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!
CrawlBlind – Hobgoblin New Blood Stage, Sunday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We hail from a small-town called Lowestoft on the east coast of England, the most easterly point of England in fact.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
CrawlBlind originally formed in 1997 before disbanding in 2002 after releasing an album and 2 EPs, gaining relative success, touring the USA and building a loyal following. Three of the original members reformed in 2017 with a new bass player and guitarist joining in 2018. Our first gig as a complete unit was the first round of Metal to the Masses in March this year!
Where does the name of the band come from?
I wasn’t a member when they came up with the name, but I’m under the impression it’s just about being ridiculously drunk, very dark, deep and mysterious.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Like most bands, we make music we enjoy and hope others can gravitate to what we’re doing. Rooted in the core values of nu-metal and metalcore, we offer no-nonsense metal with savage vocal, bouncy grooves, dirty riffs and a chaser of melody to wash it all down with. We’re relentless, aggressive and perfect to beat the living sh*t out of your friends too.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
To quote Simon Hall (M2TM Organiser / final judge) “Energy – pure f***ing energy, incredible to watch boys”. We have fun while we’re up there and we’re bringing a set that we hope is going to have bodies flying from the first beat to the last so everyone else can have fun too.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Only our bassist has been to Bloodstock before, again through M2TM with his band Soulborn. We’ve all integrated ourselves into the amazing Bloodstock online community though. We can’t wait to play for a load of passionate metalheads! It’s been amazing to see how many people have checked out all the competition winners and planned to check out unsigned bands – it’s a festival full of knowledge and passion for metal so I’m sure we’ll fit in just fine and they’ll take care of us Bloodstock virgins!
Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it? Which region did you win, or did you come through other channels?
We entered M2TM with the outlook of – it’s a great opportunity to play local shows to a large audience and get to grips with playing together as a band. We’re all experienced and we all have ultimate confidence in what we’re doing so we all knew if we put in the work and performances we stood a chance against anyone. It is however one thing to think that and another to live it when you’re competing every round against amazing bands who also have that confidence in themselves. We won the East Anglia competition but blimey was it a tight one!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
We’ve got a no-nonsense set that doesn’t let up from the first beat to the last. If you wear a wig then hold onto it tightly because we’re coming to blow it off!
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
I can’t talk for every member but I’m personally looking forward to Pallbearer, Feed the Rhino, Devil Driver and Jasta (even more now Howard Jones is in his line up) but we’re intending on watching as many bands on the New Blood Stage as possible and showing our support to all the boys and girls that have earnt their spot at this year’s Bloodstock like we did!
What are you working on at the moment?
We’re currently working on a new album due for release in Autumn 2018. We’ve got some cool things going on behind the scenes which we intend on giving people the drop on as soon as Bloodstock is done with. We’ve released 4 new songs that are available to stream and download on all major platforms and we’ll also be releasing an EP of 4 old CrawlBlind songs later this year that we’ve re-recorded for the loyal followers that have come back to us after the 15-year break!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
I don’t think I can narrow it down, we’re all metal fans, we all know how wild it can get! Hopefully this year’s Bloodstock can provide us with a go-to answer for next time! Saying that, the Dillinger Escape Plan singer sh**ting into a bag and throwing it into the crowd always stands out.
Jäger, Hobgoblin Ale, Red Bull, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
Bulleit Bourbon all day!
