Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: What type of artist are you?
Pmad: That is always so hard to define, I generally leave it to others to what they hear, people hear anything from The Sisters of Mercy to INXS and Simple Minds to Depeche Mode. So, who am I to know. Off course there will be a feeling of all the wonderful artists as they would have influenced me over the years. I play what I like so it will come out in my music, I am not reinventing the wheel. I would say there is a Gothic, Post-Punk, Indie feel to the music. But whatever you hear you hear!!
PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.
Pmad: Listening to music all my life and if there never was a pMad, I would still be loving music! Have been trying to record myself, guitar riffs, basslines, etc over the years and have been writing lyrics as well. Never thinking it was possible to put all together into a coherent format that would be produced good enough to be released. Pandemic strikes, time and pace slows and with technology so amazing, the opportunity came to actually put all these parts of music and lyrics into actual tunes!! That is it really, so the Pandemic has a lot to be blamed for and another one is pMad!!
PD: Who are your musical influences?
Pmad: Musically I love all sorts of music. Not that I like everything, am picky and know what I like. Influences are wide and varied and cross lots of different genres. Fortunate enough each day to be able to have music I like playing all the time so get the opportunity to listen to lots of music each day. And again with technology I can catch up on shows that pMad has been on through Mixcloud or Soundcloud that I would have missed with Time Zone difference or me falling asleep on the couch!! Influences to pMad musically would probably be the obvious ones of The Sisters of Mercy, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The The, Killing Joke, Rammstein, early Simple Minds and the likes and then maybe the not so obvious of Tom Waits, Dinosaur Jr, A House, The Chapman Family, Public Enemy, Prefab Sprout and lots, lots more.
Music is so wonderful, something for everyone out there.
PD: What are your dreams and goals?
Pmad: You may actually believe this but I do not have any Dreams and Goals anymore, I have more than surpassed all in my life and in terms of pMad. So lucky to have the life I love, not simple getting to this point but, if I ask for more, I feel it would be too greedy!! In terms of pMad, it comes down to the extent of how much I want to promote pMad, I am quite thick and headstrong that way, that I like to push things and see how far they can go. Every time I get so far, I then reckon I can go the next bit and then we are where we are. Seriously hard work promoting but rewarding when the excel sheet with plays keeps increasing!! A massive thank you to all that have bought, played, listened, shared, promoted, etc, re pMad, I am more than grateful. People have been so kind and generous with their time and I know pMad is not for everyone!!
PD: Who writes your songs, what are they about?
Pmad: All songs are writing by me, what they are about, again, like type of artist, what are the songs about? They are mostly about me and then a few about the destruction of the planet. To get to this point in my life, not unlike nearly everybody, we go through things, I am so fortunate to come out the other side and I feel better for it. Not everyone does. So I had to find out ‘Who Am I’, it took a long time to find out that the ‘Medicine’ I needed was inside me, not in a bottle or some other dose!! We are all ‘Broken’ and that is ok, I needed to learn that. The loss of a loved one, it can be very tough but we need to remember them for what they have given us like my ‘Sisters’, all the better for knowing and having them in my life. My new single ‘Down’ is about not letting people bully or abuse you, you can end up in the situation and you never knew it until one day you just feel ‘Down’ all the time. Not like the bully taking your lunch money or giving you a punch & then they go onto their next victim. It is the living with a constant feeling of losing your identity, self esteem and just feeling worthless. Breaking away is not easy but it must be done!
That is what I write the songs about but others will take from it what they want to and then the video’s sometimes convey a different slant on the lyrics, there is always another point of view isn’t there!
PD: How do you promote your band?
Pmad: Just constant hard work. Keep contacting, keep sharing, keep thanking!!! It is just a constant effort. But like I said, thick like that! But so much could not be done with the likes of yourself PETE’S ROCK NEWS AND VIEWS and all the magazines, DJ’s, radio shows, fans, etc!! I thank you all. I am so seriously grateful!!
PD: What do you think about downloading music online?
Pmad: If it lead to people finding an artist and then going off and purchasing the money, then that would be ideal. It would be a taster of sorts. But the Streaming companies and unfortunately a lot of people think it is just a way to make huge profits and for cheap music listening, forgetting the artists are trying to make living from their efforts!!
So, while the profits are being made and the listener can access so easily, it is difficult to see it changing. pMad is as much a culprit of putting up my music for easy access like so many others (though I give as much money to the streaming companies as they give me, which is nada!!) !!
Need someone with a bigger brain than me to solve it, but it needs to be solved. There are still people that still but music, like myself, but the percentage is lessening all the time.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
Pmad: A music lover, love some any songs couldn’t attempt to list. There are none I’d like to have written as they would not be as brilliant as they are if I did!! That is the joy of it all, we all create what we create and it is what it is!! For better or for worse. It is all about opinions, that is what makes music so great, we agree on one or two and disagree on others, how can that be? Because we all have different tastes and lead different lives, so a song will touch one person in a completely different way to another. Beautiful isn’t it.
PD: What are some of your pet peeves?
Pmad: I have so many, you’d swear I was perfect. But my main one is manners, what happened to saying please and thank you, a smile when someone keeps the door open for you, when someone lets you out at a junction, just general courtesy. The basis of civilisation to me, is good manners!!
PD: What is your proudest moment in music?
Pmad: Every time I hear pMad played, every time someone buys pMad music, every time someone likes, shares, tweets, retweets pMad!! It is all just so amazing! As a music fan I would be doing the same for the bands I love and listen too!! So, when the gesture is returned to me, it is so uplifting and gives you the boost to stay going. Or I hear pMad on radio shows that I listened too before there ever was pMad, just amazing. Or listening along to a station that supports pMad and all of a sudden pMad comes on, goose pimples effect!! Those are all my proudest moments and they happen everyday!
PD: So what are you working on at the moment?
Pmad: At present, the release of my new single ‘Down’ which is out on 14th February, Valentine’s Day. It has been going amazingly well! pMad seems to be extending its reach around the world which it wonderful. It is not a romantic song, but picked Valentine’s Day for the release, for all those that are in love, there are so many that are trapped in abusive / bullying relationships whether with people the live with or those they work with, go to school with etc and now is the time to stand up and break free from those that bring you ‘Down’. If you don’t it will just continue to begin each day until your personal identity and your self esteem has dwindled to such an extent that you just are no longer you. Become you again!!
All that and future singles are heading towards the future release then of pMad second album ‘IinPower’, release date to be announced but going on the Streaming question above, pMad may go a different way about it in releasing rather than what was done for my debut album ‘Who Why Where What’. Will try reward the people that purchase that hard copy first and go from there. We will see.
PD: What music have you available online and where can we buy it from?
Pmad: Thank you so much Pete Rock News and Views for taking the time to chat with pMad. Without you and all the wonderful music lovers out there, there would be nowhere for the unsigned indie artists to get there music out. It is so wonderful to get the chance to spread the music, we thank you.
The new single ‘Down’ will be released on Valentine’s Day in all the usual places along all my previous singles and debut album, please check them out and share to the world near and far. Hopefully people will enjoy pMad!!
Presave ‘Down’ – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/pmad/down
https://pmad.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/pmadtheband
https://www.facebook.com/pMadtheband/
https://www.instagram.com/pmadtheband/
https://www.tiktok.com/@pmadtheband
https://pmadtheband.com/
pMad links:
Band/Artist location – Ireland
Website – Facebook – You Tube – Soundcloud – Bandcamp –
Twitter – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – LinkTree –
Check our page for pMad
