As ever, we’re going to try and cover every single Jäger, New Blood and SOPHIE stage band before Bloodstock kicks off on August 9th. 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!
This Place Hell – Hobgoblin New Blood Stage, Sunday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re a bit all over the place, myself (Dylan), Regan and Mick are from Meath, Ryan’s from Dublin and Stephen’s from Donegal. We’re primarily based in Dublin though.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Me, Mick and Ryan have been playing together in a band since 2012, but Stephen only arrived into our lives in 2013. From 2014 until the end of 2016 we played as a four piece, and then in February 2017, we announced that one of our oldest friends Regan had joined the band as a second guitarist.
Where does the name of the band come from?
The name came from us all talking in the car one evening, we’ve all had a feeling of being trapped before, be it at home, work, in a relationship or even in your own mind. This Place Hell can refer to any of those things, it’s just that feeling of being stuck, looking desperately for a way out while everything around you torments you.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is relentless, it’s heavy, fast, loud and aggressive. We’ve been called metalcore, hardcore, nu-metal, we’ve never had one subgenre stick to us, and we wouldn’t want to limit ourselves to one. We’re influenced by every area of metal, from Slipknot, Korn, Deicide, Cradle of Filth, Bring Me The Horizon, Killswitch Engage, While She Sleeps and to so much more outside the boundaries of metal.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our live show is pure energy. No matter what size the stage, crowd or venue, we play every show like it’s our last, we put every last ounce of energy we have into our live show. We can’t help it, we write songs that make us want to move!
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
No, none of us have ever been, so we’re all crazy excited to go, anyone we know that has gone always says it’s the best atmosphere they’ve been a part of.
Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it? Which region did you win, or did you come through other channels?
We won the Republic of Ireland’s M2TM competition this year, and to be totally honest, this year was the first where we truly put the competition aspect of it aside. We joined the competition only a few weeks before the very first heat and just agreed that besides the competition, M2TM is one of the biggest events in Irish metal and we’d be stupid to not put ourselves in, we’ll never forget the moment Simon called our names though!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Our setlist is going to be mostly new songs, but it will be full on. There’ll be no time for smoke breaks during our set, we’re going to fit in as many riffs per minute as we can!
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
Top three for me would be Gojira, Jasta and Devildriver. If I get to see those shows I’m happy out!
What are you working on at the moment?
We’re about to release a brand new video and song in July that we recorded with Justin Hill earlier this year. It’ll be our first release since our EP Contempt in August of last year, so we’re very excited for everyone to hear it. We’ve got plenty of festival dates to keep us busy until the end of August. After that we’ll be focusing on writing for something brand new next year!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We’re never afraid to mix it up with the crowd during our shows so something outrageous usually happens! In Cork we had Evan from Worn Out front-flip off the stage into the crowd! During our M2TM semi-final this year I ended up getting picked up and crowd surfed while playing, and on another occasion while Mick and I were in the crowd, I broke the headstock of a bass I was borrowing across Mick’s elbow!
Jäger, Hobgoblin Ale, Red Bull, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
Jäger, no matter how many bad decisions it leads to…
Header image by Angel Croitor
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