“We work hard at pushing boundaries when it comes to genres, if you’re into electronica, rock or alternative you should enjoy what we do!” Makings have both been striving and thriving at the alternative rock genre. Forming in 2011, the band has been a major part of the Dublin music scene, now they have their eyes set on expanding their reach to an international level. I talked with lead guitarist of Makings, Barry Shock about their past successes and what’s in store for the future. Firstly, I was curious as to what was the story behind his stage name, “If I could give anybody a piece of advice it would be to stay away from electric fences, they don’t look very harmful but there’s a fair whack off them!”. Humor is always a large part of the Irish personality and it’s no different in this case, but humor aside, Barry Shock and Makings are very determined to achieve as many feats as possible in the music scene. And they’re already on the path, with their debut album, Cognition, being released in 2014 to critical acclaim. “We’ve had reviews in Irish publications and some radio-DJs have taken notice in both UK and Ireland giving airplay and saying positive things. We are however not a band that wants to wait around for things to happen. As soon as our debut album was finished and post album tour was wrapped up, we got straight back to the studio to work on new material. We feel it’s very important to be constantly creating new music.” With Makings also potentially reaching international status, I wanted to know if there was any large differences between the UK and Irish music scene as the band had done concerts in cities like London before. “Ireland is quite small in comparison to the UK, and there’s really a sense of community among bands and venues here. There are venues up and down the country doing great work in supporting new Irish music and we are thirsty to play for new audiences all the time. In the UK there are lots more places to play, that’s a path of discovery we‘re still on and it’s an exciting one.” It’s an intriguing comparison between the wide range of music that the UK scene has to offer while Ireland’s scene tends to have a more personal approach not only between the acts and the fans but between many different acts themselves. We’ll certainly look forward to seeing how Makings will be able to merge these two scenes’ aspects together for the best. Before this interview concluded, I of course had to ask whether Makings had anything new in store to be released soon. They had set the bar very high so far, working with BRIT Award winning producer Chris Potter, who had previously worked with legendary bands such as The Verve, U2, The Rolling Stones and more. “Album number two is already taking shape. We have been working on lots of new ideas and anybody that comes to our new shows will get a taste as we will be playing lots of new material. Expect more craziness, fat grooves and tunes that are just impossible to sit down to!” As the interview concluded, I felt confident, as many others will after reading this and listening to their music, that Makings will be a huge name that’ll be discussed for a long time, I can’t stress enough how vital it is to watch this space and see how Makings will continue to develop and thrive in the industry.
“We’re excited about the future and we’re very much looking forward to more crazy shows in Ireland, the UK and beyond!””
