A Dirty Dozen with KEVIN CONNELLY of IRON AGE MYSTICS – March 2019

According to a recent press release: “Toronto, Canada based political rock band IRON AGE MYSTICS is returning the spirit of progressive protest to the genre with the first track off of their upcoming, debut LP, Pride Before the Fall, “Save it For the Revolution.” A rally cry for those who know that this system is a fraud, “Save it For the Revolution” is a hell bent rejection of the societal sickness of today.” We get singer Kevin to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Despite the directness of the music, the “hidden nuggets” exist in the lyrics and quotations.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

As a kid, I did something that my mother considered to be supremely stupid and I got grounded for about 2 years. All that was left for me to do was put on phonograph records and sing along with them from my apartment window. It was a hard road, but from that point I knew, I had to be a musician. PS – It was hard for me but possibly harder on our neighbors.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

I was so young (maybe 8 years old?) at the time, the only band I’d seen live was The Monkees. We’d have to stretch into my teens to consider real musical influences—David Bowie certainly being one primary influence. A rebel against the prevailing status quo was born. He also introduced vocal stylings that were previously unknown to rock.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

• My grade 5-6 piano teacher
• This thing we call ‘life’
• My parents for weening me to be hard and sharp
• The incredible, wonderful or sometimes horrible people I’ve met along this journey called ‘life’
• The Beatles, my best friend in high school, David Bowie, NIN, Soundgarden, etc.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Kurt Cobain. I’ve often thought of him as a kindred soul.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

This is actually a two part question. Inspiring and meaningful. Talking about the real world here. Not mythos. Once upon a time, a reviewer for a very popular magazine thought I had a cold stage presence and compared me to Joseph Mengele. I’m not sure what could be worse than that.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

These days, it’s knowing that you will probably never make an adequate living doing it but you keep doing it because it’s the right thing to do.

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

I cook, nobody cleans and yet I still put up with these bastards.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

When I first met my wife-to-be, Sharon. I’m still star struck. Everyday…

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

A councilor or an aid worker. One way or another, I’m determined to do some good in this fucked up human world.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

My misstep was that I trusted the wrong entities. I would never, ever expect again that any major corporations ever had my interests on their greedy, self-indulgent little radars. I can speak with some authority on this one, having been signed or indulged by so many. I feel a genuine, hardcore compassion for the young artists trying to find their way through in this climate.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

You serious? Let’s start another interview so I can really answer this question in detail.

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Category: Interviews