Our regular run-down of as many of the Bloodstock bands as we can get to talk to us! Ambrius open the Sophie Lancaster stage on the Saturday…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Mike Perks (bass): Ambrius are from Gloucester!
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Mike: We started playing live shows in April of 2022, we would have been active a lot earlier but the great plague of 2020 kinda got in the way.
Sam Shiers (vocals): Although the plague did give us the time to record and produce our release at home! We have all been in bands together before at one stage too! Me, Jason (Deakins, guitar) & Mike were in Oakhaart together & myself, Jason & Alex (Hawes, drums) were in Tempestora together.
Where does the name of the band come from?
Mike: We were originally called Ambrus which is a name of Greek origin that means “Immortal”.
Unfortunately there was already a band with the name so we edited it slightly.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Sam: We try to combine a meld of anthemic melodies, heavy metal, varied vocals and symphonic orchestral music.
Effigies Of Time covers an array of lyrical subjects such as invasions, war, the horrors of prejudice, hatred, racism, butterfly effects and beyond, some of it our own experience and others are observations on current recent events.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Sam: I’d hope that people would come to see us because we like to take an audience through a journey of emotions throughout our shows. Of course it’s always nice to get big circle pits and movement in a crowd for the heavy aspects of our shows but as long as we can move people in some way inside or out we’re happy!
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Have you played Bloodstock before? If so, when?
Mike: As Ambrius, we played the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock 2022. We’ve all played The New Blood Stage before many year’s ago while in previous bands Oakhaart in 2014 and Tempestora in 2010!
Sam: 2010….yeah we’re definitely getting old!
How/when did you find out that you’d be playing the SOPHIE stage?
Sam: Simon Hall gave me a message on Facebook in the first week of July asking if I was available for a call, I of course said yes, and he asked if we would like a spot at Bloodstock 2023 on the Sophie Lancaster Stage! I think I said yes before he finished his sentence to be honest! We’ve all dreamed of playing the Sophie Lancaster Stage for so many years – we’re all huge fans of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation it’s such a huge deal to each and every one of us!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Mike: We will be playing our debut release Effigies of Time from start to finish. We wanted to do this last year but we have a habit of writing long songs. This year we will play the release in its entirety!
Which other band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
Mike: We will be opening the Sophie Stage on Saturday so thankfully we don’t have to worry about too many clashes, although we know that Seething Akira will also be opening the Ronnie James Dio stage on Saturday and they are a force to be reckoned with!
Sam: There’s so many amazing bands playing this year, of course the main stage lineup is absolutely unreal and always is, it goes without saying! However with bands like Embodiment, Tribe Of Ghosts, The Enigma Division, Fury and many more incredible bands playing the Sophie Stage, and with talent like Moon Reaper (Bristol 2023 M2TM Winners) & Skora (Cheltenham 2023 M2TM Winners) and many many other amazing bands coming through on the New Blood stage, the futures in very good hands!
It’s so nice seeing bands progress to the bigger stages that originally came through the M2TM competitions which we are all huge fans of! It’s such a huge part of the UK metal scene! Whether it’s heat number 1 or the finals, every show is rammed! It’s amazing to see.
What are you working on at the moment?
Mike: We currently have our second release in the works. At least 3 or 4 finished tracks at the moment and an absolute deluge of left over ideas.
Sam: Putting a release together is a bit like a jigsaw – you start by putting the foundation pieces down then you start seeing what ideas work best with others until you have the finished product! I’m so excited to be able to start showing people what we’ve been working on. I really feel like the barriers are being pushed!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Sam: Mike has a thing for getting his nipples out when he’s excited so you’d better watch out for that! It’s not very often it happens but when it does happen it’s a pretty special moment! Mike and Alex are the party guys, myself and Jason are pretty tame and boring!
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
Mike: We don’t really get too involved before showtime but a few of us do dabble with a few pints & Jägerbombs afterwards (depending on who has to drive). We have agreed that we’re all going to celebrate with whatever drink we can get our hands on once everything is tied up on the Saturday evening at Bloodstock though!
Sam: As I’ve said before I think I’m pretty boring! However I’m looking forward to having a few Jägermeisters and having a great time the Saturday evening with my best friends after we’ve fulfilled a huge goal in our musical journey and all the business and press stuff is done and dusted!
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