Rising To The Masses: Them Bloody Kids

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Before the first riffs echo through the fields of Catton Park, we are diving head first into the pulse-pounding world of the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock 2024. So grab your backstage pass, tune your senses, and join us as we explore the stories, inspirations, and the relentless drive of the bands who are rising to the masses! Introducing Them Bloody Kids…

How would you describe your band to someone who’s never heard you?

Our music is a bit of a melting pot. World-influenced groovy nu-metal rhythms, stoner doom-edged rock riffs, catchy hooks, and plentiful opportunities for moshing. Everything from Punk to Metalcore – the embodiment of ‘Alt-Metal’.

Tell us about your band’s origin story. How did you all come together?

Seb formed the band in 2019 whilst at university in North London, with the goal of creating an energetic and eclectic sound for people across the rock/metal spectrum to enjoy. As anyone who’s formed a band before knows, finding the right people is a huge part of the battle. Since Seb formed the band, we’ve been through a few members… But now, with Special K (Kell) smashing the ever-loving Christ out of the drums, the enormous shirtless German Calvin on guitar, and Pete taking people to flavour town in his Guy Fieri getup on bass, the line-up is what it was always meant to be.

What song would you recommend for someone’s first listen of your band?

Describe your songwriting process. How do you create your music?

So far the bulk of the songwriting has been done by our frontman Seb. He’ll usually bring ideas for verses, choruses, maybe a main riff, then we all come together and add our various spices to the mix until we have a completed track. A special shout out to our producer Justin Hill (of Sikth)! He is amazing in the studio and has brought in changes that have structurally, harmonically, and melodically really shaped the tracks into their final forms.

What are your musical influences?

Between all of the members it’s a real mixed bag – we all listen to far too many genres to name. But the ones that have really shaped the musical output of the band so far have been bands like System of a Down, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Disturbed, Queens of the Stone Age, Avatar… The list goes on, but those have been on heavy rotation for Seb since the band’s inception.

What’s the story behind your band name?

It comes from exactly where you might think it does. Seb was a proper little sh*t as a kid, and injected all of that rebellious energy directly into the music. That said, the name also captures the spattering of anti-establishment themes found in our lyrics.

What’s your guilty pleasure music outside of metal?

Tim Minchin, Jazz Emu, or Richard Cheese usually come on at some point during the journey to a show. Quite embarrassed to say that even N-Dubz made an appearance recently. Pete was desperate for us to mention Avril Lavigne too!

Tell us about your most memorable live performance or tour experience.

For us it HAS to be the final of this year’s M2TM London at The Dome in Tufnell Park. Playing to a packed out venue is always awesome, but this was a level above even that. We were hearing “TBK! TBK! TBK!” chants in every moment of silence, and the pit simply did not stop. Seeing a sea of 100 crazy metal-heads wearing TBK party hats was a sight to behold too of course.

The cherry on top of this already delightful cake was that we won the competition! Representing London at this year’s Bloodstock is an honour. We cannot be more grateful to everyone who made that night possible.

What’s the most challenging aspect of being a metal band in today’s music industry?

TIME. We all work full time and finding the time most evenings to do admin and rehearse all while trying the best to manage our home lives is quite the challenge. Although I suppose the fact that it’s really hard to make money from your music exacerbates the issues too. Please buy merch from your favourite local bands, they’re probably skint.

Any advice for other aspiring metal musicians?

Listen to Don’t stop Believing’ by Journey at least 4 times a day. Jokes aside, just keep going. Practice, turn up on time, watch & talk to the other bands, and don’t be a dick.

What’s next after Bloodstock for the band?

A lot – it’s been all go for us since June and we do not plan on stopping. On August 23rd we have a show with fellow M2TM winners Imperium and Uridium at The Fighting Cocks in London. That’ll be our last show for a little while. We have a single out on the Friday of Bloodstock (August 9th), so we’ll be getting everyone and their mums to give it a spin. That release will cap off the more emotional phase we’ve been in with the last few singles, and pave the way for more heavy rebellious stuff. We’re all very excited to start writing the next album with our new line-up too – watch this space.

What’s the most unexpected inspiration for one of your songs?

The single coming out in August is an ode to Seb’s dog Tibbs, who passed away a while ago. It’s an anthem for all the pets waiting for us on the other side, and an exploration of just how difficult losing one can be.

Have you faced any challenges as an unsigned band? How do you overcome them?

Perseverance

How do you stay motivated during creative slumps?

Play live shows and use that energy from the crowd to ignite the creativity.

Them Bloody Kids are set to play The Hopical Storm New Blood Stage On Saturday 10th August 2024.