This Is Hardcore

You instinctively know when something is right, or so the theory goes. Rob Daley, singer and bassist with Boss Volenti, would probably agree.

The formation of the band may have come in stages but each addition brought them nearer to completion.
“Myself and Dan (O’Connor, guitar) had known each other for a couple of years. We met in our late teens and used to hang out together,” says Daley. “We didn’t really play much. We used to meet up and have a half-hungover jam on a Sunday. But we were both in other bands.”
Those bands split up and Daley and O’Connor “started playing together properly”.
Then Dan met Laura (Mackey, guitar) at college. Graham Hopkins, of Halite and Therapy?, heard a demo of the nascent group last summer. Their drummer “wasn’t working out”. Suddenly Hopkins was aboard.
So is this the perfect line-up? “Definitely. We were getting work done and there was a lot of positive things, but we were only pissing in the wind.”
Did he previously know Graham? “No. A friend of mine played him some stuff. When we lost our original drummer we thought it would be amazing to get him but went, ‘let’s be realistic’. Then he approached us and asked me to give him a ring. I had to have a couple of courageous pints before I could give him a call. But he was great and wanted to do it straight away.”
Even given his ever-expanding CV, Hopkins is still thought of very much as a rock drummer, something that made him the perfect choice for Boss Volenti.
“He’s a loud fucker,” laughs Rob. “He was exactly on our wavelength, thinking exactly what we were thinking: that this needed to be a big rock record. Now I’ve heard it, I can’t believe how lucky we were and how perfect he is for us.”
As you may have guessed, Boss Volenti are a rock band, sitting in that slightly lonely Irish no-man’s land between indie and metal.
“In terms of what we’re playing, it’s more American rock. We’re a four piece but that’s the only similarity we have with Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys or any of these 'NME bands'. I would agree with you that there aren’t many bands like that over here – but at the shows we’ve played, people have been very positive. If you’re a good band people will still react to you.”
Having already played the In The City showcase in Manchester, the band are setting their sights firmly beyond Ireland. “I don’t want to come across as rude to Irish people or anything, but we are looking to move on. Just because of the lack of a rock scene over here, really. We’d be looking for something to sink our teeth into.”
For a new band trying to build an international profile, having a member who’s been in such a well-respected band as Therapy? must be a bonus. “It’s been a huge help. As soon as you have Graham, people take you a lot more seriously.”
If Boss Volenti are determined to let their music do the talking, debut single ‘Deeper Than Deep’ certainly does the job.
It’s a big sounding rock track, helped by the prescience of another soul mate, Ronan McHugh, who tweaked the song at Joe Elliot’s studio.
“We told him what we wanted, he went ‘cool, come back in a couple of days’. We went back to listen to it and it was pretty much done.”
Rob is looking forward to what’s ahead. “The plan is to play as many gigs as we can, no matter where they are. The band feels like a proper band now. Everybody’s working in the right direction with the same purpose. When you feel that positive, you can get up on any stage and put a show on. You get a good bunch of tunes and the right attitude and people will respond to that.”