Only a short ferry or flight away from Moshville Towers, Northern Ireland’s Hard To Explain do a good job of making themselves easy to explain…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Derry and Belfast.
How did you meet?
Chris and Michael met at Michael’s birth… Chris, Áisling and Ben met online and Hard To Explain was born.
How long have you been playing as a band?
2 years!
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
It’s hard to explain. Naw we just thought it was a funny and we think it’s pretty memorable.
What are your influences?
We take influence from a lot of modern metal bands like Bring Me The Horizon, Spiritbox, Architects.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We take a blend of rock, metal and sprinkle of pop which makes for a really listenable metal vibe behind our music. We feel like we give something that people haven’t really heard before!
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We just go off past experiences and thoughts and feelings and take all that energy and put it into a song, our music is honest and we’d have it no other way!
If you like what we do, consider joining us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Energetic! We have so much fun! We’ve played 12-ish live shows and have spent many hours in the studio and in the rehearsal room in between times.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Ben got on the big screen at an Anthrax show and caught Frank Bello’s pick, and Áisling got on stage at a Steel Panther show!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Chris uses mainly his Jackson dinky 6 and 7 strings, Vintage Double Cut and his Ibanez through a line 6 pod HD500.
Michael uses a Fender precision bass mainly, he also uses a Nikki Sixx Epiphone Blackbird signature, this is played through a Sonicake bass effects pedal.
Ben uses a Mapex Mars 5 piece kit, Paiste 900 cymbals, Vic Firth Jack Degennette signature sticks, Mapex Mars Dragonwood snare and a DW9000 Double kick pedal.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We just released a single on the 29th of March! “Answers from the Ashes” is available now! The single is to be followed by a UK Tour! Ticket links on our socials. We are so excited for what’s to come this year! Come see us play if we are in your city!
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
Writing, recording and shows! All the good stuff.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Shooting for the stars here, but we would love to support Muse. We also love gigging with the boys in Von Loop! Always a good time.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
If you want to check out more new music, then fire up our Headline Act playlists on Spotify and YouTube!
Hard To Explain: facebook | twitter | instagram | threads | spotify | bandcamp | youtube | bigcartel
