Due to the huge number of bands playing at Bloodstock this year, and the fact that our two roving reporters will actually want to watch some of them, we’re doing a little round of pre-festival interviews this year. We’re focussing on the bands playing the Jagermeister and Hobgoblin New Blood Stages so they get a chance to convince you to go and watch them. , these guys and gals are the future of our musical world!
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
North of the Pond… (which is Barnet & St Albans).
How did you meet?
Through a love of music, gigs, mutual friends and bands – some of us have played in bands together before over the years.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Wretched Toad have existed as a band since 2011, the current five-piece line up having been playing together since about 2013 (we think!)
Where does the name of the band come from?
A casual description of a very un-human sound that came from the depths… of a human being.
What are your influences – individually or as a band?
Thin Lizzy, Peter Green, Primus, Soundgarden, Melvins, Tool, Death, Sabbath, Zeppelin and many more… Collectively we all have a great deal of different influences – we all love many different styles and genres of music from classic rock, metal, stoner, doom, alternative, grunge. A little bit of everything really!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
It may be a bit of an obvious answer but we just write whatever comes out naturally from jamming and writing together. Nothing is off-limits; if it sounds good, it usually goes in!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Live we just try to lose ourselves in the music. We don’t have any theatre or pyro – just a bunch of songs that we are proud of, that you can groove on and bang your head to! When we play live we seem to get a crowd going and it’s impossible not to feed off that. We’re not that prolific as a live band but we have spent a lot of time writing, creating and making the songs as good as we possibly can. We have definitely stepped up our gigging in the last year, as we thought “we’ve written all these songs that we love playing and are proud of – maybe it’s time we showed them to people!”
Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it?
Not at all! We went to quite a lot of the M2TM London shows last year and saw what a great platform it was for unsigned bands. It had a fantastic atmosphere throughout and really showed what a huge amount of undiscovered talent there is in the London area. One of the band put us forward for it and even though we weren’t sure how our music would be received, we were blown away by the reactions we got from the crowds, judges and the other bands, who were all outstanding. The whole M2TM London experience has really pushed us to do more shows, believe in ourselves more and step it up to the next level as a band. We are truly humbled that we won and we that we now get to represent London at Bloodstock with Skarthia. Amazing!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Rockin, heavy, groove, heavy trip, rock… We’re aiming for a good mix for everyone to hop, stomp, dance and bang heads to!
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
Cannibal Corpse seems to be the consensus so far!
What are you working on at the moment?
Aside from preparing for Bloodstock, we are still working on an album’s worth of songs that we’ve recorded and are hoping to release this year. We’ll have teaser demos available for everyone who wants one at the festival.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?
When we go on tour, we’ll let you know!
What advice would you give to a young band just starting out today?
Keep playing and play some more. Do your thing and enjoy it. Listen to as much different music and play with as many different musicians as humanly possible. Develop your craft, never stop learning. Be honest, be nice!!
If you could be part of any 3-band line-up who else would you have on the bill? One band above you and one below – a chance to plug a smaller, unsigned act!
Definitely our good friends in Old Man of the Woods and Wychhound – both excellent new bands so go check ’em out!!
Wretched Toad headline the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage on the Sunday.
Wretched Toad: facebook | soundcloud | bandcamp | youtube