As ever, we’re going to try and cover every single Jäger, New Blood and SOPHIE stage band before Bloodstock kicks off on August 10th. Your chance to check them out and start planning which bands to get there early for!
Trust us when we tell you that this is bound to result in some frustrating clashes because, as ever, there are some great bands on these three stages.
Our thanks to all the bands for taking the time out to answer our questions!
Merithian – Hobgoblin New Blood Stage, Friday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re based in Swindon.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Been a band since 2012 but under the name From Dusk Until Dawn. Had a few line up changes and a full reboot this year to become Merithian.
Where does the name of the band come from?
We wanted a word that didn’t necessarily mean anything, a word that meant fresh start, something truly unique and something that would represent us as a band.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We’ve all come from different backgrounds and have very different music tastes to each other including different influences but when we go in that studio and we put it all together. That’s what makes us truly stand out from other bands. We really put a lot of literal blood, sweat and tears into the self titled EP and it really shows its honesty. The bands that we listened to growing up really helped all of us get through a lot tough times in our lives and if we can do that for someone else then it really makes this worthwhile.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
When you come to one of our shows we make damn sure that you will remember us. We promise high energy, high impact craziness that you would come to expect at Bloodstock.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
This is actually my first ever festival! I watched a lot of that bands that have performed here over the years on YouTube and I can speak for the rest of the guys that we are truly honoured and humbled to be a part of Bloodstock this year!
Did you enter M2tM thinking you could win it? Which region did you win?
We entered the Swindon M2tM, it was really great to see all the bands bring their A-game and to see a lot of our friends, too! We’ve done M2tM twice before with the old line-up for Bristol and Reading so we knew what to expect but the craziest thing was the night we won was actually our second ever show with the new line up! A huge thank you to everyone that came to support us. We definitely couldn’t have done it without them!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Like I said before, we’re going to be bring high energy, high impact, no nonsense heaviness. One minute we’ll have you singing along to our choruses and the next we’ll have you destroying each other with our breakdowns. What we have planned for Bloodstock we guarantee you do not want to miss!
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
Not sure about the other guys but personally I cannot wait for Skindred, Decapitated, Whitechapel and especially Ghost!
What are you working on at the moment?
We are in the very early stages of writing the new record and it’s already turning out to be really different than anything we’ve ever done so it’s exciting times!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?
One of the craziest shows we got invited to play was this new band’s EP launch in this weird-ass, rundown upstairs night club. It was about the size of a bowling alley with a stage at the end and it was hot. It was a packed out show with people constantly jumping on and off the stage to the point where I had to do one of the songs standing on the bar. I will never forget it!
Jager, Hobgoblin Ale, Kraken, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
Anyone that knows me knows that I drink rum by the bucket load! It’s got to be Kraken!
