[BY LIAM KITCHEN]
Suspend any preconceptions you may have had about Ash’s Rick McMurray. Yes, he is a co-founder of Ash – one of the catchiest pop-punk bands this side of the Atlantic – and yes, he’s spent over thirty years underscoring singer Tim Wheeler’s melodic musings with deft, energetic drumming. But there’s a whole other side to Rick McMurray which, across thirty years of snares and cymbals, he’s managed to keep quiet.
Enter Burned as Witches, Rick’s new solo project. Falling somewhere on the spectrum between hard rock and heavy metal, it is described by the man himself as “the bastard child of Iommi and Page.” Belonging to a completely different world to his previous work, Burned as Witches sees Rick challenge himself not just instrumentally but stylistically, resulting in a hard-hitting debut album both musically and emotionally.
It is slated for release on April 17th, and Rick is heralding its arrival with a short collection of gigs, including a date at PopRecs on the 14th. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the album in advance and subsequently got to chat with Rick about its heartfelt creation – and what prompted such a musical left turn?
“I was conscious that there’s a lot of solo projects out there in other bands,” says Rick, “and one thing I find slightly weird about them is if their sound is very reminiscent of the band that person’s come from. If you’re going to do something different, you may as well go at it full-blown.”
“Full blown” is definitely an applicable description for Burned as Witches, as shown by its lead single ‘Hold Your Nerve,’ which is currently available on streaming platforms. ‘Hold Your Nerve’ is a good indicator of what’s yet to come from this record: pummelling drums muscling their way through a wall of guitars, with Rick’s vocals floating somewhere just above the cacophony – altogether painting a sonic picture equal parts Sabbath and stoner. Yeah, it’s heavy – and it needs to be to carry the deeply personal weight of the subject matter.
“Our agent, Steve Strange, tragically passed away. We were doing our much-delayed Covid tour; it was supposed to be a cathartic release for us – and then suddenly the last night of [the tour] basically turned into a wake for him. It was like everyone in the industry who knew him was coming down to the gig and just wanting to be with people who kind of knew him. The gig became a completely different thing.”
“So going home, it almost felt like I had to do an album to kind of commemorate him. But it was way too heavy – to try and write a tribute album to him. It was like “oh, this is too much for me.” I walked away from it a couple of times… but when I came back to it and listened to it, it was like he was sat on my shoulder going: “This doesn’t have to be about me. I’d be massively proud if you finish this record – and I was the inspiration behind it.””
While it may not strictly be about bereavement, there is a sense of deliberation behind every note played and every breath taken throughout this album that demonstrates the sincerity of the emotions it represents, every creative choice handled with the care that this moment deserves. Having written the songs during lockdown, you could say this album represents Rick’s life and the moments in it post-COVID.
“You could look at it that way. It also represents me outside of being in Ash. When I sat back and listened to the whole thing for the first time, I thought: “oh, it’s a lot more melodic than I thought it was going to be!” Maybe Tim’s rubbed off on me more than I’ve given him credit for… It’s a lot of post-COVID, a lot of the last ten years since I had kids as well – you could look at ‘Hold Your Nerve’ as almost a kind of letter to my kids.”
“The chorus goes “Maybe it’ll occur to you,” which is figuring out the truth of how the world works rather than the bullshit that you’re being sold through the media. The next line is “Maybe I’ll figure out what I should do.” It’s almost an acknowledgment of – even if you discover it, you’re still a part of it, you know what I mean? So, is it better to live in ignorance or not? I don’t know.”
“I didn’t want to feel like I was trading on [Steve’s] memory to start a band, so I was treading carefully. Once that became apparent to me, I was like “right, what do I want to make this about?” So, it was a long period of just taking these riffs out for a walk and going – what the hell is this all about?”
In the end, Burned as Witches tackles a number of emotional powder kegs, political and personal. Take the raging ‘Pay the Ferry,’ which Rick calls “my attempt at doing a bardic curse on the economic and political system – we weren’t able to bring it down through a song, which is obviously never going to happen. But hey, I’ve tried!” Or the more introspective ‘Right In Front of You.’
“I think a big part of doing this record is that I quit drinking about six years ago. Without that, there’s no way I would have finished it. It’s almost like that’s kind of the devil on my shoulder; I wanted to put that in the song. It’s sort of this reminder of why I stopped in the first place, and the consequences of going back as well.”
You could definitely divide this album into two halves – the first four tracks all come out swinging. ‘Hold Your Nerves’ is a great representation of the first half, fast and punishing (and excellent!). But the second half paints a different picture, one that’s slower and thoughtful. ‘A Spartan Mass’ is Burned as Witches’ Planet Caravan moment; the album’s only acoustic number seems to take on a higher significance alongside the drive and distortion of its counterparts. It’s agonisingly honest, every sonic detail left in – the miniscule screeches that only an acoustic guitar can make – serving to add extra poignancy to a song that is somehow only two minutes long.
