I N T E R V I E W

Interview Ian O' Sullivan (by email)

Hi, first of all thanks you for taking the time to respond to this interview for the French webzine “Aux Portes Du Metal”.

Thank you for your interest in the band!

I believe you’re quite happy with the numerous positive webzine reviews of your recent album. Did you expect such a good perception from the heavy metal fans around the world?

To be honest we are very humbled and flattered by the very positive feedback we've received so far. We knew back in 2005 that we had a good thing going with this band. Our live shows were electric and even without an album people were talking about God's Army as a force to be reckoned with. Then we had some bad luck and we ended up taking a much bigger break than we expected. Because of the amount of time that had elapsed since the foundation of the band and the release of the debut album, we were a little bit worried that the fans had forgotten about us. That was not the case however, and the warmth with which our album has been received has put our fears to rest.

On your Facebook page you are mentioning that God’s Army AD “has absolutely nothing to do with religion and everything to do with music”. Why have you decided to keep such an ambiguous name, even more considering that you had to “adapt” it slightly?

A lot of religious groups think they own the concept of 'God'. If there is a God or Gods out there somewhere I don't think they'd really be too impressed with the world's larger organised religions. They are bigoted, regressive, evil organisations for the most part and have nothing to do with spirituality and everything to do with controlling people's lives to suit their own power hungry agenda. The title song "God's Army" deals with the concept of God and what it means to different people and how ambiguous that concept can be. It has nothing to do with religion. People can interpret God to be whatever they choose. Our God is music and Rock fans worldwide are the Army! We liked that idea and wanted to keep it so God's Army became God's Army A.D.

How did the group survive to the very long forced break that followed John’s car accident in 2007? Why did you decide to keep going all together?

I have to give credit to John here. He was the foundation stone of this band and despite all he's been through he refused to give up on God's Army. There was a real 'spark' about this band in the beginning and John carried it with him all this time. When he gave me some rough mixes of the the re-worked material about three years ago it re-ignited the flame in me and it was only a matter of time until the flame became an inferno and that time has come. This album just had to be made! Call it 'Natural Justice' if you will!

I guess the music industry changed a lot between 2007 and 2014. How do you feel in this new working environment and what are the good and the bad points of the present situation, namely with the emergence of digital support for music?

The music industry has undergone a major metamorphosis since the mid 1990's and it is evolving all the time. Some of these developments are beneficial to musicians and some of them are not so good, but times change and you just have to deal with it. We feel pretty good about bringing the album out in 2014. A lot of people complain about the fact that a lot of kids nowadays only want the digital version of the music. I'd say, get the music to them in any form possible and get on with the job.

It is interesting to see a group that almost died six years ago without having produced a single album signing with a renowned metal label such as Massacre Records. How was it possible?

Easy really: quality always shines through ;-)

I’ve read somewhere that part of the recent "God’s Army" album was sourced from the original work done between 2005 and 2007, work that was supposed to be part of the first album. What are in details the rewriting and rework done on the “old” titles and what are the main differences between the original work and the one listenable on "God’s Army"?

The songs on the album all originate from our original live set from 2005/2006. There are a couple of songs that go back even further to a band called Hallowed that myself and John both played in before the advent of God's Army A.D. The essence of the original recording sessions is still there but I think the main difference is that the re-worked material sounds a lot fresher and more up to date. The arrangements are tighter and more focused and John's vocals are a lot stronger now than they were back in 2006. When I listen to the album though, I still hear the fire and aggression that characterised our live performance and I'm very glad of that.

During the long break, did the band members participate to other projects?

Yes indeed. Mark Cross played with quite a few bands including Firewind and Outloud. While all the time working on the God's Army A.D. material, John has been busy with writing and producing with a variety of different musicians. I myself also play guitar and sing in a blues influenced Hard Rock band called Mockingbird. We released a live album last year called "Live Cuts" which we recorded while on tour in Belgium. So you could say we didn't let the grass grow under our feet!

The group's music style sounds very much like issued from the NWOBHM. What are the band members' main influences?

A lot of commentators compare us to the NWOBHM and I suppose we're ok with that. Our collective influences stem from the more classic era of Metal and Hard Rock so it's only natural that we reflect that kind of sound. Sure, we all love Maiden, Priest, Sabbath and all the great classic bands but if you listen closely to our album you can hear some other, more diverse influences on there as well. I always hear touches of Pink Floyd in certain places and there's definitely a British style, punk edge to a couple of tracks.

I’m sure that you are constantly looking at what is new on the rock or metal scene. Do you presently have any recommendations or favorite recent groups?

I must be honest here. I don't think there's a lot happening in modern metal that would interest me. My favourite bands are still from the old guard. Some of the best Rock/metal albums of recent years for me would be Overkill's "The Electric Age", ZZ Top's "La Futura" and anything by Black Country Communion.

You are now in the God’s Army tour. Do you have any dates in France already scheduled?

We are in the process of organising our live dates at the moment and we would absolutely love to take our show to France. We are fully aware of how passionate the French fans are about their metal! All I can say for now is 'watch this space'!

God’s Army AD looks like a European band. Is this easy to work together when the members are coming from different countries and could this diversity be considered as an added value?

When you are a musician, travel and long distances are just part of the job so that's not a problem. I personally think that the diversity within the band is the key to our sound. We all approach the music from a slightly different angle and this creates a great chemistry, especially when playing live.

Thanks a lot for your participation to this interview. Do you have any additional message to our French readers?

Thank you to you. It's my pleasure to tell you about our band. Hopefully your readers will have more of an insight into what we are all about. I would just like to remind our French brothers and sisters how important it is to drink as much beer as possible. Life is too short to waste time being sober. In fact, if you're reading this you should be having a beer right now. I'm certainly having one while writing this! Cheers, Santé, Prost!

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