As ever, we’re going to try and cover every single Jäger, New Blood and SOPHIE stage band before Bloodstock kicks off on August 10th. Your chance to check them out and start planning which bands to get there early for!
Trust us when we tell you that this is bound to result in some frustrating clashes because, as ever, there are some great bands on these three stages.
Our thanks to all the bands for taking the time out to answer our questions!
Prognosis – Hobgoblin New Blood Stage, Sunday
Simple things first – Where are you guys from?
We are a Manchester band, born and bred, apart from Dan our drummer – he’s from cider country. We’ve always been proud Mancunians.
How long have you guys been playing together?
This incarnation of the band has been going for around 18 months now, but myself and the other guitarist, Christian Hickson, have been mates for a good ten years now. We started jamming and writing music together around four years ago, which got more serious and focused over time. Prognosis itself was founded in 2015.
Where does the band name come from?
The band name was a happy accident, really. After the band was properly formed and we started to write songs together, the search for a name began. Everything we tried, though, just sounded cheesy or naff.
When I demo songs I always give them working titles with crap puns so I had one called “Prognosis” – named because it was a proggy song and had the word ‘prog’ in it – and so at one point we just started calling ourselves that until we settled on a proper name. People reacted really well to that name and it just stuck. It just sits right.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I think what makes us unique is how varied and detailed our music is. We define ourselves as a progressive band because, in our minds, that means we have total creative freedom and a way of channelling all of the different styles of metal and other music we love. We aren’t restricted and don’t play with restriction. Each and every song has its own unique character because we always want to challenge ourselves to write something new. But at the same time we’ve dug out our own distinct sound which ties the songs together.
So, in short, expect dirty riffs, twin guitar acrobatics, big choruses, solos, complexity, aggression, musical plot twists (we love a left turn), and a sharp, accessible edge. What I love about this band is that, as much as we write music that is really detailed and layered, that is very complex and abrasive, we still keep our songs inclusive and we don’t try to alienate people. This is still music you can nod you head to and have a dance to.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
From the perspective of being in the band, the best thing about our live show is not so much our energy (we have plenty of that, we can’t afford gym memberships so we have steam to blow off) but how much fun we have. I’m smiling when I’m playing, I look over and see the rest of the guys smiling, interacting with each other and just savouring the moment. We all play with virtuosity, there’s solos and nasty riffs flying all over the place, the vocal melodies seem to have infected every audience we play for and there’s so much musically that, whatever type of thing gets you excited, we will have a bit of a flirt with it at some point. There’s plenty there to keep you entertained! We’re not one of those bands where, once you’ve heard one, you’ve heard them all.
Have you played Bloodstock before? If so, when? And tell us about the experience.
We’ve never played Bloodstock before. We got to the finals of the Manchester M2TM last year, but fell short. In truth we are glad because, after winning this year around, we’ve shown everyone how much of a different beast we are. We’re better musicians, performers, and our songs are so much stronger. This will be our first performance at Bloodstock but it won’t be our last.
How/when did you find out that you’d be playing the Hobgoblin stage at Bloodstock?
We found out on the night we played the M2TM final. We’d had a few drinks by that point as we were on second and we had a few more afterwards too. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work; blood, sweat, and takeaways.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Our setlist will be dominated by songs from our forthcoming debut album (so more on that below). These are songs that we’ve been road testing around Manchester the past year or so, with some newer than others, and we feel this is by far our strongest material to date. Across 30 minutes, you’ll get plenty of fast, thrashy prog metal songs, some big groovy ones, a slower one you can waltz to, and songs that kind of dart of in every direction. It shows our depth as a band that’s for sure.
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
Well we’ll be playing the Sunday, so Obituary, Arch Enemy (especially now Loomis is in the band), and Megadeth (a big influence on us, even if it’s subtle at times) are the bands we’d pick over ourselves. That being said, if we do clash with a quality band, then I’d still urge people to see us instead, especially if you’ve seen the other act before. Give a new band a chance and we promise to entertain you.
What are you working on at the moment? Can we expect any new releases in the future, or perhaps sneak peaks at Bloodstock?
We are currently in the process of recording our debut album and we will have a single from that record out before Bloodstock weekend. It’s a concept album looking at the flaws in humanity – things like greed, corruption, narrow-mindedness, and our innate desire to fight and dominate – due for a release a little while after the festival. The wheels are in motion for us now, and the rest of the year will be spent playing this new album in every town and city across the UK we can.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?
You can’t throw TVs out of hotel windows anymore because they have your card details and we’re all skint, but Prognosis on tour is what you’d expect from four hairy blokes who love a smoke, a drink, and a greasy takeaway because hybrid concoctions are one of our specialities – cheese and sausage roll sandwich anyone?
I don’t remember another band ever out drinking us.
And finally, if you had to pick one drink, which would it be: Jager, Hobgoblin Ale, Kraken Rum, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer, or Bulleit Bourbon? And yes, we will be counting all of the votes!
Definitely a Hobgoblin for me, but Jager bombs keep me alive at work (perks of working in a metal bar), so I’ve gotta give a shout out to them.
Prognosis: facebook | twitter | bandcamp | youtube