However, Burned as Witches’ opus (at least in my opinion) is saved for last. A song that is undeniably an homage to Steve Strange, ‘To the Sky’ is the star at the top of the tree. Whilst the instruments plunge to their lowest, heaviest depths, Rick’s voice reaches new heights. If I described him as ‘floating’ before – he soars over this track: “I didn’t want to feel like I was trading on Steve’s memory, so it was almost written from his point of view. When you pass away, it’s almost like ‘who owns your identity?’ Because people live on in our memories, but our memories aren’t the totality of what that person is – so I was trying to acknowledge that.” In that respect, ‘To the Sky’ is the ultimate tribute to the man Rick McMurray remembers.
“Steve Strange was a big metal head. Half the time when he was hanging around with us backstage, he was blasting metal. He had an amazing voice – somewhere between Ronnie James Dio and Brian Johnson. So, I think writing more metal stuff was almost a way of feeling close to him after he passed away.”
Aside from just being an exorcism for Rick spiritually, Burned as Witches represents a broadening of horizons for the Ash drummer as a musician and songwriter. For starters, it’s his first time singing on a record – though he does do backing vocals for Ash live. “It’s fun, I really enjoy it. But [Burned as Witches] is the first time in a studio, really getting into it in front of a mic; it’s more naked. Live – no matter what goes on – Tim’s voice is more prominent and you’re just fitting in behind it.”
“But I guess I’ve learned a bit from doing that; there ended up being quite a lot of vocal harmonies on the record, which I guess is a nod to Ash.” Rick recorded the vocals at home, which, whilst providing a more comfortable environment for him to track the vocals, also put the onus on him to produce himself and really critique his own voice. “Wearing those two hats at once is a very difficult thing. You’re going through and editing a bunch of takes, and I’m just like – I don’t know which one is the good one!”
“I think an outside perspective might have sped things up a bit. But I’ve really enjoyed doing it. I was reading Jimmy Page talking about modern production techniques: how he doesn’t get people going in line by line, word by word, and dissecting stuff – which is what I did. But then it was just like “no, screw it. Why don’t I just try singing from start to finish?” And I can’t tell the difference.”
Similarly, Rick breaks new ground for himself as a songwriter: “You could probably count on one hand the number of songs I’ve written with Ash. Tim is so prolific, he’s always gonna be spending a lot of time writing stuff. Writing for Ash, I’d almost be second-guessing what would fit in. Whereas with this, there’s no preconceived notion of what it’s going to be, so it is very much a blank slate. Having said that, in getting [Burned as Witches] out of my system, I’ve learned a lot, so maybe [writing with Ash] will become easier.”
It’s interesting to see how Rick’s experience and instincts as a drummer might translate to writing parts on other instruments. “It’s hard to say really, I guess I was writing from a very rhythmic point of view.” Within seconds of my first listen of the opening track ‘Scapegoats,’ the main thing that stuck out – at least after its War Pigs-esque intro – was how much it just grooved rhythmically*.* That’s not to say that only a drummer could write something like that, but it can’t hurt, right?
“When you first write something – before the drums go on – it’s really hard to tell if it’s good or not. Even just recording on this piece of crap,” Rick gestures to the drum kit behind him, “set up in the room so that it sounds vaguely like a drum kit. The minute that went on it was like: “Oh cool, this feels like it could turn into something.””
“Not many people write from the drums up – but certainly from the few people I’ve spoken to – that’s where it comes to life. It’s where you can tell if something is going to work or not.”
It’s safe to say that Burned as Witches does work, and for Rick McMurray it widens the playing field. Being the drummer for Ash is by no means a dull day job, but he really can go anywhere from here having conquered the challenge of a first solo album. Does that mean another album with Burned as Witches or something else entirely?
“I’ve got thousands of riffs kicking around on my phone – but it’s whether I go back and try to figure them out. I almost want to start with a clean slate. I’ve loved the whole thing, I’ve loved it… but it’s putting the band together [for live shows]. The band’s brilliant, but I quite like just sort of doing stuff without too much thought and being off the cuff. Whether I do another full album or whether I do something that I can do by myself, I’m going to need something else to fill the time, that’s for sure. What that turns into, we’ll see.”
When the album does release on the 17th of April, I can’t recommend it enough for fans of the genre and fans of Ash alike. If you want an early preview – one that rattles through your ribcage, no doubt – come along to see Burned as Witches at PopRecs on the 14th April.
Burned As Witches play Pop Recs on Tuesday 14th April.
