Doomed Confessionary: Michael “Owensie” Owens (Burning Realm)
Burning Realm is a heavy psych rock band from Dublin, Ireland.
A trio on the stoner-rock spectrum with direct, low-end riffing and pounding drums augmented by hefty doses of psychedelic freakouts. They formed in 2022 as a three-piece of two guitars and drums, and features quite the current and ex-member list, including No Spill Blood (Svart Records / Sargent House Records), Venus Sleeps, Wizards Of Firetop Mountain, Mongolia, Realistic Train, and Puget Sound.
The band released their debut EP »Face The Fire« on March 22nd, 2024 via Tapes Of Wrath / SuperFi Records, available now on cassette and digital.
Burning Realm are Michael “Owensie” Owens (guitar, vocals), Tob Swift (guitar) and Ror Conaty (drums).
Can you say a few words about your band?
We play heavy psychedelic rock. Sometimes our punk and thrash influences shine through in the songwriting too. We’re long term friends. We’ve travelled the world together. We’ve just released our debut EP »Face The Fire«. We’ve been blown away by the reaction that it has received so far. We’re just finishing writing our second EP, while we focus on planning more live dates for later this year.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
So, while we really enjoy the creative process, it is also a frequent challenge. We pay a lot of attention to the finer details of our songwriting. There will sometimes be 10 different iterations of a song before we have settled on the perfect structure, or tempo, or tone. But this is the most important challenge for all bands. Songwriting is central to everything else.
But our biggest challenge, living on a small island at the most western point of this continent, is the opportunity to tour mainland Europe more. So, if you want to see Burning Realm play in your town or festival, please get in touch!
What can you be most proud of so far?
The reaction we have received, internationally, to our first EP. As I said, we put a lot of work and attention into our songwriting. We knew that we were really happy with what we had created, and so probably didn’t feel the need for any serious level of external validation. But it has honestly been such a positive experience to feel embraced by ‘the scene’ in this way, and has given us a lot of energy as we work toward finishing our next EP.
What was your biggest regret?
For me, it was never getting to see Mountain Tamer live before they broke up… Collectively, as a band, I don’t think we have too many regrets at this point. Maybe that we still haven’t played certain cities/towns in Ireland yet, or made it to mainland Europe, but we’re working on that right now.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
For me it’s hard to pinpoint a specific concert so far. We really love taking our songs on the road. We had a launch party for our EP in Dublin recently. The place was jammed, we sold out of EP copies before we even got on stage, and sold lots of shirts too. The line-up was really cool, and the party went on late into the night!
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
In terms of the international ‘scene’, for some reason, since releasing our debut EP, we have gained a lot of new fans from South America. Argentina, Brazil, Chile… It’s kind of weird, because me and Ror used to play in a punk band about 20 years called Puget Sound and we toured Brazil twice. I even lived there for a time, and Tob was also there in São Paulo when my son was born in 2004 just after we had finished touring. But we haven’t engaged any labels or publishers there… And in Europe, we seem to be most popular in Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal in particular. Not sure why exactly. But it’s been a nice surprise to make that international connection so soon, without having toured outside of Ireland yet.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Thin Lizzy and ZZ Top forever, I guess. We’re big Danava fans also. Looking forward to their new LP, which includes recordings from a show they played in Dublin 2007 or 2008. We were all at that show, and still remember being blown away by them live. They’ve been a big influence for me and Tob in particular over the years. Tob travelled over to Belgium and the Netherlands to see them play twice last year.
Personally, some of my recent favourites include Deathchant, Black Rainbows, Elephant Tree, The Heavy Minds, Grandma’s Ashes, Green Yeti, Hydra, Brant Bjork (Jalamanta in particular), Blue Daze, Mezzoa, Maida Vale (the track »Control« from their new LP »Sun Dog« in particular), and Warlung, and I regularly have some Yawning Man, Naxatras, and Causa Sui on during the quieter moments in the day. And Mountain Tamer (RIP). Here in Ireland, I’ve been digging recent releases from Ten Ton Slug and Coroza, and Slomatics’ »Strontium Fields« from last year.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
This is a hard question. I’ve definitely received lots of bad, or maybe ill-conceived, advice over the years. My friend Mick Roe (drummer with Adebisi Shank) has helped me out regularly over the years with a lot of practical music business advice. My other friend Barry Lennon (former lead singer for Hands Up Who Wants To Die) also helps out from time to time. Aside from the business aspect of it, I’ve been slowly reading through Rick Rubin’s »The Creative Act: A Way Of Being«. The book is like a series of short, creative prompts or perspectives. One of the overriding themes of the book is the importance of being open to the universe around you; to let your senses be fully open to the world; to let these influences in; but to create art primarily for yourself, without worrying about how it will be perceived by others. The point he’s making (unless I’ve grossly misinterpreted the book) is that the best art will come from that place of ‘authenticity’ within yourself, once you keep your mind and spirit open and attuned to the cultural and social things happening around you. It’s almost contradictory – be open to everything as a source of influence, while shutting it out during the creative act itself.
What are your guilty pleasures?
In defiance of the late, great Steve Albini… Steely Dan.
Can you say something more about the music scene in Dublin / Ireland?
Although we have been playing in bands for a very long time, our musical roots are based primarily within the punk/diy music scene in Ireland, and less so in the metal/heavy rock scene. However, because Ireland is a small island, there has always been a lot of crossover across these scenes. There are a LOT of heavy bands in Ireland, and one of the easiest ways to see these bands on a large scale is to attend the regular Siege of Limerick festivals that occur twice a year, when bands travel from all over the country to play at a big, all day festival across three stages. Always a lot of fun and a great way to meet people.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We’re currently working on booking further dates around Ireland for Autumn/Winter this year. We’re also looking at booking some dates in mainland Europe. As stated above, if you wanna see us play in your town / festival, get in touch!
What are your plans for the future as a band?
We’re almost finished writing our second EP. This is the main focus for the next couple of months. We are also booking more Irish dates for 2024. And we are working on establishing contacts for booking dates in Europe for late 2024/early 2025. Between shows, we plan to record our second EP, which will conceptually serve as a sequel to »Face The Fire«. WIthout going into great detail, our songwriting, to date, has centred around a mythological narrative involving characters for celtic and mesoamerican mythology.
How can people best support your band?
Helping us to escape this island and bring our music to a venue in your town. Give us a place to sleep. Show us a good time!
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Thanks for listening. Thanks for supporting us. Thanks for all of the positive messages. We promise to bring you more new music soon!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well