In this interview feature, we get to know the most radicalist up and coming stars on the planet.   This time we spoke to rising post-punk purveyors The Murder Capital.   Having formed less than a year ago, Dublin's The Murder Capital have found themselves on an upwards trajectory that most bands could only dream of. Bursting forth with their blistering debut single 'Feeling Fades' back in January, vocalist James McGovern's tortured brawl cut like a knife through the masses of uninspired takes on what has become an increasingly popular and overdone genre.   With Gabriel Pashal Blake, Diarmuid Brennan, Damien Tuit and Cathal Roper providing an equally exhilarating backdrop of taunting bass, frantic guitars and pummelling drums, the quintet's epic second single 'Green & Blue' surfaced and the end of the April sparking a further wave of praise from everyone from The Guardian to Steve Lamacq and IDLES, who selected the band as support for their Electric Ballroom show earlier this year. Announcing their debut album When I Have Fears, only a month later we were sure at this point that The Murder Capital are a force to be reckoned with.   Once again elevated by the incredible production skills of audio royalty Flood, the cutting brutality of the album's third single, 'Don't Cling To Life', which came out only a few days ago, is proof that When I Have Fears is shaping up to be one of 2019's most exciting full lengths.   With all of that in mind, we caught up with drummer Diarmuid to discuss everything from working through trauma to drumming styles and working with Flood.   *** TMR: We were really sorry to read that your band name came as a result of the death of a close friend. Can you tell us how you met when you started making music together?   James, Damien and Cathal met in college writing music. I was friends with Tom from Los Fontaiños so when the lads were looking for a drummer they asked him first and he put us in contact. Gabriel was the last piece and slotted himself in like a Santa Fe in a car crusher. TMR: Having gone through such a tragic event, there's an obvious sense of trauma and sadness within your music. Do you see music as a kind of coping mechanism or is it something that's always been part of your lives?   It's both. It's not until you're truly hurt that you realise how healing it can be. By projecting feelings, thoughts and events on to a song, a lyric or just a passage of music, you can relate to yourself in a completely authentic way. It forces you to be honest with yourself. Some pain has to reveal itself before it can be healed, so for me, playing and writing music can bring me to some places in my own head that I'm ready to confront, or may not be. How that makes you feel is then really your own individual experience. TMR: A lot of bands these days tend to string out a whole series of singles before even thinking about dropping an album, but you guys have gone straight from the jugular. Having lifted your first and second ever singles 'Feeling Fades' and 'Green & Blue' from your debut LP When I Have Fears, can you tell what prompted this release plan?   There was no release plan as such. We just weren't going to release something that the five of us weren't all happy with. The whole album is a collection of what we wrote during our first number of months as a group, unexposed to external distractions. The songs being created prompted what we released. By January we were ready to put something out and 'Feeling Fades' is what we'd produced. What followed was 'Green & Blue' and at that point we were in the middle of making the record. TMR: Speaking of the album, it's been widely reported that the legendary Flood came on board to produce it. Could you tell us how that came about?   He dropped from the sky in a hot air balloon. It was magnificent. But in reality he had heard some demos and immediately wanted to work with us. When we met him and recorded 'Feeling Fades' that feeling quickly became mutual. We were aware he doesn't work with everyone that comes his way so that solidified our confidence in what we wanted to create with him. TMR: Knowing about Flood's incredible CV, with previous clients including: New Order, Depeche Mode, Brian Eno and PJ Harvey to name a few, we'd love to know what it was like to work with him as a brand new band?   We love a lot of the records he's worked on but they never really crossed our minds once we were in the thick of it. We were making our record, there was no point thinking of Nick Cave's Tender Prey then. Flood understood that the live band element was crucial to our sound and was forthright in cultivating that. He respected everyone's musical expression, individual thoughts and feelings and helped us realise the integral aspects to our songs. Richie Kennedy, the engineer also played a vital role in the entire process in a similar vein. The whole process had all it's highs and lows as I imagine most new bands have to go through first time round, but throughout, we couldn't have had a better experience. TMR: Can you tell us more about your writing process in general?   Not really. Our band today is less than a year old. We're still understanding our process and trying to stay honest. TMR: There are certain similarities between your sound and post-punk pioneers Joy Division, more specifically the really precise tom-heavy drumming style that Stephen Morris became famous for. Was this a conscious inspiration and could you tell us if there's any specific bands or artists that have had a big impact on the band you are today?   In regards to drumming I tend to be more inspired by the creative looped patterns in Tune-Yards or Sufjan Stevens songs than Joy Division (Stephen Morris is a legend on the tubs though!). We all grew up in different parts of Ireland so naturally we listened to different music. Each of us have a long list of inspiration from folk to avant-garde to techno to just straight up soundscape delights which intersect each other on a good few artists. TMR: There's been some really amazing 'noisy' bands coming out of Ireland over the last few years from Girl Band to Fontaines D.C., Just Mustard and obviously yourselves. Do you think that’s a coincidence or is there something fuelling this kind of sound in your area right now?   It's easier to look at these things when considering the socio-political climate, in hindsight. Thirty years on maybe someone can define what fuelled the sound of the Irish music scene at this moment with nuisance. Of course coincidence is always at play but for now I think being inspired from what preceded in music combined with individual and collective conviction is the bare bones of what's happening. People are always gravitating towards unique sounds, something they may not have heard or played on an instrument before. Girl Band managed to create something interesting which comes from a certain place sonically and lyrically that listeners and on-lookers began to take notice and get excited about. But they could be taking inspiration from Robbie Williams or Tom Waits for all I know. However, there's more going on in the Irish music scene as a whole than just the bands you mentioned. TMR: As a blog specialising in new music, we’d love to know if you’ve seen or heard any exciting acts recently that you’d like to give a shout out to?   Junior Brother, Participant, Wastefellow, Burnt Out and Crack Cloud. TMR: Finally, we're buzzing to hear the rest of When I Have Fears when it arrives on the 16th of August, but what does the rest of 2019 look like for The Murder Capital?   We've some shows and festivals around the UK before the album comes out, and a UK/EU tour starting in October. Whatever else is to come, we'll have to see. Catch The Murder Capital live as as they embark on a string of in-store performances in support of the album as well as a UK headline tour starting on the 7th of October at The Exchange, Bristol. -Holly Mullineaux