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 Gnome. This bunch play on the Sophie Stage on the Thursday.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Rutger here, front-gnome of the band. We’re from Antwerp, Belgium. Two of us are from a suburb of Antwerp called Schoten, and our drummer Egon is from the city of Leuven, which lies just east of Brussels.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Throughout 2014 and 2015, I had been writing silly rock songs for YouTube and my own amusement. At a certain point, I realized my material had potential, and I thought it could be fun to front a rock band. I started looking for a drummer and found Egon Loosveldt in late 2015. We started jamming together and quickly felt a like-minded connection. I contacted my good friend Geoffrey Verhulst to join us as a second guitarist, which soon turned into him playing bass. Around the beginning of 2016, we named ourselves Gnome and started a steady routine of weekly rehearsals. So as a band, we’ve been around for just over 9 years now.
Where does the name of the band come from?
Initially, I called the band Sleepless Titan, but I knew that was basically just a placeholder name. It sounded too much like a dull, serious, standard stoner band. The silly nature of our rehearsals and the songwriting in general made it clear we needed a name that fit the vibe better. Egon came up with the idea to name us Gnome, which seemed like a perfect fit. A gnome is, after all, a badass mythical creature, while also being kind of silly and light-hearted.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Since I had no background in singing, the band started out as instrumental. To keep instrumental tracks interesting, I made it a priority to break the 4/4 time signature as much as possible while keeping the riffs engaging. I try not to let any part of a song overstay its welcome. That, combined with a drummer trained in jazz and South American rhythms, creates our unique Gnome cocktail, I guess.
Whereas an instrumental stoner band like Karma To Burn gets its energy from rumbling riffs and headbanging chords, we tend to lean more into a proggy and almost psychedelic direction—which you can clearly hear on our first album, Father of Time. Since the second album, King, we’ve focused a bit more on guitar riff hooks and memorable vocal lines instead of experimental prog, mainly because we feel most of our audience connects more with that kind of song. Still, the experimental and silly nature of our writing definitely persists. A Gnome song rarely follows the typical structure of a standard rock song.
If you like what we do, consider joining us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our live shows meander through groovy headbangers and adventurous tunes, usually ending with our most popular tracks. We do wear red pointy hats as our signature look, but we’re not putting on a clown show. Our name might fool people into expecting theatrical stage antics—instead, we leave them with a melted face from overexposure to ripping riffs.
Have you played Bloodstock before? If so, when?
No, we haven’t—this will be our maiden voyage upon your bloody fields of rock!
How/when did you find out that you’d be playing the SOPHIE stage?
We were told we’re playing the SOPHIE stage by our good friends, the Cole brothers from the bands Desert Storm and Wall. Fittingly, they also booked us a show at Sophie Fest in Manchester during our first UK tour in 2019. As Belgians, we weren’t aware of the tragic case of Sophie Lancaster at the time, but we hope we can once again honor her memory with headbanging energy.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Prepare to bang your heads! Our set will most likely be about 60% Vestiges songs, 30% King, 10% Father of Time, and 100% gnome-hatted badassery.
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?
I can’t speak for the other guys but I personally would like to see Famyne, the kings of the UK stoner scene Orange Goblin and the black metal legends Emperor.
What are you working on at the moment?
Well, first and foremost, I appear to be working on the construction of a human child, expected to arrive about a month after Bloodstock. And all the time I find in between is being spent writing our next album, which we’re hoping to record in early 2026. And if the gods are willing, a Vestiges music video or two might still drop before the end of 2025!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We had a live Mexican mariachi band and a full-fledged choir at our album release show—and we’ve seen the occasional stage diver break a leg.
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
The ol’ Aqua Minerale. I like to save the whiskey and beer for after we’ve performed, and I usually skip them altogether if we’ve got a long stretch of shows ahead on tour.
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