It’s that time of year where we set out to interview as many of the Sophie, New Blood, and Jager bands as we can in the lead-up to one of the most anticipated festivals of the year, Bloodstock. Answering our questions here are Swamp Coffin who play the Jagermeister Stage on Friday.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re from Rotherham in South Yorkshire.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Me (Jon) and Dave have been playing in bands together since we were 16 year old idiots that didn’t know any better. We started Swamp Coffin in 2016 as much older idiots that still didn’t know any better. Martyn took over bass duties in 2020.
Where does the name of the band come from?
When I was a kid my grandad would get me and my brother out of the house during the school holidays and take us on walks up to the moors between Sheffield and Manchester to look for World War 2 aircraft wrecks. A weird hobby for an 8 year old but better than being stuck inside bored I suppose.
In 1993 a guy crashed his Hawker Hunter on the moors near Sheffield. We were up there a few days later looking for the wreck site which feels pretty macabre on reflection. The plane had left a massive crater after going probably 40 feet straight down into a peat bog, never to be seen again. Nearly 30 years later the plane or the pilot’s body are still yet to be discovered, he’s still entombed down there. That’s what a swamp coffin is.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
At our core we’re a nihilistic, metallic sludge band but I think we’re more interesting than that suggests. Nasty riffs and harsh vocals are at the heart of what we do but we like to keep things interesting by chucking in some death elements, hardcore influences and some blackened bits. I think our lyrical themes set us apart a bit too as they’re fairly autobiographical for me, covering my own personal experiences of grief, loss, depression and trauma. This band is a massive outlet for me and I think that’s something our fans have really connected to and found their own interpretations of which means so much to me.
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What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
In a word, intense. And we’re very, very loud. Anybody coming to see us should definitely be prepared to have their heads ripped off. We don’t like giving either ourselves or the audience any respite so don’t expect a 5 minute stand-up set with songs either side- the objective is to hammer the crowd as hard as possible from start to finish. That being said there’s always a great, welcoming atmosphere at our gigs and dare I say it, people have fun being angry and miserable with us. It feels like the crowd bonds for those 30 minutes we’re on stage and we can all be pissed off together for a bit. Plus we do the World’s Slowest Wall Of Death™.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
I’ve never been unfortunately but it’s something I’ve wanted to rectify for a few years. I’ve seen loads of videos of sets from there and I’ve got friends from a few bands who have played Bloodstock who’ve all said great things which is only adding to the excitement.
When/how did you find out you’d been selected to play at Bloodstock?
We had the email from Simon asking us to play back in May. That was a pleasant email to open. Keeping it a secret up until us being announced at the end of June was a nightmare.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
There’ll be a couple of tracks from our latest album, Noose Almighty, and a crowd favourite from our Flatcap Bastard Features E.P that we finish every show with. It’s a fun set for us to play.
Which other band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
It has to be Eyehategod. If we’re not clashing expect to see the three of us at the front for them making drunken nuisances of ourselves in the pit. I really hope we can catch GWAR and Testament too. The mission to hunt down Dave Lombardo will start the second we arrive on the festival site.
What are you working on at the moment?
We’ve just recorded a cover as part of a project we were asked to take part in by a really cool U.S label. It’s all very hush hush at the moment but we’re really excited to get that out in the open and see what folk think to our version. We’ve got a couple of new tracks written for the next album and we’re enjoying spending some time getting those tweaked. We’re going to focus on more writing once this next batch of shows is done and hopefully get in the studio again next year.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We played a show at Fell Foot Wood in September last year and the couple of days we were there was the mostly brilliantly weird experience. It’s a stunning woodland near Lake Windermere ran by a guy called Barry The Blackwood Baptist. The show itself wasn’t too out of the ordinary other than there being a massive campfire in our eyeline which was a pretty special thing to look out at whilst I’m screaming lyrics about the time my house burned down. Oh and a dog wandered in during soundcheck.
The weird shit started after we’d played though when me and Martyn were asked if we’d be torch bearers as part of Barry’s baptism ceremony at the moon pool deep in the woods. Which is as mental as it sounds. Barry puts on his ceremonial robes and a hat with a massive rubber toad on it, says a few words and then pours water on the heads of those who want to be baptised.
Me and Martyn had signed Dave up without him knowing and stood there holding these massive flaming torches watching it all unfold. There was a man dressed as a crow. There were poems about boiled rice. I don’t think we’ve ever laughed as much in our lives, it was totally nuts. Barry is such a lovely guy too, just a bloke in his 70’s who gets weird on the weekends and has an awesome taste in extreme metal. We’ve been invited back to play on 17th September alongside our friends in Wallowing and Goblinsmoker. We can’t wait.
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
Lots of lovely room temperature water. I’m fired up enough on gig day as it is without drinking so I prefer to stick to the council pop before we go on and leave the drinking to Dave and Martyn. The boozing starts for me once we get off stage. If anybody sees me mine’s a rum and lemonade.
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Header image by Ellen Rhodes
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