Lucifer Gunne (great name) where did it come from?
I can't remember the exact origins in the name, I'll definitely boil it down to me being a 15-year-old who listened to way too much Marilyn Manson. I believe that if you translate it into Nordic it becomes "Devil's Army" or something along those lines. Five bucks to the guy who can find out for me.
The NZ music scene is relatively small. What challenges do you find in getting your music out there or in finding opportunities to perform live?
I find that getting your voice heard amongst so many other individuals can be a big challenge in the scene today. Even though the scene may be small a lot of people stick to their favourite band, and usually don't branch out much further than that. Supporting your local scene is so important for us all to evolve and I'd really love to see more of that happening within our community. There's some awesome bands out there people, go find em!
Is your goal to conquer NZ with your music or take this music overseas?
I think our overall goal at the moment is just to have fun, yknow? I think we definitely have something of a larger scale planned out for next year, but just building our fan base in any we can is very important to us right now.
There is an energy and attitude in the music created by Lucifer Gunne is this something that is important to you. Does it translate into your live performances?
I'd like to say that translates to live performances, well, at least we try our best to do so. Most of the energy and attitude you mention used to come a lot from the lyrics, but we're starting to go through a writing process that will hopefully show that same power in the music just as much as the vocals.
Tell us a bit about your latest release. What was the inspiration and what can people expect from you in the future. Where do you see the direction of your music going?
Our latest release, HRM, is kinda my idea of an anti-Lucifer Gunne song. The lyrics are that of confusion, and hopelessness, a nonsensical journey, if you will. As for the direction we will be taking, I think you can expect something a lot heavier, with a lot more psych rock riffs thrown in. We're all super influenced by bands over the other side of the fence like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizzard and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, and I think that will be evident on our next project.
What is on the horizon for Lucifer Gunne any gigs coming up?
We're doing a show October 4th at Valhalla, got a great night lined up, starting with Bingo Fighter, Phat Krunk, and one of my personal favourite local bands, Pale Lady. Unfortunately, this will be our drummer, Henry's last gig. Though the line-up is getting us all super stoked and will hopefully give him the best send-off we can.
How do you find the music scene in Wellington?
I think there's a lot of work that could be done, and that's just by getting your ass down to shows, as I mentioned earlier, I see a lot of favouritism in the scene and that's just not gonna help anyone. Sure, it's good to have your home turf, but we'll all be stuck if we don't help each other out!
In what way do you think the music industry in NZ could be improved? There is a lot of support here for musicians, but it can also be hard to get noticed. What is your experience of this so far?
I think that the best way to get noticed in New Zealand is to get noticed outside of New Zealand. I've noticed that when I mention we've been played on UK or AUS radio to friends or family they're way more likely to check out our music, which is really sad in a way, this whole thing shouldn't be a popularity contest, and more just listening to something because it's good.
The world is a bit messed up at the moment, Trump, Brexit. What is the main inspiration in your lyrics would you say they come from a place of pleasure or pain?
Most of the lyrics aren't really written about things happening outside of New Zealand, and they mostly come from a place of pain, whether that be within me or within our country. I feel like there's a lot that needs to be said about where we live that I need to get off my chest, and music has been a really great way to do that.
Rory, what first inspired you to get into music and how did you find the transition from solo artist to band member?
Honestly, I have no idea what made me wanna start. I mean, both of my parents are musical (My dad's a drummer, Mum plays multiple woodwind instruments), but there's just something about being taken out of your own world without even leaving your seat that always keeps me hooked, creativity is a really important part of my life and music has just been my favourite way to express it.
When creating the music do you have a set process or is it just pretty much you all get together and see what happens?
At the moment, me and Don (Guitarist) usually just bounce ideas off of each other, I mainly write lyrics and he makes the riffs, we bring it to the band and see what they think. It's all just a process of throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks, basically.
Who are your favourite NZ artists at the moment that people should be checking out?
For sure this goes to Pale Lady, one of the best live sets I've seen and their EP Told to Fold is insanely good. EgoValve are also an awesome three piece I've been listening to a lot recently, whom of which you can check out on YouTube.
Where do you get the most pleasure from your music? Is it the writing, the performance or the recording process?
I think the most satisfying part is when we've just finished writing a new track and getting to see people's reactions to it for the first time when we're playing live, really gives us a good idea of what people wanna see from us and shows us how we can progress forward as a band.
What main piece of advice would you give to anyone trying to get their music career off the ground?
Honestly? It all just comes down to hard work and putting your all into it. Sure, you've always got to have a backup plan in case things don't pan out as expected, but there's absolutely no harm in trying if it's what you wanna spend the rest of your life doing.
Who makes the best music God or the Devil?
Well, I don't know where this quote is from, but there's the old saying which goes "If Satan wasn't around, the church would go out of business" (or something along those lines). To me there's a balancing act in art and music, whether that be god or the devil, good and bad, light and dark, there's always two sides to a story, and I find it pretty important to tell both, it's more fun that way.
Lucifer Gunne is an alternative rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand, founded by Rory McDonald
Starting out solo, Rory, worked on the first EP, The Red King with the idea of a whole band sound, rather than a solo project in mind. A couple of months after the release debut EP, he met the guitarist (Don Mackenzie) and ex-drummer (Henry Thomas) in the crowd at a pixies concert. They played their first show at Valhalla on March 30th 2017 and have been playing, gigging, practicing and recording ever since. The current lineup consists of Rory McDonald (Lead vocals, Bass Guitar), Don Mackenzie (Rhythm Guitar), Steve Henwood (Lead Guitar) and Jackson Kidd (Drums)
Lucifer Gunne has now disbanded.