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!
Graves – Jagermeister Stage, Friday
Simple things first – where are you from?
Leicester (Frog Island) to be precise. That’s where our practice space is.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Just under 2 years or thereabouts.
Where does the name of the band come from?
We can’t really remember. In all honesty it wasn’t a purposeful choice. I reckon we were about 60 names in and thought it was a cool name, so just settled on it! It is as simple as that. Unfortunately it is not as unique a name as we first thought, so in order to find our music online these days, you have to search for Graves UK. What’s in a name anyway? It’s about the music right? Plus put them together – “GRAVESUK” I think we can all agree on that at least? As in, Death Suks!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We all have eclectic musical tastes. From grunge, and punk to metal and hard rock, prog, stoner and doom…too many to mention. Our sound is basically a mashup of all the above and more, so everything about it is unique. Who else can boast sounding like a mix of genres from Pearl Jam to Sabbath? We actually got a review that said we sound like Powertrip fronted by Layne Staley, and another review stated we sounded like QOTSA meets Black Sabbath, and recently we were likened to Pantera! We therefore apparently have something for everyone.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our live show is fast paced, energetic & has more time signature changes than the talking clock. Our singer is on the flip side of energetic he is enigmatic and doesn’t say much, he just likes to stare at people and sing. He lets the music and his vocals do the talking. It’s an artist thing apparently? Oh and because the music is f*cking awesome of course.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Nope, never been, our first trip to Bloodstock will be to grace the hallowed boards of the Jager stage. We cannot wait.
When/how did you find out you’d been selected to play at Bloodstock?
Metal 2 The Masses Leicester winners baby!!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
A f*cking great one, although with no double kick pedals and no drop C in sight! Not that those two things are bad, it’s just an individual band thing. We deliver a fast paced heavy, melodic set with soaring vocals & old school metal riffage with some hard Rock and punky vigour thrown in for good measure. Like we said before, we have something for everyone.
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them perform?
Definitely Soulfly as we want see them, and we pretty much hope we don’t clash with any of the powerhouses on the main stage, including: Powerwolf, Xentrix, and of course Sabaton. We are also hoping that people are really thirsty for Jagerbombs, just around the time we are about to play.
What are you working on at the moment?
All sorts, we have a load of new material recorded saved up in our virtual band cloud storage facility thingy, just waiting to be rained down on people. We are starting with singles including exclusive B sides, probably an EP, a cheeky music video and then maybe an album at the end of it all. But rest assured loads of new stuff is coming soon, that is a certainty. Available both online and physically.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Our enigmatic, quiet and unassuming front man Dan once took his shirt off as it was too hot for flannel.
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
Red Stripe all day long. Staggy our drummer is partial to a Hobgoblin every now and then. It would be too f*cking messy if Jagers were the standard weapon of choice! Except before, during and after our set of course.
Graves: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gufSMYlaQc&feature=youtu.be
