Northern Irish punk trio Good Friend have premiered the video for their their Ramones-referencing new single, Bonzo Goes To Belfast, and support US band The Menzingers on their upcoming Irish dates. We asked Good Friend's Adam Carroll the BIG questions . . .
Hailing from the Causeway Coast, Good Friend is Adam Carroll (lead vocals and bass), Izzy Curran (drums), and Andy Reid (lead guitar).
The band are signed to Red Scare Industries (US) and Gunner Records (EU) and have toured the world and played with bands like MakeWar, Guerilla Poubelle, Red City Radio, Brendan Kelly of The Lawrence Arms and Sincere Engineer.
Good Friend play support of The Menzingers: 15 April: HMV, Belfast. 16 April: Button Factory Dublin. 17 April: Empire Music Hall Belfast.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
We keep writing songs about whiskey. We were called Ireland's sexiest Punk band by Sunday Life newspaper. We’re from the north coast but have played in 11 countries.
How would you describe your music?
We’ve always described our sound as Punk Rock salted by The Irish Sea. Melodic and ferocious.
Who are your musical inspirations?
We need your consent to load this Spotify contentWe use Spotify to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
We pull a lot of inspiration from the writings of Irish mythology, WB Yeats, Lady Augusta Gregory and life on the north coast but, hey, musical inspirations - Stiff Little Fingers, The Pogues, Nirvana, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, The Clash, The Lawrence Arms, The Distillers and Alkaline Trio to name a few . . .
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Rancid, in the Ulster Hall, Belfast. I still can’t believe the bad, fake college ID card worked.
What was the first record you ever bought?
The first I ever bought I think was C’est La Vie by B*Witched. I stand by it… my mother gave me a Chuck Berry record after that and my brother gave me Stiff Little Fingers’ Inflammable Material. All three are still in my collection.
What’s your favourite song right now?
Right now, we have constantly been blasting the Red Scare Industries’ 20 Years of Dreaming and Scheming. To ask us our favourite song would be like asking us about our favourite band on the label . . . it’s Sam Russo - One Foot in the Grave.
Favourite lyric of all time?
It has got to be the lyric which we named the band after. It comes from The Lawrence Arms’ Chapter 13 - The Hero Appears. The song was inspired by one of our favourite books, Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. "Good friend, how loud do you want life to scream her answers in your ear?
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
We walk off stage to Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. It’s just one of those songs that will always make you move.
Where can people find your music/more information?
You can find us on Instagram: @goodfriendband, Facebook: goodfriendofficial, Spotify, and Bandcamp.
Alan Corr
More music news, reviews and interviews here
.svg)