As ever, we’re going to try and cover every single Jäger, New Blood and SOPHIE stage band before Bloodstock kicks off on August 9th. Your chance to check them out and start planning which bands to get there early for!
Trust us when we tell you that this is bound to result in some frustrating clashes because, as ever, there are some great bands on these three stages.
Our thanks to all the bands for taking the time out to answer our questions!
Fahran – Sophie Lancaster Stage, Friday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
All over the UK, really. Myself and Jake are from Nottingham, which is where we always say the band is from since it’s where we practice, rehearse, drink and live together when on tour. Josh and Chris are from Shropshire and Matt is from Barnsley.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Fahran started in 2012 with a previous line-up. Josh and Matt came along late 2013-2014 when we released Chasing Hours. So, 6 years from the beginning.
Where does the name of the band come from?
Haha! I love this question. We took it from the German word “fahren” meaning to go or travel somewhere, moving forward. Then we messed the spelling up since Fahren was a big German car company. It’s great hearing people pronounce our name differently.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We have always been a melodic band since we have two guitarists who are just as good as each other. This new album that’s about to land will definitely change our style to the heavier side. I’d say we are just heavy rock / metal.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
We have always taken pride in putting on a decent live show. Most of us have enough hair to swing around and throw ourselves about. Especially Josh.
Have you played Bloodstock before? If so, when?
We played in 2013 as the previous line-up on the New Blood Stage. It was awesome back then, and to be invited back to play the SOPHIE stage is incredible. Definitely the show of the year we are all looking forward to so far.
How/when did you find out that you’d be playing the SOPHIE stage?
We were doing a set of UK dates and were staying over at The Iron Road in Evesham after a gig there. It was the time that our newest single “State of Mind” came out and I us all blasting it over to people on Facebook that we wanted to listen to it. Matt got a reply from BOA saying they loved it and wanted to invite us to play!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
We will be showcasing some new material that will have never been played live. We’re slightly nervous about that. This will definitely be one of our heaviest setlists to date, we are planning on getting some movement.
Which other band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
I’m a massive fan of Feed the Rhino and I’m praying we aren’t on at the same time.
What are you working on at the moment?
Our new album! It’s going to be called Vapours and will be landing at some point this year. Drums are tracked so guitars and bass are currently being laid down.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
I’ve seen Heck (Baby Godzilla) play live at the Bodega and watched the epic stage show they put on. It’s savage! For us, the lads at the front tend to do some jumping between the barrier and monitors. We also had some pyrotechnics set fire to the gantry at a show in Derby and the whole venue had to be evacuated mid-set.
Jager, Hobgoblin Ale, Red Bull, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
Oh my god. I want to say Jager, but I’m sat here at 10am having post Jager drinking flashbacks and shuddering. So I’m going to say Hobgoblin.
