The Moshville Times - Headline Act: Bloodyard

A band we’ve featured a few times in the past, Bloodyard will be no strangers to many of you. However, they’ve picked this month to answer all our invasive questions so that we can donate the Headline Act fee to the wonderful Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation! For this reason (and because they’re awesome) you absolutely have to keep an eye out for their forthcoming album…

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

We’re from Lancaster in the North-West of the UK.

How did you meet?

We’ve all been part of the same local music scene for years, and known each other well before the band was formed.

How long have you been playing as a band?

This will be our 13^th year!

Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?

It was a compromise of two name ideas. I wanted to call the band Boneyard, and Donna wanted to call it Bloodshot. So we smashed the 2 together.

What are your influences?

Any and all! We have such varying tastes as musicians and we try to blend them all. Matty is very Old School Death Metal, Dave loves his more progressive stuff like Dream Theatre and Opeth, I’m very much a Classic Rock Guy, Black Sabbath Rainbow, and Donna is very much New Wave American Metal fan, Machine Head and Lamb of God.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

We have been compared to so many bands it’s hard to define, and we love that. It’s Heavy, it’s groove-y, it’s fast, it’s dark, and most importantly, you can bang your head off to it. I think what makes us unique is our ability to combine so many different influences, yet still sound like us.

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Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

Donna and I are avid readers, so there’s always little nods to the books we’ve been reading. It can be horror, or political, fantasy or war. Everything from Tolkien to Orwell, Stephen King or Dracula! Outside of that, it can be very much about trying to succeed in world that wants you to fail.

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

We try to make our live shows very energetic. We start with a bang and try to ride that wave until the very end. We love to interact with our crowd and make them a part of the show too. I couldn’t honestly tell you how many we’ve played, it must be in the 1000s now.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?

I think we’ve all had our moments. Donna has ridden many a monitor speaker off the edge of a stage. I once split my jeans as I was walking on stage and had to be very careful I didn’t expose myself! Dave passed out during a song at a festival and wiped out the entire drumkit.

What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?

I predominantly use Jackson Guitars, with a Laney amp. Dave uses Yamaha Bass guitars and an Orange amp. Matty has a Premier Kit, and Donna uses a wireless Line 6 Mic.

What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?

We are currently promoting the release of our new Album Distilled Aggression. It will be out on June 23^rd.

What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?

As well as our new album, we are playing at this years Bloodstock Festival. We’ll be on Friday on the Sophie Lancaster Stage! On top of that its gigs, gigs, and gigs!

If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!

One band we’ve all spoken about is At The Gates. We saw them at Damnation Festival last year and were just blown away. They’re such a big influence on what we do, so it would be incredible to play with them. As for openers, we’ve played with so many incredible underground bands over the years. One of the best we’ve seen recently was Pemphigoid. We’d love to have them along too!

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If you want to check out more new music, then fire up our Headline Act playlists on Spotify and YouTube!