England is pretty much the same as playing here weve found. Once you get over the thrill of being on tour its just longer drives to play to 20 people in some shit hole. Not to say we don't have fun in the UK, we love it over there but it's not so amazing that we jump at the chance to head over. Though we try and get over once every year or so.

UN: How would describe the hardcore scene in Ireland? To be quite honest while I have heard a few metal and death metal bands from Ireland I havent really been exposed to many hardcore bands. Are there any bands youd recommend for people to check out?

Gareth: It's a weird scene. There's fucking loads of hardcore bands now, while 3 or 4 years ago there was fuck all. Its the same bullshit as anywhere else though, dudes go out and buy some camo shorts and put on a band shirt and suddenly they have been down for years. Then all the fucking super unknown bands some cunt posted about on the B9 are cited as influences for their new band. There are a few decent punk bands here too that have been around for a while. I'm not even going to name bands cause we are hated enough to miss some fools band have them post on a message board about how 20BE are shit.

UN: How did Fail Records come to be? Was it important to be involved in every aspect of the band including the releasing of the music? Are you guys going to look into record labels for future releases or are you more than happy continuing to release the albums yourselves with Fail?

Gareth: Fail Records is just something I came up with a few years back as a lot of sites and shit give you a little more exposure if you are on a label so I just made up Fail Records for that. It evolved a little to take on some other bands stuff on a small level but its pretty much on pause at the moment cause I have too much shit in my life to deal with already. We are looking for someone to handle the new EP yeah, it seems there are people out there into our stuff and I think we are doing ourselves a disservice by trying to pimp our shit from a different time zone a couple thousand miles away. So it would be nice to have someone looking after our interests and pushing the music locally in the states.

UN: Is Fail mainly for releasing 20 Bulls Each material or have you released material for other bands as well?

Gareth: Mostly 20BE stuff but we put out a record by a band called Clergy and a record by a band called The Pain. Nothing was exclusive though; the bands were free to get other labels involved too. It was just another avenue of pimping the music.

UN: Do you think the DIY aspect of hardcore is somewhat dwindling? It seems like most new bands form and tailors their sound to be signed by a certain record label and really dont go through the same learning experiences that bands used to always go through.

Gareth: People just know too much these days. I love the internet but it's turning people into fucking quick fact commandos. How many times have you been on a forum or chatting with a friend online and a subject you have no knowledge of comes up? First fucking thing you do is go to wikipedia and read it, then you sound like an expert. We are all guilty of it even if we won't admit it. It's the same with music, now labels are specializing in a particular brand of hardcore so people starting bands are just listening to for all the bands on Thorp for example. Record some stuff that's basically a carbon copy of the Thorp band sound and sending it in. Bands aren't evolving like they should; they find a sound and stick to it. Look at Blood for Blood, theres a noticeable difference there with albums as the sound evolves and its better for it. I know a lot of people don't like the later stuff but I love it. But I like Ramallah too so maybe my opinion doesnt count.

But now with stuff like digital recording you can have a pro sounding record for fuck all, you can book a top venue if you have enough cash etc. No one is working for it these days. Seriously have you been on any message boards lately? Bands have T-shirts and records available before they have even played a gig. We played for 3 years before we had shirts and shit cause there was just no one to buy em.

UN: Do you think the internet is an invaluable resource for smaller bands these days? I'm sure you guys have found a lot of fans and helped set up shows through your Myspace page. A lot of people hate Myspace but it seems to be a huge help for bands and it pretty much allows people to instantly hear what you have to offer.

Gareth: Myspace is an amazing resource for bands. We wouldn't have played the States without it 100% or have sold half the CDs we have. People bitch about Myspace but people bitch about everything, you could find some gobshite to bitch about free money if you had 5 minutes to spare and Google. The internet is the single greatest tool conceived by man since the wheel its that simple. Where else could you have goat porn open in one tab and quantum physics in another?

If you play your cards right the internet can open a whole new world up to your band but it's very easy to just become another name on a giant list. Bands that spam the shit out of you on Myspace or whatever just get ignored. I know I've set Myspace not to take friend requests from bands, a little hypocritical I know but I cant deal with the amount of comments about some band playing in California on the 2nd of June or whatever. I live in Dublin motherfucker, what am I going to do? Fly over? Fuck off and leave me alone. Or the messages from some indie band our new single is available on iTunes!!! Get fucked and die. Spamming your potential audience is the worst possible thing any band can do. Same with those cunts who get a hold of your cell number and text you about gigs. If I ever catch one of em then death will follow.

Sorry, lost it there for a minute! But yeah, the fact that someone can just pop on to your site or Myspace profile and instantly hear your stuff is great, then add you as a friend or whatever to get that personal attachment to the band, its great.

UN: What would you say you hope to get out of 20 Bulls Each? Obviously this isn't a band that you are playing in for fame and fortune.

Gareth: It isn't? Those fuckers lied to me! I think we want the same as most bands to be honest. We dont want to work 9 to 5 we want to be on the road and playing our stuff to as many people as possible who care. Its been said before but I think any band would rather play a set to 15 people who cared than to 15000 who were just waiting for the next band to start. Fame and fortune is nice and all but to have an impact on someone even if it's just for that 10 minute drive to work in the morning is better.

We all have other stuff that we do too though. Paul the drummer is a comic book colorist and I write comic books too, yeah nerd attack. Gav likes chasing cats and Ciaran likes makeup. But the band is the main deal; its just hard to keep banging away at it when theres nothing coming back. People dont seem to realize how much it costs just to be in a band. We could all use second jobs just to keep the band going. But after this many years I think we've all just resigned ourselves to the fact that were going to be broke forever and the anger of an empty wallet kind of fuels the anger in the bands music. The musical vicious circle.

Official 20 Bulls Each Myspace