The antifascist struggle never ends, but as we introduce Dawn Ray’d frontman Simon Barr to Kerrang!’s 13 Questions we get a glance into the craziest nights, deepest fears and sentimental heart of one of UK metal’s most righteous personalities. Because who says fighting the power can’t be fun?
Why should people check out Dawn Ray’d?
“We sing about poignant things for the times we’re in. I, like everyone who listens to heavy metal, enjoy angry music. We’re angry about sincere things. This isn’t just an aesthetic, or feigned in any way. This is genuinely angry music for genuinely angry people.”
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
“This is a really nerdy one. My sisters used to go to a dance class in Leeds and, after he’d dropped them off, my dad would take me to walk around the Royal Armouries for an hour before he had to pick them up. There are actors or ‘historical interpreters’ who would dress up and give monologues about World War One or whatever time period they were representing. I used to think that was absolutely ace. Being a man from England, I was always fascinated with WWII because I was able to relate to the idea of being conscripted and fighting against fascism. I love the Medieval period, too, because fantasy fiction always seems to draw from that era. I know now that I’m not much of an actor, but I still love swords and weapons and stuff, which is why I incorporate them into the Dawn Ray’d imagery and the setup we bring onstage.”
What happens when we die?
“I have no reason to believe in an afterlife, although I don’t know that it doesn’t exist and I’m not the sort of person to go around arguing that there are no gods and nothing beyond. A few years ago my grandfather died. He was a big part of my life and how I got into music. Then, years later, I had this really vivid dream about going to his house and sitting with him in his living room. It was one of those dreams where you’re convinced it’s real and it stayed with me for a whole day afterwards, making me well up. Although I don’t believe it was him visiting me from another plane, I do consider that dream as perhaps the final chapter of the story of him in my life. I think the belief that the last time someone thinks of us is the point at which we really die is a profound way of looking at it.”
Where’s the best place you’ve ever been?
“KuZeB in Bremgarten. I love to visit the squats over in mainland Europe. They’re buildings that people have taken and claimed as their own: autonomous social centres run by collectives, that will sometimes put on shows and have massive rooms full of bunk beds for the bands to stay over. That’s the oldest one in Switzerland. It's this fucking cool, massive place. I’ve gotten to play there twice, and I think they were the two coolest, most chaotic shows of my entire life. I even remember at one point people wouldn’t let you down the stairs unless you crowdsurfed over them. I don’t know that it’s the best place I’ve ever been, but it’s definitely the craziest. Absolute crust chaos!”