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!
Servers – Hobgoblin New Blood Stage, Sunday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
A bit of a mixture, Derby, Rotherham, Barnsley, and Sheffield.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Servers have existed since 2014, but the current line-up has been together since the start of 2018.
Where does the name of the band come from?
As a band we are interested in the dark nature and following of different cults from around the world and the impact they can have on people lives and the ability to make ordinary people think and act in different ways, and we wanted to capture this in the band’s music/look and name, hence we named ourselves after the servers of these different cults.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We are hard to pigeon hole if I am honest, we mix loud heavy guitars with electronic samples, gothic elements vocally and conceptually, along with some melody. Metal Hammer described us as “Mastodon meets Queens of the Stone Age”, which I think is a good analogy, so take from that what you will.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
A Servers show is meant to be experienced, we like to add an element of the mystic to the shows, our sets are usually dark in visual theme, and the focus is very much on creating that wall of noise and intensity with our music for the full 30 minutes. Our set is continuous for 30 minutes; there are no gaps in play; something is always happening, although we have a specific image we live by it, it is there to be more than just 4 guys up on stage playing some songs. We want people to leave feeling they have seen something different.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
I personally (Server #002) have not been to Bloodstock before, so I am really looking forward to experiencing the festival. Our new drummer Si has played Bloodstock before with his previous band Black Spiders back in 2010, he also got a tattoo at the festival to commemorate the occasion, so he has the rest of us excited to play as he said it is such a great festival.
Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it?
We didn’t get our spot on the bill via this competition.
Which region did you win, or did you come through other channels?
We owe our appearance at the festival to being on the Hobgoblin music roster, and as they are operating/sponsoring the New Blood stage we were put on in conjunction with them. We owe Hobgoblin and the Bloodstock organisers huge thanks for this opportunity.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
This is a new crowd for us at the festival so we will be taking the opportunity to play our more energetic songs, and trying out some new material on the crowd, so there will be 2 old songs from the first 2 albums and 4 new ones from our unreleased album.
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
I think personally I will be looking forward to seeing quite a few bands, some of which I would say are Judas Priest, (I mean who wouldn’t?), Feed the Rhino as they always put on an insane gig and are a fellow Hobgoblin music band like ourselves. Alestorm are great and you can’t go wrong with Gojira! I saw them a couple years back and they are just incredible live! I struggle to find a tighter band…Bleed From Within, Watain, Venom, Emperor, Devil Driver and At The Gates will all be brilliant… but the best thing for me about festivals is finding some new bands you have never heard of. There is nothing better than being blown away by an unknown band so I will probably spend most of my time by the New Blood Stage to see what is up and coming.
What are you working on at the moment?
We are just in the mixing stage of our 3rd album, it is exciting, the recording process was a new one this time in a new studio with a new producer so it has been an exciting time, we are looking forward to getting it out there.
Jager, Hobgoblin Ale, Red Bull, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
Hobgoblin.
Servers: official | facebook | twitter | youtube
