Aslan on drugs, religion and record labels

In the new issue of Hot Press (Aslan/Paul Weller cover), Christy Dignam and Billy McGuinness of the famous Dublin band talk openly on a number of topics, including drug abuse, alcoholism, religion and record companies.

Dignam is disarmingly frank about his drug addiction and consumption. “I was sexually abused when I was a kid. So you have this fuckin’ thing inside you, it’s like a hole, a gnawing feeling. I used to have that all the time, until I took gear. The first time I took gear, I just said to myself, ‘man, you’re fuckin’ home’. No other thing ever gave me what heroin did."

On religion, he comments, “All organised religion is doing nothing but fucking up the world. It belongs in the Middle Ages! The world we live in today has no relevance to what all of that shit’s about... When we started off, the Catholic Church was just starting to lose its grip on Ireland. It was a great thing for us to see. The Catholic Church has nothing but negative connotations for me personally."

On record companies, McGuinness says, “What used to really blow me away was the way bands would lose their deal and then just disappear. To me the whole concept of some fuckin’ accountant in Los Angeles or London deciding that you’re no longer commercially viable, so therefore you stop being a guitarist or a drummer or a singer... To me, it’s fucking outrageous.”

Read the full interview, which coincides with the release of the band’s new album Nudie Books And Frenchies, in the new issue of Hot Press, out now.