Much like we endeavour every year before Bloodstock, this year, for Scotland’s Wildfire Festival which kicks off on 22nd June, we’re interviewing every band set to play the stages of Wiston. You get to hear (or read) right from the horse’s mouth who you should be watching over the course of the weekend.
Previous years have seen some excellent acts grace the stages as our reviews can attest to and trust us when we say this year is no different! So get reading and listening so you can plan your coffee/beer/food breaks accordingly…
Our thanks to all the bands for taking the time out to answer our questions!
Ryders Creed
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Ryders Creed are from Stafford (Ryan), Burton (Lee G and Richard), Drayton Bassett (Myles) and Tamworth (Lee S). We’re a Midlands-based band, our home city is Birmingham.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
I met Myles and Richard back when I first auditioned to be the vocalist of our previous band, Black Rose Cadillac, and I met Lee Spencer when we first played Fake Festival 2016. Later, he then became our roadie for our tour with James Toseland back in April 2017. When BRC broke up in May 2017, Myles, Richard and myself brought in Lee Gilbert on drums (who they both knew from college) and we brought in Lee Spencer on guitar. Ryders Creed officially formed on 16th May 2017.
Where does the name of the band come from?
The band name comes from the old English word “Ryder”, meaning knight (which to us symbolised resilience and strength. A will to never give up and a duty to fight for what we believe we can achieve), and “Creed” which means faith or belief, which to us just emphasises the attitude we all share of determination to make it in this difficult industry. We are Knights of our own belief so to speak, we are Ryders Creed.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We have many influences, including Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Guns N’ Roses, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Status Quo, Iron Maiden, as well as more modern influences such as Monster Truck, Clutch, Audioslave, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Black Stone Cherry, Dream Theatre and so on. Our drummer Lee also comes from a funk (Dennis Chambers), groove (Neil Peart), jazz background (Buddy Rich), as well as all of us taking influence from blues rock and Southern rock music. Our collective taste is vast, and we strive to keep tapping in to that to create music of a high standard. Our music to us is how we feel. It’s our personality and characteristics shining through using music to paint a picture. We put our heart and soul into every track and we try to make it speak for us in ways that are universally understood.
We are still very much finding our true style, our true sound; we know that we are close but we are still new and fresh, we are still trying our hands at many things. We fall comfortably into the category of rock because we don’t try to stick to any one genre. We play what we feel, and if we are happy with it, we roll with it. In regards to lyrical themes, I’m using our music as a way to get across strong messages, be it positive or just to let people know that they’re not alone with how they’re feeling. I am now able to tap in to my past experiences, my previous vulnerabilities, my highest and lowest moments, and use them in my writing to express myself in a huge way. I can tell my stories and share my memories through music. I can write songs that allow other people to relate on a highly personal level. It’s powerful, and most humbling. It’s not so important to me what the songs mean to me, because once I’ve written them I have my closure. It’s more important to me what it means to the fans, the listeners.
What’s your live show like? Why should people watch you?
We’ve played a lot of shows for a band that have only been together a year! They have ranged from small, not very well attended pub/function room shows, to full blown venues with a couple thousand people in the crowd. Our live show is energetic, it’s fun, it’s captivating and interactive. We aim to put on a performance that’ll leave people craving more, and we are constantly improving and growing. Every show we play, we learn, we change, but at the same time it’s always flowed so naturally and comfortably. I’ve never met a bunch of lads that I feel so comfortable and confident around on stage as I do with my band mates. We put our all in, and then go out and mingle, getting to know our fans and future fans, loving every second of it.
Have you played Wildfire before? If so, when?
We’ve never played Wildfire Festival before but it is definitely one that has been on our radar to play since we formed. The fact that we are playing the festival this year is amazing and we can’t wait to get up on that stage and show them all what we do.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
At the moment we are playing through the songs on the album to fully promote the upcoming release (1st June) so people will be able to hear the songs that we will have recently released, live, and hopefully enjoy and love them just as much as they do on record.
Which band are you most looking forward to seeing?
We are unfortunately unable to stay for the entire festival as we have to shoot off to get to another show on the Saturday morning, but we will be there to support our friends and new friends on the Friday. We are looking forward to meeting and seeing all the bands on the bill on Friday and kicking back and enjoying their sets with a few beers!
What have you got planned for the second half of 2018?
The second half of 2018 for us is hugely busy as we have a great many dates booked up on our soon-to-be-announced UK tour spreading all across the UK between June and December! You can also expect to see more music videos, more single releases and a lot more bonus content that we will be releasing as time goes on! We are planning on hitting the industry with some force so you can expect a lot from us in the coming months.
What’s been the highlight for the band’s career so far?
Our highlight so far has got to be travelling to Ibiza to play our first ever abroad show at the HRH Road Trip festival! It was an incredible experience and we hope very much to be returning next year to play it again. The weather was fantastic, the company was amazing, we met and became friends with so many awesome people. We chilled by the pool, on the beach, in some bars and lovely restaurants, but mostly we had the chance to combine a holiday with our gigging experience which was just bliss!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
At one of our shows back in 2017 we played an old song for the last time, and to commemorate the occasion I decided to leave the stage, come out in to the crowd, climb up on a table and start working with the audience. I used the build up of the track to split the crowd in two halves, getting both sides pumped up and ready. I played both sides off each other in competition by getting them to scream for me. Then as the last heavy break in the song was approaching, I made every single person in the crowd scream louder than before as I leapt off the table and returned to the stage. The song had a huge finish and everyone was cheering so loud once it had finished. It was emotional. I’d done the crowd split at many other shows before but knowing that this one would be the last time made it extra special for me. It marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new, better one.
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!
There are a great many bands that we would love to support, and also a great many who we would love to open a show for us, so this is a tough one. I think if we are talking realistically then a really awesome support slot on tour or a one-off show for us would be supporting The Dead Daisies. We love those guys, and their music is right up our street! We’ll be sharing a bill and having a few drinks with them at HRH in November, so who’s knows what we’ll get chatting about…
I think a band that we would love have supporting us, out of so many possible choices would have to be Dead Man’s Whiskey. They’re cool, their music is bluesy and awesome, really riff based and rock ‘n’ roll, and they’re just the nicest guys! Honestly! There are a lot of really nice, cool bands out there, that we are close with and really dig, but DMW are our boys! It’d be a party every day with those guys! Great band!
What day/time are you playing at Wildfire? (If you have your slot yet!)
Well, we know that we will be performing on the Friday but our slot is still unknown to us at this current moment. Either way we will be getting there as soon as we can to enjoy all the bands on that day.
Pistonhead Lager, Cloven Hoof rum or Thistly Cross cider? And yes, we’ll be counting the votes!
Definitely Cloven Hoof rum! All the way. No question about that at all. We are endorsed by Cloven Hoof and we love the fact that we are. Paul Stanley is a legend and actually features in our new music video for “Raise The Hoof” – a track written for and about Cloven Hoof Rum!
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