Bloodstock Bound: Reverent Son
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 EMP stages at this years event.
Today we chat with Reverent Son
The Razor's Edge: Please introduce yourself and your band mates.
Reverent Son:
Band members:
Ross Mckie - Guitar/Vox
Danny Masson - Guitar/Vox
Oliver Gill - Bass/Vox
Nick Budgen- Drums
We've been tearing it up around the east Essex coastline and getting our foot in the door in the lower Midlands for the last 3 years.
We decided to get together a few years back and create band that took all the comfortable old school flair of the late 70s with all the kool new wave sounds and innovations of today. Really try and blend the comfortability of that classic era but not sound like an old band.
Imagine going back in time, sneaking into the a rehearsal space and giving bands Black Sabbath or Mountain modern guitar equipment and watching what they would do.
The Razor's Edge: How would you describe your sound?
Reverent Son: The bands influences include ; Mastodon, Megadeth, Black Sabbath, Devin Townsend, COC and Thin Lizzy. We've taken lyrical and song inspiration from cultural references, sci-fi stories, stop frame animation movie monsters (a lot of Ray Harryhausen movies), English witchcraft, cult leaders, supernatural and historical events, the songs take on an adventurous style. Reverent Son entertains live with a haze of riffs, onstage mascots, Inflatable sharks and memorable pop culture quotes.
The Razor's Edge: How did you land your spot on the Bloodstock bill?
Reverent Son: We got through on the Essex M2TM competition. Met some great bands, always great to watch a bunch of bands firing on all cylinders. Makes you work harder and you can walk away learning new industry tricks from other bands, be it playing , promotion or or just stagecraft.
The Razor's Edge: How tough was this years M2TM competition?
Reverent Son: I'd say pretty tough, Its highlander rules after all! There were definitely bands that made us sit up and take notice. Essex breeds strong bands, and we believe strong bands is good for each other, if your playing local shows and everyone is working hard you can't get left behind.
We really put a lot of effort into promoting M2TM as a whole rather than just focusing on us, we felt that every band gained from the promotion. A culture of strong and hungry bands keeps the scene healthy after all.
We competed last year, That gave us a wake up call, we went from playing seven shows in the last M2TM to playing over 40+ shows, we really got our act together after last year and carried on with that work ethic which we felt was what paid off in the end for us.
The Razor's Edge: What does playing at Bloodstock mean to you?
Reverent Son: We feel that when a band wins M2TM county competitions, that band has a duty to represent everyone else. It's like a sports team, you're going out there for everyone back home. It's an honour for us but we feel we need to lead by example, as did the previous band and as will the hopefully next years Essex M2TM winner.
The Razor's Edge: For people who’ve never seen you live, what can they expect at Bloodstock?
Reverent Son: We're going to storm through our set, just like Motorhead did back in the day, get up, shoot fast and hit you with both barrels where needed. No time wasting talking, just pure heavy music.
We bring our Mascot Wizard, The Iron Monger, who will be throwing Monger dollars into the audience from the stage, followed by a Cyclops in the crowd getting things rowdy, we finish with our main song Circled by Sharks (based on the Jaws film) , where the crowd will be pelted by over 20+ inflatable sharks.
Bloodstock better have a Lifeguard on stage, we need everyone to come with their own pool inflatables to join in the fun for our set!
When I shout to be circled by??? I want to hear the word SHARK as loud as possible
The Razor's Edge: What day are you performing?
Reverent Son: We are booked in for the Friday, still waiting on stage times but good to start the weekend off with a BANG.
The Razor's Edge: What other bands are you looking forward to watching at Bloodstock this year?
Reverent Son: We cant wait to watch Green Lung again, their actually the band that helped give Reverent Son some of its starting pointers back in the Underworld venue in London, they basically gave us the ten commandments of what to do being a band and we've followed it every step of the way. Now we're playing the day at a big festival! who would have figured. Really looking forward to Clutch, Opeth, Korpiklaani, Architects, King Kraken, Beats in Black and Carcass to name a few.
The Razor's Edge: Playing the New Blood Stage is just the first steppingstone in a bands journey. What’s next in your plans for world domination?
Reverent Son: Well our next plan is to play as much as humanly possible, we strife on being a live band above everything else and we don't have time to get rusty or grow cobwebs on our instruments. We're really looking to get into the higher North and the deeper South of the UK. Especially Birmingham where it's the birthplace of heavy metal.
Were also trying to get into the festival circuit, as well as looking at the logistics to try dipping our feet abroad, possibly into Amsterdam rock bars as a tester.
The important thing for us is to learn from our Bloodstock experience and use that knowledge to help us grow professionally.
The Razor's Edge: Are you camping with the fans? Which campsite are you heading for?
Reverent Son: We will be, a few of us have other halves already attending so will be camping out over the weekend. Will be scattered between artist camping and Midgard sites so if you see us please say hi.
The Razor's Edge: It’s festival weekend, what’s your food vendor of choice on site?
Reverent Son: Well thats a tough one, are you talking about beer or food? Beer wise expect to see us by the Lemmy tent. Mac and Cheese has kept a few of us alive at past Bloodstocks we've been to so that is always a safe bet.
Non food related, big shout out to military mart, always without fail sells the best stuff, those camo jackets from Sweden have about a million pockets to keep your belongings safe and your booze even safer!
The Razor's Edge: See you at Bloodstock in a few weeks!
Reverent Son: Look after your buddies, try and keep hydrated between the booze and don't forget your ear protection, cant wait to see you all.
