Sir Reg Band

Last time we heard from the Irish and Swedish celticpunkrockers “Sir Reg” was back in 2011 when they toured their album “Sign of the Times”. Since then they´ve released a couple of great albums and toured heavily around the globe. We thought it was about time to catch up with the band and see what they are up to in the year of 2019.

                                                             Courtesy: Sir Reg.

First of all, great to hear from you again and your latest album is as always kicking it. From 2011 and the release of “Sign of the Times” up until now, what has been the highlights for you?

Brendan: Hi!  Thanks very much. We’ve been up to a lot since we last spoke and gone through various member changes etc. One thing that hasn’t changed though is our drive to keep touring and making music. We’ve five studio albums released up to now. The highlights would have to be all the great tours and festivals we’ve played. Stand outs include playing Sweden Rock, Paaspop, Get Shamrocked Festival in California and also our trips to Russia.

Back in 2011 you had your Swedish base in the metropolis of “Köping” which once also gave us the band “Charta 77” among many others. Are you still based there or have you catched the “big city flue”?

Brendan: We still have our rehearsal room in Köping and a couple of members reside there. We’re now spread out across Sweden and Denmark.  Doesn’t affect the progress of the band thankfully. We play now more than ever.

Your singer is from Ireland and you have been asked many times about this particular topic ever since, so we´ll try to come up with something partly different this time which doesn´t deal with “being away from home”. If comparing Sweden and Ireland what is the biggest difference and what do you think unites these two humble countries of ours?

Brendan: Yeah, I’m (Brendan) Irish and moved to Sweden back in 2001, so have lived in Scandinavia now long enough to be part of the furniture. I think the great love of music and our ability to have a good time make us similar. Also the mutual love of whiskey and football.

                                             Courtesy: Sir Reg.

Back in 2011 we remembered that you toured a lot in especially Germany. Has that changed over the years and which country apart from Sweden and Germany has been best so far and why so?

Brendan: We still tour constantly, and over the past few years have been all over Europe and also the USA and Russia. I’d have to say Moscow, Russia has been the best so far. We played there on St. Patrick’s Day this year and the crowd were insane and all dressed in green! Definitely have to get back there soon! 

Even if we don´t agree with all that you stand for we believe that the humor that you mix up with heavier topics like “Poli-tricks” and the “state of the nation”-topics is of good value and lifts us up. Do you think that the band would be as popular if you would only stick to “Poli-tricks”?

Brendan: We think it’s important to inject humour into every album we release and even mix it into the more political songs. We have always supported the underdogs in society and don’t believe anyone is better than anyone else. People enjoy the fun drinking songs, as they remind them to enjoy themselves, so yes, those tunes play a big role in the popularity of the band. 

You are probably one of Scandinavias hardest working bands and you have also been playing with some other bands in-between tours with “Sir Reg”. Do you still have time to be a “cover band” when you are off duty from “Sir Reg”?

Brendan: Yes, myself, Filip and Karin are out playing pubs quite a bit. It’s fun to play covers and is very good for expanding our musical capacities. With SIR REG we don’t play any covers and believe we’re possibly the only band in our genre that don’t.

If we switch to the more serious side and the state of the globe, it´s always easy to dwell on topics like Trump and ISIS. You will probably disagree a bit when we say that perhaps this is part of a “bigger game” that´s going on in the world. We think from our religious believes yet maybe we can agree that “the big powers” are always affecting the ordinary people? How come that you have such a big heart for the everyday people as this also comes through in your lyrics?

Brendan: It’s the everyday people that keep the world ticking. What gives anyone the right to think they’re above another person? The world has always been in turmoil since mankind arrived, and probably always will be. Still, if everyone can do a little bit to help, then it makes living everyday life easier. 

Let´s do a good old “This or that”. You can only choose one!

 “Dublin City” or “Emigrate”? Dublin City

Catholic or Protestant? Neither

Guitar or ukulele? Guitar

Therapy? or Thin Lizzy? Thin Lizzy

The New Testament or The Old Testament? Old Testament 

Västmanland or Närke? Never been to Närke. Or have I?

Hitler or Stalin? Neither!  Stalin had a better moustache.

Water or Beer? Water

Last question for this time. What plans do you have for 2019 and are you also working on some new songs for a possible future release?

Brendan: We’re doing a lot of touring in Europe and playing some pretty big festivals. We’ve just done Paaspop in The Netherlands and shall be doing Sweden Rock again in June. We just released an album late last year and are still touring it. An album in 2020 is more realistic at this stage. The writing process has already begun. 

Many thanks for taking your time to answer the questions for us!

Thank you! It’s my pleasure!

/Brendan

For more info check:

sirregband.com/