It’s that time of year where we set out to interview as many of the Sophie, New Blood, and Jager bands as we can in the lead-up to one of the most anticipated festivals of the year, Bloodstock. Answering our questions here is Eddy from Callous Hands who play the New Blood stage on the Sunday.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Birmingham.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
We’ve been playing live shows together since 2019.
Where does the name of the band come from?
Kieran (vocals) came up with our band name based on the fact that me (Eddy, guitar) and him were the original members and we both work physical jobs and spend a lot of time on the gym, so Callous Hands is a slight play on words.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our musical style started off quite sludgy in the real early days, but now it’s more groove metal with a lot of other influences thrown into the mix.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our live show is energetic! We love to move around the stage as much as we can and get the crowd going too, whilst crushing technical riffs and heavy breakdowns, it can be quite a challenge sometimes but that’s what we love.
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Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Some of the lads have been to bloodstock before, it’s not far for us and it’s definitely a great atmosphere.
Which M2tM region did you win, or did you come through other channels?
We were the runners up in the Birmingham leg of M2TM.
Can you put into 10 words or fewer how it felt when you realised you were heading to Bloodstock?
We found out the following morning, I think we all went to work over the moon that day!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
You should expect a set with a fast pace, but there’s lots of dynamics going on, we really cut it back and bring some atmospheric sounds in to mix it up.
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
We’re pleased we’re not playing too late on the Sunday so we have plenty of time to get ready for Lamb of God.
What are you working on at the moment?
We have been recording a new 5 track EP that we’re hoping to drop by the end of the year, it’s definitely bigger and better than Earth Mover so we’re excited to get that out.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
One time Honcho (bass) was standing in front of my mic during one of my vocal parts, I had to do a running jump into him to get him to move!
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
It has gotta be an IPA and a shot of bourbon!
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Callous Hands: facebook | instagram | spotify | bandcamp | youtube