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!
Ironrat – Sophie Lancaster Stage, Friday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Bradford, although not all of us were born here. Stuart is a southerner and Gordon was dropped from the back of a UFO… or is he from Lancashire? I can’t remember.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Ironrat formed in 2008 but really it was late 2014 when the current lineup settled that it all really came together for us. We’ve all known each other for a good while and Bradford has still got a great scene for bands, lots of musicians and fairly active. Martin and Wayne first started playing together over 20 years ago so they’ve just got this fantastic chemistry that’s practically telepathic.
Where does the name of the band come from?
Our singer Chris came up with the band name. How he arrived at it is still a mystery but we love it. Ironrat, one word, no space.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We’re generally classified in the doom/stoner genre but we don’t place limitations on what we do and we’ll draw on a wide (and surprising) list of influences. We try to find ways to not always do the obvious and we try to not have a “generic” sound. There’s nothing wrong with the stereotypical stoner sound, we love it – but we try to do things a little different.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band
The live show is full of energy and low rumbly heaviness. People should come watch us instead of other bands because we are incredibly good looking… and humble.
Have you ever played Bloodstock before? If so, when?
This will be Ironrat’s virgin outing for Bloodstock. We can’t wait!
How/when did you find out that you’d be playing the SOPHIE stage?
A friend of ours (Foz from the mighty Sound Of Origin) recommended us to a friend of his that works for Bloodstock. One week later we got an email inviting us to play! We were all like “aaaargh!” (in a good way).
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Short on songs but heavy on riffs. The setlist is only gonna be 4 songs (we only get half an hour and our songs are slightly long, but don’t worry – we keep them interesting!)
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
We’re first band on at 11AM on the Friday so we should have it easy there. That said we’d be gutted to miss Testament, especially as Gene’s playing with them and he’s practically an honorary Yorkshireman. Annoyingly though it looks like they’re going to clash with Leeds’ Black Moth.
What are you working on at the moment?
We’re currently just over halfway into writing the second album. Two of the songs in our set will be new ones and two will be from our debut album.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We’ve all got our own favourites ranging from when one of us barfed all over themselves but carried on regardless to a guy dropping his trousers in front of us at a gig. That one was… not pretty.
Jäger, Hobgoblin Ale, Kraken, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
We’re torn between Kraken & Hogoblin with Kraken winning on points.
