Pre-Bloodstock interview: Obey

Obey Bloodstock 192Due to the huge number of bands playing at Bloodstock this year, and the fact that our two roving reporters will actually want to watch some of them, we’re doing a little round of pre-festival interviews this year. We’re focussing on the bands playing the Jagermeister and Hobgoblin New Blood Stages so they get a chance to convince you to go and watch them. Remember, these guys and gals are the future of our musical world!

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

Stoke on Trent, West Midlands

How did you meet?

Me (Steve Pickin guitar/vocals) and Matt Lane (drums) met at a pub in Burslem when we were teenagers, I was 14 and Matt was 13. A friend of mine invited me down to jam with Matt. Matt was so small you could barely see him on the drum kit and I weighed about 100 pounds with a shaved green head. Matt actually met Chris Poole (bass) around the same time and roadied for him, and I met not long after. Chris is one of them talented twats that can play drums, bass, keyboards, guitars, harmonica……. probably all at the same time haha.

How long have you been playing together as a band?

Me and Matt have been jamming in different bands since we met, but we formed Obey in 2008 and Chris Poole joined in February 2014, although we’d both known Chris for years.

Where does the name of the band come from?

A friend of ours came up with the name Obey. It was simple, one word and it sounded cool.

What are your influences – individually or as a band?

As a band: Sabbath, Pantera, Metallica, Lamb of God, Clutch, Black Label Society, Mastodon. We’re also heavily influenced by classic/progressive rock as well.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

Obey is all about the riff, and the groove. We only write for ourselves and I think that shows in our music. We’re also not a screamo band, which I think is quite rare for a heavy band these days….

What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?

We love the live shows, its the best part of it and it makes all the wank parts of being in the music industry worth it!

We play every show like its our last whether there’s two people in the crowd or two hundred. we played a few hundred shows as Obey, we’ve played the O2 arena in Birmingham, the Millenium dome, in London, when we won the Surface Festival 2011, the Sziget Festival in Budapest, the Marshall headquarters in milton keynes when we won Marshall best guitarist in 2012, we’ve played the opening and closing ceremonies for Movember Uk at the Koko in London and the Roundhouse in London 2013. And it was all fucking great!

Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it?

We entered it wanting to win, but not expecting to…. we made it our goal at the beginning of the year to play Bloodstock, we just gave it our all and it paid off.

What sort of setlist can we expect?

It’s gonna be a heavy, groove filled in your face set, pretty unrelenting! A good introduction to Obey for those who are seeing us for the first time.

Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?

Definitely Rob Zombie and Black Label, without a doubt!

What are you working on at the moment?

We are working on a new album and hope to start recording not long after bloodstock. we are really stoked about it and have some pretty bone crushing material that we cant wait for people to hear!

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?

Some pretty wild things have gone on, probably not publishable things… in Chris poole’s case haha!

The most random and wierdest thing that has happened to me (steve) was when I was in the toilet taking a piss once after a gig in Derby, and this muppet came up to me, cupped his hands in my piss stream as if I was some sort of help yourself mountain spring and then drank it. Apparently he was trying to make himself sick….. Thats Derby for you!

What advice would you give to a young band just starting out today?

Play as many gigs as you can, give it your all, fuck the naysayers and dont give up.

If you could be part of any 3-band line-up (as support or headlining) who else would you have on the bill?

2 really shit bands so they would make us sound awesome??? Haha no, it would have to be Obey, Pantera and the original Black Sabbath.

Obey play the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage on the Sunday.

Obey: officialfacebook | instagram | youtube

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