Pre-Bloodstock interview: XVII

XVII logo 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?

XVII are based in Kidderminster with it being the hometown of Kie,Matt and Rhys.

How did you meet?

Kie, Matt and Rhys all grew up together and jammed for years with our previous drummer Shoal before meeting Voz who had been recommended through a close friend of Kie’s. We met Ben online as Shoal departed and we searched for a replacement.

How long have you been playing together as a band?

We started playing shows at the beginning of 2013.

Where does the name of the band come from?

XVII was a codename Matt used when writing material before the band was fully formed and its stuck ever since.

What are your influences – individually or as a band?

There’s way too many to list but the likes of Unearth, Trivium, Pantera, Sylosis, Machinehead and Caliban come to mind.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

We would simply say its fast, full on heavy with melody along the way. With XVII we have a moulded our own sound together with twists along the way.

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

Live, we have a constant energy that seems to flow through the whole set, once we start we wont stop and aim to deliver a crushing live experience for the crowd. We have played a fair few shows around our local area and surrounding and are now currently booking shows around the country.

Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it?

We entered for more exposure, to network with new bands and play to new people who may have never seen us before, as well as fans we have already gained. The aim was to give 100% and do what we do best and let the fans and judges make their own minds up.

What sort of setlist can we expect?

As mentioned its gonna be fast and full on. After releasing our E.P From The Ashes recently, it would be rude not to play anything from it , but apart from that its all under-wraps.

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

We know we won’t be clashing with Trivium, who we are excited to see headline their first festival in the UK, our drummer Ben fancies a dance to Cannibal Corpse (don’t we all) but they play Sunday so that’s not an issue, as are Treppalium, who Voz has been rambling on about for a very long time!

What are you working on at the moment?

We are obviously making sure our set is up to scratch for Bloodstock and plan on exposing our material through more live shows around the country the end of the year.

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

Last year we played The Midlands Metal Crusade which featured Sylosis and our friends in Destroyed Beyond Belief never let anyone down on the wild side. This time they decided to bring a Charlie Sheen sex doll which kept ‘popping up’ backstage randomly, along with enough Jagermeister to fill the great canyon…..

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

We would say play what you love and get out there, everyone starts somewhere but if you love playing music then stick at it and get yourself the exposure!

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

3 bands? Thats a hard one, Pantera would need to headline, with Trivium, Caliban and XVII opening!

XVII play the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage on the Friday.

XVII: facebook | bandcamp | reverbnation

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