Woodburning Savages fired up for Monroe’s

Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie

Derry-based rock band The Wood Burning Savages will play Monroe’s Live next Thursday, October 1, with doors at 9pm. The gig is part of Rocktoberfest, an indoor festival across two stages, which runs between October 1 and 4.

The Wood Burning Savages are Paul Connolly (vocals/guitar), Dan Acheson (bass) Aaron McClelland (drums) and Shea Tohill (guitar).

They have spent much of 2015 on the road and the Monroe’s gig will be their second trip to Galway in a fortnight. The soundtrack to the band’s road-trips gives a clue to their music.

“It’s fairly eclectic; it’s a bit of everything really – when the stereo in the van works. It’s a bit temperamental!” Paul says. “I like all the 1960s’ garage-rock kind of stuff, and the guys like all the 1990s’ grungy sort of stuff – Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden. Usually, I stick on a wee bit of The Carpenters because I like them. It’s gets a bit heated then! But we’re all open-minded enough.”

The Wood Burning Savages formed in 2011, when a band that Paul and Aaron had been in broke up. They recruited bassist Dan the following year, and the line-up was complete when Shea Tohill joined in 2013. In June 2014 the band secured a prestigious slot at Glastonbury.

“That was through Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music,” Paul says. “He’s a songwriter himself, he had a few big hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He’s quite influential and he really helped us out in England.

“He asked us over to do the BBC Introducing Stage, which was a big surprise. We went over and it was absolutely fantastic, walking around with people like George Ezra and Hozier in the same wee backstage as us.”

Glastonbury is regarded as the ultimate goal on the festival circuit. How was it for The Wood Burning Savages?

“You know what, I can’t wait to get back over to it,” Paul says. “It’s a city of music, it’s enormous. The sign of a good festival is people are always walking around with their heads up, looking to have  a laugh with somebody. As opposed to heads down, trying to get to the next stage or whatever. It’s a really good community vibe.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.