Continuing our run of letting you know a little more about as many of the bands on at Bloodstock 2025 as we possibly can before you get a chance to see them, we have The Cartographer. This bunch play on the new Blood Stage on the Sunday.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
The majority of us are from down the road in Derby, with the others further towards Mansfield!
How long have you been playing together as a band?
The band itself started in 2013, but we’ve had various line up changes over the early years. With the current lineup we’ve been playing together for around 8 years!
Where does the name of the band come from?
The name actually came from the game Skyrim! When the game came out it had a map with the physical copy and at bottom it says “Province of Skyrim. Nataly Dravarol, Cartographer”. And so the band name was born..
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is raw, energetic and aggressive. What makes our sound more unique is the broad scope of our influencers of each member in the band, we like to take elements of each of them whether it be a Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, EDM inspired build ups or hardcore breakdowns and mix it all together, we aren’t scared to push boundaries….and this is what our fans will hear with the new music we are writing!
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Branching off the last question, if people want a raw, energetic and aggressive set, filled with enough riffs and breakdowns to make your face permanently scrunch up…..then coming to our set will be the best choice for you! We also like it loud so expect a wall of heavy being thrown at you!
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
A few of us have been a good number of times, 2 of us even being able to play it in different bands they’ve either filled in for or are a part of and it’s great! I feel the people of Derby are spoiled this time of year having Download and Bloodstock so close to each other and both are amazing festivals. We love that bloodstock gives the smaller guys a chance too with the M2tM! Vicky and Alan and the rest of the crew do a great job every year putting on the best festival they can and it shows!
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 weren’t part of M2tM. We applied online last year and got a reply back asking if we’d like to play…..I don’t think we’ve ever said yes to an opportunity that fast before!
Can you put into 10 words or fewer how it felt when you realised you were heading to Bloodstock?
Absolutely ecstatic…..Screaming, crying, throwing up, allll that good stuff.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
No stopping….wall to wall energy, don’t come in that tent on Sunday expecting to chill out, at the very least, each person in that crowd will be banging their heads.
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?
For clashes on the Sunday, we hope its not with The Black Dahlia Murder, Thrown and Rivers of Nihil!
What are you working on at the moment?
Currently….we’ve been so quiet because we’ve been writing and recording our debut album, 12 tracks loaded with a bunch of surprises that will elevate our sound into a new era for The Cartographer.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
This is a hard one, but I think the strangest thing is to get labelled “The Potassium Gang”, we’ve literally had bananas appear on stage and our friends actually show up to our live shows in banana outfits, we don’t know why but we just accept it. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t want to see at least 1 banana in the pit come Sunday!
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
A few of us will have a beer, but the majority of us don’t drink before we play. We like to make sure people are getting the full authentic experience…..after we’ve played though, Heineken, fruity cider and Irish whiskey are the drinks we see floating around!
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
The Cartographer: facebook | instagram | spotify | youtube
