INTERVIEW: Barry Dolan – Oxygen Thief

With their third album Confusion Species released, rock outfit OXYGEN THIEF vocalise how they feel about the somewhat twisted political climate we live in today, and how things can be hard to make sense of for citizens with so much contrasting information we are constantly being bombarded with. Distorted Sound wanted to find out a little about the project, so we spoke to main man Barry Dolan about the project.

Does the name OXYGEN THIEF insinuate taking people’s breath away or is it more along the lines of depicting a person that is so useless, their breathing is a waste of oxygen?

Barry: The name was suggested by my wife funnily enough, it was inspired by a PLACEBO b-side way back in the day. I do like that it’s also slightly self-deprecating with a dual meaning so you can see it either way. Also it tees someone up if they really hate the band [laughs] as it’s good to give the easy side to people sometimes.

What can you tell us about the new album Confusion Species?

Barry: So we recorded it in Portsmouth at a studio called The Old Blacksmiths which is owned by our drummer, it was mainly produced by our bass player and our drummer took on engineering duty. This is our second full band album, third under the name OXYGEN THIEF which I started as an acoustic venture before the other guys volunteered themselves to make it into a band. The album spans 33 minutes across 11 songs, and is thematically based on how weird it is being a progressive liberal minded person in this current political climate really. It’s a weird time to be alive as while there’s a lot of good progress happening with things like trans acceptance and awareness and conceptual thinking coming on however there’s also this whole right-wing regression and Brexit, xenophobia and the like. So there’s these two conflicting and seeming irreconcilable forces within humanity. It’s hard because you’re bombarded by information and propaganda all the time so this project is effectively my reaction to that.

What is one thing you hope people will take from listening?

Barry: I would like people to gain the confidence to become more outspoken and be better allies. It’s taken me awhile to feel confident in standing up and putting my own personal views front and centre as opposed to singing about my feelings. Bands like IDLES and BLACK PEAKS are writing about these things as well and I’d like to just normalise that you need to step up and be pro-active about these issues to try and make improvements in the world, even if they’re just tiny ripples it does help.

How confused do you feel we are as a species?

Barry: Just completely baffled! We are in quite an enraging but also inspiring time, it feels like we’re in quite a historical period of time with no clear indication of which way it’s gonna go so I do kinda feel we’re broadly, fucked [laughs] but there is a huge potential we can come through this and end up better.

On what sort of level would you say OXYGEN THIEF deals with different topics than your solo work?

Barry: The side project NON CANON was really introspective, purposefully so as after so many years of writing aggressive stuff as OXYGEN THIEF I gave myself a bit of an experiment to see if I could do something a bit more mellow and downbeat and having done such a self-analysing project, it really motivated how outward facing this new OXYGEN THIEF record is. So the two both play off each other really; two sides of the same coin and it’s good to have the different outlets like that.

If you could pick your ideal tour line-up, who would be joining you?

Barry: My absolute dream if we were supporting would be with THE WILDHEARTS and THERAPY co-headlining cause that would be a massive pile of riffs! If we were headlining, we’d bring a band called STRANGE PLANES from London who we’ve toured with before and are great guys, an American band from New York called THE ROYAL THEY who I’d love to bring over to the UK or alternatively go to the US to play with them which would be fun. SUPER GOLIATH from Bristol also who are a two-piece doom metal group whose set is one thirty minute dirge of assaulting riffs, so that would be quite an eclectic mix!

What are your plans for 2019?

Barry: We’re gonna do some more shows! I’m going to perform some solo shows as OXYGEN THIEF which is fun and means I can effectively scout some new places out and travel light, hopefully we will play a few festivals and just get out there a bit! We’re really excited and proud about the new record so need to get people to listen now!

Thanks for your time today Barry and I hope plenty of people pay the record due attention!

Barry: That’s nice thank you!

Confusion Species is out now via Xtra Mile Recordings.

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