Review Fix Exclusive: Vulgarithm’s Andy “Dirt” McGurk Talks Goals for 2021 And More

February 7, 2021 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with Vulgarithm’s Andy “Dirt” McGurk, who discusses the band’s origin and goals for 2021 and more.

Review Fix: How did the project start?

Andy “Dirt” McGurk: The concept first appeared after watching many electronica bands play at Bluedot festival, watching the visual effects that one person can have to make a live show interesting. As someone who predominantly has played in hard rock or metal bands, this gave me an idea for something completely different. Vulgarithm was born tail end of 2019, band of the covid era.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

McGurk: I start with one hook (Guitar riff mainly but sometimes drumloop or synth riff), if that keeps me reeled in then more layers get added. If the music is catchy or enjoyable without melody then I can start to sing over it. If the melody takes shape then lyrics get put down. Every stage must pass the car test before anything else can happen.

Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?

McGurk: I haven’t played in front of people yet so I can’t comment on which one people respond to the most. However online, the song that has had the most traction is “2nd Wave Rave”, written during peak lockdown. Either that or “I’m a rapper”, that one has had a lot of good responses.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2021?

McGurk: I have already released 2 EPs with a similar theme “Share if you Agree” and “Share if you disagree” respectively, the 3rd is the end of the EP cycle called “Share in the 3rd Degree” and will round off everything. I haven’t got a release date yet but it will be a little darker than the previous 2.

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

McGurk: I’d like people to understand how absurd the world is, but if we can’t change the big things, let’s make fun of the big things. I probably have a sarcastic way of writing lyrics, particulary in songs like “Fake”, “2nd Wave Rave” and “I cannot take this country seriously”. Fundamentally, I want people to feel a bit of escapism with my music and mentally get away from it all.

Review Fix: What’s next?

McGurk: New EP is being written, and then hopefully when lockdown and the pandemic is over, I can actually produce this live to the real world, not just the virtual world.  

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14319 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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