We had a breather last year, but again we’re aiming to bring you a little bit of info about as many bands as possible who will be featuring at this year’s Bloodstock Festival. Hitting the Jagermeister Stage on the Thursday (alongside Milliner and others, due to the extra day being added) are Master Charger…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are originally from the Nottinghamshire area. However John James, guitarist and vocalist has moved to Staffordshire. The band is still largely based in Nottinghamshire but we recently changed the bio to the Midlands as we have branched out a little.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
With this current line up, probably around 7 to 8 years now. The concept of the band has been around much longer though. It was around 2006 that the idea of Master Charger was born.
Where does the name of the band come from?
It came from nothing special really, apart from John James owning an unreliable motorcycle at the time where the battery had to be charged every single morning and the unit to charge the battery was called Master Charger so the name was taken from that. Although you can interpret the name in any way you want as we have done through the branding etc. I guess we just didn’t want those typical kinda band names, y’know?
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Well for a start, we ain’t out to invent the wheel that’s for sure as all of the decent riffs have already been written by so many of the gods and one in particular. Anyone in the know will know who I am referring to right now! However, what I think makes us different is that we plain don’t give a fuck. We simply do not give a shit about what’s current or trendy, we follow our gut instincts. We couldn’t care less what kinda riff or scene it belongs to, if it’s a good riff, it’s a good riff plus it always ends up sounding like Master Charger in the end.
We are a band that I believe has its own sound and we are also well aware that it can carry a price when it comes to the popularity stakes. Of course we get pigeonholed as a lot of bands do, but if you listen to all of our releases you will find that it is a very varied mix from Southern blues to doom. It’s all there to be tapped into by you lovely people!
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What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our live show is honest, raw, loud and heavy. Everything that should make a true rock / metal band in our opinion.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Believe it or not but John James was in an old band that went by the name of Evoke and he played the very first one ever, so it’s kinda weird that we are playing the Anniversary event. It truly is amazing to see how Bloodstock has grown since those humble beginnings.
When/how did you find out you’d been selected to play at Bloodstock?
We found out around the end of May / beginning of June time I think it was. We were stoked as you can well imagine, especially to be invited too!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
The set is 30 minutes so you can expect a more upbeat setlist for us that spans all of our releases. It will be heads down, no talking, pure heavy fuzzy southern blues tinged doom boogie!
What are you working on at the moment?
Aside from staying alive like everyone else…! We are making plans to start working on the follow up album to Origin of the Lugubrious. We also have some great shows lined up for 2022.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Probably pissing around and punching our bass player in the face onstage and gashing him as the night before he rammed the headstock of his bass into my gut whilst we were also on stage. Thought it was time for the karma bus! We’re not violent though…!
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What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
I think the question should’ve read, “how much do you throw back before you go on stage”! All joking aside, we don’t drink that much if all now before we play. People pay money to watch a band and not a bunch of pissed up idiots, so we definitely know our limits now. Back to the question in hand, we like a few social beers y’know. Nothing too heavy so hide the whiskey! Haha!
