Getting to Know… Vulgarithm | Interview 🎤

For the 149^th interview in our Getting to Know… series, Andy McGurk gives us the scoop on his “creative rebirth” project, Vulgarithm.

“Vulgarithm is a hybrid of big drop D tuning riffs of the early 2000s and mid 90s club classics, but with some modern twists.” Rock on! 🎙 Vulgarithm serves as the featured act on the 149^th interview in our ever compelling Getting to Know… series (at least, we think it’s compelling). The brainchild of this intriguing, relatively new “creative rebirth” project is 🎙 Andy McGurk, who answers our burning questions without a hitch. So, without further ado, let’s dive right into the interview – Getting to Know… Vulgarithm: Interview #149.

Starting things off right, for those who may not be familiar with Vulgarithm, what would you say makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

🎤 Vulgarithm is a hybrid of big drop D tuning riffs of the early 2000s (SOAD, Rammstein, Tool) and mid 90s club classics (Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim), but with some modern twists – Me (Andy McGurk). The music that keeps the gig goers in as the club goers arrive late night. Once performing live, it is a very visual experience which not many toilet circuit bands are doing at the moment.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did your band form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

🎤 Vulgarithm was born to give my creativity a rebirth. At the time I was, and still am, in another band (BlackHawkDown) which is going one direction, but I also had a solo project which had been going for 10 years. It was in and out of band lineup changes, had recorded many albums from home, but it was going nowhere else. I needed a fresh start, a fresh identity and a fresh sound, Vulgarithm was the product of that discovery.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

🎤 Vulgarithm is now only a year old, so just as I was about to bring it to the live scene, COVID hit. I have performed a couple of live sets from my teaching room but until then I will just have to wait until lockdown eases. The new goal is to have as many people know about Vulgarithm as possible before heading out into the gigging world.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

🎤 In my personal life, anything that Trent Reznor and Maynard James Keenan have been involved with have had the biggest impact on my life. The compositional styles are on another level to anything I could ever do. From a Vulgarithm perspective though anything that has a good groove and decent hook also plays a part, hence why I have done many heavy riff versions of club classics on YouTube.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

🎤 As Vulgarithm is very young still, there aren’t many stories to tell, but there are a few involving my other band BlackHawkDown. One that stands out was last year when we were doing a video shoot, and we can only imagine that a little old lady was walking past a building site for new house and saw a giant chicken in one of the windows smoking, become alarmed and called the police. Bear in mind this new house estate was in a tiny village, imagine the confusion when the police turn up and find the chicken man, surrounded by 30 boxes cornflakes about to be attacked by 5 blokes with a variety of weapons including a mallet, a baseball bat and a sword. It is all explain in our 🎵 “Sick Kind” video.

 Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special? 

🎤 I’ve had a couple of questions like this, but the more I think about I now have a definitive answer. In the first few months of knowing my wife, she knew I was in a band and wrote songs. One day I played a song I wrote called 🎵 “Low” for my solo project, 🎙 hollowtechnic, didn’t say who wrote it and she loved it. Once I explained who it was it was the first time she saw me as a musician rather than just some bloke in a band.

As for Vulgarithm, the most played song on radio is 🎵 “Sex Riff” from my first EP, so I think this will be extremely fun to play live.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

🎤 No, hahahahaha! As I am a guitar teacher in my profession, my life does just revolve around music. Any other hobby I pick up tends to be done very badly. I’m very good at reciting quotes with accents from 5 or 6 comedy shows, that’s pretty much it.

Closing things out, what is Vulgarithm currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.  

🎤 Currently promoting the 2^nd EP, 💿 Share if you agree, out Nov 20^th, which will then be followed up by a 3^rd and final EP in the trilogy known as 💿 Share in the 3^rd degree. That last one should be out some point in 2021. In the meantime, check out my YouTube channel for originals and covers of Ibiza classics.

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

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[📷: Vulgarithm, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype; Icons made by flaticon]