Bloodstock Bound: Square Wild
As Bloodstock gets closer, we delve deep into the line up to find out more about some of the bands playing the New Blood and Jägermeister stages at this years event.
Today we chat with Square Wild!
The Razor's Edge: Please introduce yourself and your band mates.
Square Wild: Hello! I'm Lucy Shevchuk ( Piano/Synth, Vox, Guitar ) , Tomos Cooper ( Drums ), Benedict Rhodes ( Bass) and Mike Grubert ( Guitar )
The Razor's Edge: How would you describe your style of metal?
Square Wild: We'd probably describe our type of metal as not metal. Jokes aside, we do have heavy metal influence running throughout that's more classic. If you think more Black Sabbath, Scorpions, Saxon with a sprinkle of System Of A Down maybe in there somewhere...heavy riffs and double time breakdowns run throughout a lot of our music as well as a lot of dual lead and soloing. We think we are a Progressive Heavy Rock outfit over anything else which covers a range of styles and genres, importantly holding that heavy element we love.
The Razor's Edge: How did you land your spot on the Bloodstock bill?
Square Wild: We somehow landed a spot at Bloodstock by winning M2TM Manchester!
The Razor's Edge: How tough was the competition this year?
Square Wild: The competition was really tough. There were so many amazing bands, I don't know how they judged that last round but it couldn't have been easy. Every band brought something different to the table, Dekaytah are a new very young band and they tore up that venue every single time, you'd think they'd been going 5 years. 40K Leagues had this beautifully melodic side to their heavy metal and the vocalist was insane, Release The Hounds were hilarious, Simpsons based metal who were plain fun. It was such a mix, we're so happy that we just did what we did every round right to the end and it was appreciated that much. Never compromise on yourselves!
The Razor's Edge: What does playing at Bloodstock mean to you?
Square Wild: Playing Bloodstock means so much to us. Not only has it catapulted our confidence to a new level, confidence in our skills, our writing, our performance, confidence to put ourselves out there in-front of an audience we previously didn't think would appreciate us. We were stupid to think that, we hope promoters that do work with heavier bands will now give us a shout! M2TM was an insane experience and we urge any band that lands somewhere within Rock/Metal to do it. You literally never know. It is just so sick feeling like you've been accepted into a community too with open arms and we can't wait to see what the Bloodstock audience think of us.
The Razor's Edge: For people who’ve never seen you live, what can they expect at Bloodstock?
Square Wild:Expect not knowing whether to can-can, salsa dance, head-bang, start a pit, do a jig...Expect a lot of energy, sarcasm, twists, turns and drama.
The Razor's Edge: What day are you performing?
Square Wild: Were playing on the Friday, same day as In Flames and Killswitch Engage ( wtf )
The Razor's Edge: What other bands are you looking forward to watching at Bloodstock this year?
Square Wild: We're really looking forward to seeing the rest of the M2TM winners on the New Blood stage, we're planning on spending a lot of our time there to show support for the lesser known bands. But also Killswitch Engage is going to be epic headlining that Friday!
The Razor's Edge: Playing the New Blood Stage is just the first stepping stone in a bands journey. What’s next in your plans for world domination?
Square Wild: We do have an album coming out and a few singles to promote that. That is moving at a glacial pace though. We've had to work with our practice room being demolished as well as our own recording equipment decided to die randomly, working remote as our bassist has moved away. It's a slow process but once it's out we're hoping people can see so much more of what we're about rather than one EP. We are looking at branching out into more mainstream festivals next year if they will have us, if not we're more than happy to keep writing. There's been a lot of change recently, deciding we want some brass in the next records to changing a guitarist. It's definitely a time for growth and evolution in the Square Wild camp.
The Razor's Edge: Are you camping with the fans? Which campsite are you heading for?
Square Wild: We're actually camping with our campervan in the artists area but we may change that depending on how many of our people can make it..we wouldn't want to risk waking any artists up that may be playing on Saturday. We're not known for being quiet.
The Razor's Edge: You’ve gotta keep hydrated at Bloodstock, what is your drink of choice for the weekend?
Square Wild: Drink of choice for me is definitely the cheapest lager I can possibly find from when my eyes open in the morning till when they shut for bed, if we sleep at all.
The Razor's Edge: See you at Bloodstock in a few weeks!
Square Wild: See you at Bloodstock!
