It’s that time of year again, when in the run-up to Bloodstock we endeavour to interview every band gracing the Sophie Lancaster, New Blood and Jägermeister stages from 8th – 11th August 2019. This means you’ve got a chance to read up on all your favourite bands set to play over the weekend and decide which new ones you’ll want to check out.
As ever, we’re predicting some horrible clashes because, true to form, there are some great bands across all three stages so you should start planning who you want to see.
Our thanks to all the bands for taking the time out to answer our questions!
Golden Core – New Blood Stage, Sunday
Questions answered by drummer/vocalist Johannes
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Oslo, Norway. Actually, I’m half Icelandic, so we are technically 3/4 Norwegian and 1/4 Icelandic.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Simen and me have been playing together as Golden Core since 2014 when we were 9 and 11 years old. That’s five and a half years now. The band has evolved a lot since then as you might imagine.
Where does the name of the band come from?
The name is taken from a song by the Norwegian psychedelic rock band Motorpsycho.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is a mix between different genres – mostly doom and stoner metal, noise and progressive metal. Our lyrics are in Old Norse. It’s dark, heavy and atmospheric.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
It is dark and loud and something you have not seen before. If you like seeing two Norwegian teenagers do a five men’s work you should check out our show.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
No, we’ve never been to Bloodstock. This is our second time in the UK this year though.
Which M2tM region did you win, or did you come through other channels?
We won M2tM Norway.
Can you put into 10 words or fewer how it felt when you realised you were heading to Bloodstock?
Totally unbelievable. Simon Hall himself was there screaming out our name.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
You will get the best from our catalogue. We will be doing 30 minutes so this will be a quite intense set.
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
There are lot of great bands playing that day. Dimmu Borgir are playing just after we finish our set so we really hope we get to see them.
What are you working on at the moment?
We’ve just done the Eistnaflug festival in Iceland and we are playing a few festivals in Norway this summer, like Midgardsblot and Øyafestivalen the same week as Bloodstock. We’ve just fished the recording of our new album called Fimbultýr and signed with the label Fysisk Format in Norway. The album will be out later this year and the first single will be out a couple of weeks after Bloodstock.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Seeing Ivar Nikolaisen from Kvelertak and the Good And The Bad and The Zugly is always a wild experience.
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
Water.
