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!
Midnight Prophecy – New Blood Stage, Friday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re mainly based in Liverpool, UK. Well Sam, Pete, Danny & Chris are. Our singer Craig comes from Stoke-On-Trent.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
We have been the same lineup since the start, which was around July/August 2015, in which our 1st live show/gig was in November 2015. So essentially around 4 years we’ve been playing together.
Where does the name of the band come from?
It was Pete who came up with the band name. Originally, members of the band wanted to have ‘black’ in the name. But we distinctly remember seeing a poster in Liverpool, and there was something like 8 bands on the bill; and 6 of them had the word ‘black’ in the name. So, Chris made it clear to the band we were not having ‘black’ in the name. This was due to everybody having it, and we needed to come up with something different to stand out. That’s when ‘Midnight’ came about, and we were throwing other names like ‘The Prophecy’ and it was Pete that slugged the two together. We all really liked it, and that’s what we became & have been ever since.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We are influenced by the 80’s heavy metal scene. We all love bands from that time. We are melodic, and progressive and used our influences to bring that NWOBHM sound into the modern era.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
We put on a very energetic and professional show. We have a sound that is different to many other bands playing at Bloodstock, even on a bill this size we are still the odd ones out. We are more traditional and we remember the roots of Heavy Metal, which comes across in our live show and in the way we perform. Plus we try to involve a lot of crowd participation and interaction with our songs. We like to be theatrical with our live shows. We’re just waiting for the day we can use pyrotechnics to put on an even more impressive stage show.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Only Sam in the band has been to Bloodstock before – he holds it in high regard as one of, if not ‘the’ best alternative festival in the UK. For the rest of us, we’re really looking forward to experiencing Bloodstock for the first time, and even more excited to say we’ll be playing it as one of the artists.
Which M2tM region did you win, or did you come through other channels?
We participated in the Merseyside (Liverpool) M2tMs, and whilst we didn’t win the Grand Final – which was MARW, Simon Hall expressed he was having us play the festival as his special guests. So we feel we made an impression, which we fully intend to follow up on & make our appearance at Bloodstock our best show to date!
Can you put into 10 words or fewer how it felt when you realised you were heading to Bloodstock?
Craig – Absolutely amazing.
Chris – Surreal, disbelief and incredibly excited.
Danny – Feels awesome, being at Bloodstock myself for the first time too!
Pete – Proud! To see our hard work & dedication pay off.
Sam – HELL YES, DEE FUCKING SNIDER!!!!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
High energy, heavy, melodic and progressive.
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
There’s lots of talented & fantastic acts playing throughout the whole festival, for us in particular though; we’re looking forward to seeing: Sabaton, Powerwolf, Metal Church, Control the Storm, Tomorrow Is Lost, Scorpions, Queensryche, Dee Snider, Witch Tripper, Evil Scarecrow, Raging Speedhorn & Anthrax. Plus we recently just seen Fury will be playing in the VIP Bar on the Friday, so hopefully we’ll be able to catch them too!
What are you working on at the moment?
We’ve started to write a 2nd album, so exciting times ahead. We have tested out a few new songs recently, and one new song will be entering our set at Bloodstock. We’re also working on improving our live show and performance & expanding our merch line.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
For ourselves, we couldn’t comment as we generally try to stay professional, and put our focus on giving the audience a show. That being said, when we were playing one night, there was a guy in the front row, and he looked really drunk, and he casually threw up into his pint glass and carried on rocking out. A trooper to say the least, and not off-putting at all whilst we were trying to play…
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
Craig – Being a singer, it’s usually water, but whiskey helps out a bit sometimes.
Chris – Probably a Jack Daniels.
Danny – Probably some very wild H2O! Always got to stay hydrated on stage! But if there’s a pint of Trooper or Hobgoblin knocking about I won’t say no…
Pete – Usually it’s water/soft drinks as I’m driving all of the time, that being said I do on occasion have a pint of Cider or a JD & Coke.
Sam – Depends on my wallet that does, either a bottle of dog or water. Dead rock’n’roll.
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