Bloodstock Bound: Atom Smasher
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 Atom Smasher
The Razor's Edge: Please introduce yourself and your band mates.
Atom Smasher: Hey! Conor here, drummer for Atom Smasher, we also have guitarist and frontman Mike, bassist and part time frontman Jason.
The Razor's Edge: How would you describe your sound?
Atom Smasher: This has always been a very tricky question to answer... We seem to cover a lot of genres and fuse them together, there’s thrash, there’s death, good ol’ heavy metal, elements of black metal, groove, rock, and there’s usually a touch of progressive metal in there too. So we've come up with the simplified term of progressive thrash/death metal!
The Razor's Edge: How did you land your spot on the Bloodstock bill?
Atom Smasher: Firstly, a lot of hard work, time and determination. We entered Metal 2 The Masses for Devon & Cornwall last year, but we painfully had to withdraw for health reasons. But we made up for it this year, we came back fighting and won the competition.
The Razor's Edge: How tough was this years M2TM competition?
Atom Smasher: As tough as it comes, honestly... Every single band that entered this year deserved that spot, it must have been the hardest job in the world to judge this year’s competition. Simon Hall had that privilege for the grand final, and we are truly beyond grateful that he chose us himself.
The Razor's Edge: What does playing at Bloodstock mean to you?
Atom Smasher: Absolutely everything, this was our dream and our ultimate goal since forming. We come here every year as fans, but to be playing Bloodstock is just so surreal, we were in total disbelief! I’ve (Conor) never cried so much in my life, just couldn’t believe it, a dream come true for all of us.
The Razor's Edge: For people who’ve never seen you live, what can they expect at Bloodstock?
Atom Smasher: Energy and a lot of it! We pour our hearts into everything we do and we play every show as if it’s our last, nothing is left off-stage and we bring everything we’ve got. Musically speaking, expect moshing! It's often fast paced, high energy metal with a couple cheeky chilled sections thrown in for good measure, and we like to think we’ve got something for everyone.
The Razor's Edge: What day are you performing?
Atom Smasher: Sunday.
The Razor's Edge: What other bands are you looking forward to watching at Bloodstock this year?
Atom Smasher: There’s so many, it’s such a stellar line-up. Igorrr, Septicflesh, Flogging Molly, Beast In Black, Carcass, Crypta, Whitechapel, Malevolence, Moon Reaper, Rotting Christ, Deicide, Opeth, Green Lung, Sylosis, Clutch... And we’ve got to show some love for the smaller bands too, like our friends in Reverent Son, Space Pistol, CHUB, Kraken Walker because that’s an amazing name. The whole festival is just stacked.
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?
Atom Smasher: Well everyone seems a bit hung up on playing Earth and world domination, we like space and most of our songs are about space so we’d like to take our space songs to space and see what the aliens think of it. If we come back with sore bums, then they probably didn’t like it.
On a serious note though, we’re hoping that playing the New Blood Stage is indeed a stepping stone. We’re hoping to impress the right people and just keep up that momentum, for high profile gigs, maybe even get a slot on the Sophie Stage one day and then who knows... Main Stage?!
The Razor's Edge: Are you camping with the fans? Which campsite are you heading for?
Atom Smasher: Absolutely, we want the whole festival experience. You can find us at Ironwood, under a tree, probably.
The Razor's Edge: It’s festival weekend, what’s your food vendor of choice on site?
Atom Smasher: Well I’m vegetarian so hopefully anywhere that sells halloumi! Jason likes to live dangerously and goes for the spicy food stands, particularly Bunny Chow and Mike’s a bin, he likes anything.
The Razor's Edge: See you at Bloodstock in a few weeks!
Atom Smasher: Hell yeah! BLOODSTOOOOCK!!
