Dirty Power have released their EP ‘Notions’.
In Spring 2020, the trio released their new EP ‘Notions’.
Featuring 5 tracks, including their latest release ‘Back To One‘, the EP is an amalgamation of influences from literature to listening.
With the final track of the EP now released as a single, we caught up with the band to delve into their influences from literature to listening.
Speaking of the influences behind their EP, they said: “On the lofty, high-brow side, it was partly inspired by Neil deGrasse Tyson’s remake of Carl Sagan’s documentary series ‘Cosmos’, which details the entire history of the universe, to the highest degree currently possible, with the most advanced technology and the best graphics available to represent it visually. It shows how science has been able to account for and retrace everything, right up to tiny fractions of a millisecond after the Big Bang. All that existed at that stage, were essentially waves and energies, interacting. The speculative theories about what happened before that, along with the debates about when and where consciousness manifests itself or not, sparked my imagination to consider that the universe may have begun as something ill-defined and fluid of outcome. Barely an idea in itself. Just a notion. Or maybe Notions.
“On the second level, the mid-brow level, given that ‘Notions’ was to be our first EP, I was aware that we were about to go through a ‘Big Bang’ process of our own – finding, defining and refining our entire expression. Our take on things, our attitude and Dirty Power’s entire energy all had to be explored and developed in the moment, in the songwriting, the recording, performing, videos and online stuff etc. So this first EP was destined to be a collection of expressions that would probably come before our version of fully-formed ideas. All our favourite bands had an ‘early era’, which later evolved into something more concrete. That meant these songs and videos would be our ’early era’, or ‘first-ditch effort’ notions, rather than ‘final statements’.
“Lastly, the most basic level. Notions are also delusions of grandeur. A long time ago, I had a few drinks with Barry Devlin, of the legendary Celtic Rock band The Horslips. As he raised his glass to his grin, he confided in me that great Rock has a touch of a self-deprecating sense of humour to it. You don’t take yourself too seriously, while fiercely miming playing bass to a camera for a video while singing a song about saving the world. So, along with the gravitas of the deeper side of Dirty Power, I wanted to acknowledge that element of self-indulgence and delusion.”
To give us an insight into the songs that influenced the band, Dirty Power shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Notions’.
Rage Against The Machine – Bulls On Parade / Know Your Enemy | Listen via Spotify
Aside from being a huge RATM fan and having absorbed everything I could from seeing them live several times, as well as from books or interviews, whenever I was out in Camden’s rock and metal bars and clubs, I noticed that when these songs came on it would have a sudden impact and would get everyone’s heads nodding. Aside from loving being in places that played that stuff, and being glad that so many people were into the same music as I was, I realised that there was something objectively valid about that impact. The slower pace of the octave riffs, the groove and the production all meant that the song was actually audible over the ruckus, even in the settings with the worst acoustics. It was heavier. Other rock and metal bands, even ones I really liked, seemed to get lost in the noise of people talking, drinking, shouting, laughing, or just the limitations of the bars’ sound systems, because of how fast and intricate their riffs were. RATM’s ‘Bulls On Parade’ seemed to have physics on its side. It cut through the noise, no matter where we were. That, combined with Tom Morello’s instruction in some interview, that “if you wanna go heavy, lean on F#”, took us into the key of ‘Know Your Enemy’. It also gave me a nudge to put a Dirty Power-evolved spin on the same energy, keeping the animalistic elements of the music, to fit with the parade of primitive and powerful drives, that the song is largely about.
Limp Bizkit – I’m Broke | Listen via Spotify
Despite maybe being the ultimate ‘Marmite’ band (people either love them or hate them), I definitely see the babies in the bathwater. I wasn’t sold on Limp Bizkit until I saw them live at Pukkelpop in Belgium in 2003. Their lyrics are what they are, but their delivery is undeniable. A lot of Limp Bizkit has a real stomping, primal energy to it, and for a song about primitive powers, they’re an immense source of inspiration. The verse riff and groove of ‘Oh God’ originally had a busier rhythm to it. It had more going on, but I knew it needed to be as simple as possible, for thematic, musical, and production reasons. After checking in with RATM, I put on Limp Bizkit. ‘I’m Broke’ has a crushing rhythm to its verse guitar rhythm, and knowing that they were heavily inspired by RATM, meant I could check out where they went with that musical legacy, to get an idea for where else we could go with the foundations of what RATM had laid down. The result is the simplified main verse riff that ended up in ‘Oh God’.
Muse – Hysteria | Listen via Spotify
Muse have been a huge influence since I discovered their ‘Origin of Symmetry’ album. It is a masterpiece, from start to finish. Seeing them live early on, was another big moment for me. I took inspiration from Muse’s ‘Hysteria’ for how to transition from a mid-energy verse into a full-volume chorus. I expanded Muse’s drums hits and guitar scratches into a descending riff and fill that made sense for ‘Oh God’. Aside from Matt Belamy’s uniquely high wailing voice, much of the Muse vibe fits well for this song and for Dirty Power, so the instrumental and expressive languages are similar. I translated and expanded their rhythmic phrasing, to make the song move along with the right vibe.
Joe Satriani – Flying In A Blue Dream | Listen via Spotify
For the solo in ‘Oh God’, I turned to Joe Satriani’s legato guitar shred techniques. Although the connection is maybe less obvious in our final result, Joe Satriani inspired so much of my diving into lead guitar playing early on, that I’d just have to acknowledge his influence. As far as many people are concerned, ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’ is the go-to example of this style of playing – it’s not only fast but lyrical and melodic at the same time. It’s not just insane, fast noodling (even if it sounds like that to the uninitiated). Don’t get me wrong, mindless fast-playing definitely has its place, but this just is not what’s happening in ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’. Satriani opened the door, to my learning a lot from John Petrucci and some of Steve Vai’s approaches to this type of lead playing too. So in Dirty Power, it’s about carrying forward the aspects of their music (which largely had its boom in the 80s) that still speak to me and feel like they have an ongoing place in this language of evolving Hard Rock. Not to mention that seeing Satriani open the first gig I saw him play, with this tune, in Rotterdam back around 2002, was an epic moment.
Foo Fighters – My Hero | Listen via Spotify
Along with the heavy main riff and the grooving verse, I wanted ‘Oh God’ to have a big, singable and wide-open chorus. Not only because of the revelatory sentiment behind that section but also because I just like songs that have a proper chorus. Foo Fighters are another band that grew out of the ashes of a foundational pillar of the Dirty Power wheelhouse – Nirvana. So ‘My Hero’ is just one example of how their sound drives a lot of what Dirty Power is about – deep stuff with a pinch of salt. I’ve seen them live many times, in different countries and there’s always a moment where Dave Grohl runs around like a lunatic, just bashing out straight forward octaves on the guitar. I realised something along those lines would be a suitable way to not only end the solo in ‘Oh God’, but also to respectfully tip the cap to those moments, while at the same time secretly giving myself space and time to reposition from playing a very intricate guitar solo, to get back to the mic to deliver a hearty chorus… punctuated by Foos-inspired screams. ‘My Hero’ is a great rock ballad.
You can listen to Dirty Power ‘Notions’ via Bandcamp below: