Our regular run-down of as many of the upcoming Bloodstock bands as we can get to talk to us! Crowley play the EMP stage on the Friday…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re based in Newcastle, though only one of us is actually from there!
How long have you been playing together as a band?
We’ve just recently celebrated the 2nd birthday of our debut single “The Witching Hour” so we’re still a pretty young band in the scheme of things.
Where does the name of the band come from?
Crowley comes from our mutual love of witchcraft and the occult – it’s named after Aleister Crowley – which is as much a nod to the musicians we love who were inspired by him in various ways as it is to the man himself.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
It’s metal in perhaps the more vintage sense of the word – heavy occult rock, very 70’s inspired. There’s some doom, a bit of goth, riff-based with some screams. We’re huge fans of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac, along with some heavier stuff and some gothic influences too – they’ve all kind of combined to create our own style. We’re really just writing whatever music we feel driven to make at the time so it lands in quite an eclectic range.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our 70’s inspirations are fairly evident in the live show: doom-laden riffs, huge vocals, massive shoes, lots of velvet, BIG sleeves. We play live not to track, not to click, a good deal of improv in the solos – we really just love to get up there and play our hearts out and enjoy ourselves whilst avoiding anything clinical and over deliberate.
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Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
This year is the first trip to Bloodstock for some of us and can’t wait to play the festival; it is no doubt the best and most authentic feeling metal festival in the UK and for Crowley to be among a line-up of bands like Green Lung, Carcass, Clutch, Beast in Black and Amon Amarth – it’s massive for us.
When/how did you find out you’d been selected to play at Bloodstock?
We found out by email a few months ago that we’d be playing the EMP stage on Friday. Getting booked for Bloodstock is a huge nod to the amount of hard graft we’ve done in the last two years. Recording, releasing and touring around the country with your mates is so much fun but when you get a booking like Bloodstock it’s kind of like, okay, wow, this is working. It will be our biggest gig so far and we can’t wait to welcome you all to the Crowley coven.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
We’re cramming in as many riffs as possible – we’re bringing our heaviest chops to Bloodstock this year. We’ll be including our recent popular releases like “Pyre” and “Hell Hath No Fury” but we’ll also be playing some of our unreleased material like “Silver Star” which we think the Bloodstock audience will dig.
Stage times haven’t been announced yet, so which other band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
We’re all huge Green Lung fans – having gigged with them in our hometown in Newcastle last year, it would be awesome to catch up with them. We’re both playing on Friday so fingers crossed we can see them after we’ve played. We’re also hoping to catch our Newcastle pals Kraken Waker who won our local Metal to the Masses heats. Other than that, we can’t wait to see Korpiklanni and embrace the Europop with Beast in Black.
What are you working on at the moment?
Right now we are putting the finishing touches to our debut EP, there’s been a lot of demand for physical copies of our material – we’ve listened to you all and are working on getting that you soon. Immediately after the EP release, we will be pushing on to work on a full-length album. We’re all big fans of the album format as an art form, and we have songs ready and waiting to be recorded with a vinyl in mind. We’ve got a couple more gigs to close out the year, and we can’t divulge details yet but we’ve also got out first international shows coming up which is exciting. Really, it feels like we are just getting started – this is our first full festival cycle together as a line-up and to have Bloodstock amongst that feels like beginning on the right foot. Getting more involved in the metal scene feels like the right move for us so ther are more heavy festivals and shows to come.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We once played an outdoor gig where someone arrived on horseback – not sure if that was brave or stupid. We kicked into one of our heavier numbers, which spooked the horse, the horse bolted and the police ushered it away (it was not a police horse). We also played a very dirty sweaty show after getting fresh impulse tattoos on the last tour which is not at all brave and just stupid.
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
Anything going really. But in an ideal world – Guinness for Lidya, rum or good cider for Eliza, and Jack Daniels for the entire rhythm section. Guilty pleasure is about 35-80 White Claws.
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Header photo: Rhiannon Banks
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