In the second of our pre-Bloodstock interviews, Emily Castles catches up with Birmingham Metal 2 the Masses victors, Nameless – now set to perform on the New Blood Stage at Catton Park on the Sunday.
MR: Many congratulations on winning Metal 2 the Masses in Birmingham – how did you find the experience?
Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real – we haven’t quite processed what’s going on yet. But it’s such a huge honour to be representing our hometown, which has so many incredible bands.
MR: Were you confident going in – what were your highlights of the night?
As the wild card for Birmingham, we went in just to play a show – it wasn’t a competition for us. We already knew all the bands on the line-up were incredible – our goal was to go and have a fun time on stage. It was great to have our friends and family supporting us – we also really enjoyed watching all the bands. Fury delivered a solid set from start to finish.
MR: As a Birmingham-based band that regularly plays local venues, how has Birmingham’s rich metal heritage and culture influenced you as musicians?
As musicians from Birmingham, there’s such a massive expectation – it’s the home of metal. But we use this as our inspiration – we’ve taken local influences and blended them together to create something new, just like bands including Heriot, Loathe and Love Is Noise – who are all taking the world by storm at the moment!
MR: You released your debut EP last year – how did you find the process of making that?
It was a difficult process! We recorded everything at home during lockdown, but when we eventually heard the final mixes, it really felt like all the hard work had paid off. We were proud of making an EP that we felt would really put us on the Birmingham metal scene.
MR: Are you working on anything else in the studio that you can tell us about?
Since winning M2TM, we locked ourselves in the studio straight away and started work on our second EP. We’ve managed to smash bass, drums and vocals in under a month – we are just putting the finishing guitars in and then it should be ready to start showing to everyone! We may be a little biased, but we love it.
MR: Had you been fans of Bloodstock before M2TM – who are you looking forward to catching this year?
We all grew up hearing stories about Bloodstock, but this year will be the first time for all of us. We’re super excited to see bands like Meshuggah, Zeal & Ardor, Knocked Loose and Helloween.
MR: How would you describe the band’s sound and influences?
We consider ourselves a blend of 90’s NU-Metal, with hints of Shoegaze and Hardcore.
MR: You’ve said that you’ll bringing your ‘most energetic set known to date’ to Bloodstock – what can we expect and how are preparations going?
We’ve been working hard since M2TM to find the perfect blend of what represents our sound and message, whilst still trying to bring the energy and heaviness that the fans of Bloodstock love. We have thrown in two tracks from the new EP to test the waters – there is no better place to test the heavier material than Bloodstock!
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