Now Spinning Music Magazine - Artist Interviews and Music Reviews · Phil Aston

URNE’s Joe Nally : Riffs, Soul, Spirituality and Finding Hope in Heavy Metal

·54 min·3 clips

Joe and Phil describe a riff that hits like heavy metal from the first seconds of the album.

Phil Aston introduces Joe Nally and Earn. The conversation centers on _Setting Fire to the Sky_ and the sense that the band have made a record with more weight, more breadth, and a little more hope. They begin with the opening track. Aston treats it as a strong first impression, and Nally uses it to talk about how the album opens up and sets its tone. The band has recently added a second guitarist. Nally jokes that this means they have moved beyond the pure power trio badge, but he also says the fuller lineup just makes the music sound better and work better. The talk then turns to heavy metal's foundations. Nally says he likes to nod toward Ronnie and Richie without trying to write songs that sound like theirs, because for him the tribute lives in the lyric, the inspiration, and the feel. That leads into a wider discussion of influence. Phil and Joe trace the way Earn can sound modern while still carrying old reference points in plain sight. Family background matters here. Nally describes a house shaped by soul records and a godfather who worked as a radio DJ. The rest of the band have similar music-filled backstories. Nally then contrasts that with his own path. He was the one who had to find the music himself, and he remembers spending pocket money on a bad album and feeling crushed when it missed. That memory says a lot about how seriously he listens. Phil keeps the conversation tied to the record's mood and the way its heaviness keeps opening toward uplift. The closing stretch turns toward the live show, where the album is set to be played with the new lineup. The episode ends with the familiar Now Spinning push to stream the album, buy the CD or vinyl, and keep supporting heavy music in physical form.

As heard by us

A heavy metal interview that treats hope, riffs, and roots as part of the same conversation.

Joe Nally and Phil Aston keep the discussion rooted in Urne's Setting Fire to the Sky, a record that feels heavier, wider, and more hopeful without letting go of the struggle underneath it.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play if you want heavy metal talk that still leaves room for hope.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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