Our regular run-down of as many of the upcoming Bloodstock bands as we can get to talk to us! Skypilot play the New Blood stage on the Sunday…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We hail from a village called Doagh in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. If you can’t find it, just search “Centre of the Universe!”.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
As of May this year, a total of 21 years with the same 3 guys!
Where does the name of the band come from?
It’s an American slang term for a preacher or holy man.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Riff-laden, progressive, groovy-rock with a big helping of 90’s stoner. We can be hard to pin down in terms of influences and how we sound but this makes us just a little bit different from other metal bands, and no growling!
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
It’s ultimately up to people who they watch, but if you check us out, you’ll hear an assault on your ears of tight rhythms, deep grooves, and soaring melodies with a slightly agricultural delivery!
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Yes, we played the Jägermeister Stage in 2019. It was easily one of the highlights of our career so far. We were the last band to play that stage on the Friday night just before Sabaton played the main stage and managed to attract a great crowd. It was everything we hoped it would be. Also, the team and crew at Bloodstock are fantastic and really made us feel welcome.
If you like what we do, consider joining us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
Which M2tM region did you win, or did you come through other channels?
We came through other channels. Having played Bloodstock before, we put ourselves forward again and thankfully they booked us!
Can you put into 10 words or fewer how it felt when you realised you were heading to Bloodstock?
It felt like we were kids going to Disneyland – again!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Something that sums up our 21 years to date, in half an hour! The set is made up of mostly the singles off our 3 albums so far, most songs have videos on YouTube so hopefully if people check us out before the festival some of what we play may be familiar to them.
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
Church of the Cosmic Skull, Dead Blonde Stars, Sacred Reich, Dead Label, Crowbar
What are you working on at the moment?
We are booking gigs in support of the vinyl release of our latest album Simple Beasts with shows coming up at home and across the UK for the rest of the year. There may also be some new songs in the works too!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We leave the wild stuff for backstage! Most of the strange occurrences happen on the way to and from shows, might be an option to publish our memoirs on down the line a bit!
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
We keep drinking to a minimum pre-show to ensure we deliver the riffs to the standard expected. After a gig we’ll definitely have a few beers to celebrate, and especially after our set at Bloodstock!
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