Focus on Slam Dunk: Blood Youth interview

Blood Youth - Inside My HeadSlam Dunk is about to begin a three-date run, being an unusual thing in the UK – a travelling festival. We’ll be there, but we’ve also been able to snag a few interviews with the bands playing there in the run-up. Here’s Chris from Harrogate-based madmen Blood Youth:

Blood Youth is one of the “youngest” bands we’re talking to this year, if not the youngest having just celebrated your first “birthday”. You’re also one of the few UK-based acts! What do you feel is going to be different being part of a festival package as opposed to a smaller tour?

I love it when we get to play festivals personally because there are hundreds of kids in the crowd that are yet to hear our sound. And every time we play somewhere where there’s a whole bunch of kids who haven’t heard us, they always always always tweet at us/hit us up after saying that they had no idea who we were until then, and that they’re a fan now! So its extremely healthy for new bands to be included in major festival line ups, and I can’t wait! I grew up on festivals so I love them.

What are Blood Youth bringing to the party? What can we expect from your live show for these UK dates?

Circle pits, riffs, stage dives, me usually climbing up stuff and some good ol’ fashion sing-alongs!

Your second EP, Closure, came out recently and you’ve just dropped a video for “Mood Swing” from it. What can you tell us about the EP? Is it a step in a new direction from “Inside My Head”? Have you been able to shift a few copies at gigs to converted fans?

So we wrote Closure as a sister to Inside My Head, a second half, and an end to a chapter. Lyrically speaking; Kaya went through some tough spots in certain situations through Inside My Head, and Closure is pretty much him finishing the story and closing the door on those feelings he once felt during Inside My Head. And the whole EP was literally Closure for the issues Kaya and the rest of us, had ever gone through leading up to Inside My Head.

With two EPs under your belt are there any plans for a full album? Or does the more frequent but smaller schedule of EP releases suit you better?

There are definitely some things in the works right now for an album… There’s not really a lot else I can tell you right now on that subject I don’t think haha! Although that will be what comes next.

The artwork for Closure is superb. Is there any symbolism or is it just a great piece of art?

It carries on from the themes we set in Inside My Head. It represents the inner battle of worries and anxieties that we all go through at some point in life. But there are a lot of different stories we’ve heard from people, for example someone thought each animal represented one of us haha!

Do you have any other live shows plotted post-Slam Dunk?

Yes! We head into a short run with Every Time I Die straight after Slam Dunk playing London 3 nights in a row, then we have a Banquet Records in-store show and signing, then we head to play Camden Rocks Festival and then to end the run we play a headline show in Southampton. A lot of London love!

If you met a band at the position now that you were in a year or so years ago, what advice would you give them?

Keep going hard, don’t give people time to rest, do what you want and have fun!

You’re playing Leeds (Yorkshire and just round the corner from where you live!), Birmingham (Midlands) and London (erm… London) with Slam Dunk. What’s the first thing that pops into your head when someone mentions each of these cities?

A good time! Leeds and London are always great to us and we love playing there. We haven’t actually played Birmingham yet so that should be an experience for us, but we’re excited!

Blood Youth:  facebook | twitter

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