The men behind the wire
Derry group Fighting With Wire talk record deals, dark days and fan tattoos.
Edwin McFee, 26 Mar 2008
A little over eight weeks ago, Derry three-piece Fighting With Wire found themselves at a turning point in their career. Although they were loathe to admit it, the post-punk pugilists were thinking about throwing in the towel after five years of blood, sweat and tears. Following much debate, they decided to go one more round to see if things would work out and man, did they ever.
Now this writer doesn’t believe in fate, Buddha or even superstar medium Derek Acorah, but when it was recently announced that the band had inked a deal with Atlantic Records (home of Gnarls Barkley, Hard-Fi and Led Zeppelin) mere weeks after they started to question their future, well, you gotta believe that somebody up there must like them.
“We were all at a party last Christmas and it was there that we began to wonder if we should continue this band or not,” recalls singer/guitarist Cahir O’Doherty. “Craig [McKean, FWW’s tub thumper] works as a joiner and had just started his own business and I was getting tired of playing the same old places. We had our album Man Vs Monster recorded, we weren’t getting much interest in it and to be blunt were wondering why the hell we were bothering anymore. So we decided that we’d do a few more tours in the new year and see how things go.”
A short time after that, Cahir heard about a new website www.shadowglobe.com which aimed to promote new music. He set up a profile and as it happened a lot of people loved what they heard. Among those initial fans were BBC Radio One DJ Zane Lowe, who instantly began playing them on his show, and Atlantic Records C.E.O. Craig Kallman, who promptly got in touch and flew the guys over to New York for a showcase gig.
“We went over to New York about four weeks ago and played five songs to a room full of record executives,” says Cahir. “Later on that night we were having dinner and were offered our deal straight away. It’s a bit spooky how everything worked out, but it just shows you how things can go sometimes. I have to say that any preconceptions I had of industry people being all suits and ties were smashed that day. Everyone at Atlantic is just like us. It feels like an independent label but with more money behind it. We’re over the moon.”
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