Yew, to start why not tell us about Black Veins. Who are you, where do you come from and what do you do?
We’re a three piece band, Paul Green (guitar/vocals), Adam Wragg (drums) and Benjamin Thomas (vocals/bass) from Birmingham. I don’t really want to pigeon-hole us to a genre, but if you like anything heavy and chaotic you’ll hopefully like us. When we’re not playing in the band we all work day jobs of some sort that fund the Black Veins and Adam’s also at college aswell. Our first show was in October 2010 with a different line up. Adam’s been on drums since January and we couldn’t ask for a better drummer, he defiantly breathed some fresh air into the band.
What have the band got lined up for the rest of this year (releases, tour etc)?
We’ve got alot of one off shows over the summer with some really cool bands (Let It Die, Crocus, Year of the Flood, Iron Witch, GWC) up and down the country. I’m going to have a go a booking us a tour at some point and at the end of the year some Scottish dates are in the pipe lines. In terms of releases we’ve got a 5 track ep we’re releasing ourselves on cd, which we’ll be getting pressed around August time, when we’ve got abit of time and money to pay for the pressing. Then we’ve got a tape being released through Moshtash over the summer aswell and another release trough our label Witch Hunter records, so we’ve got a pretty busy year! Both the labels are worth checking out, there’s some great stuff being done with both.
Favourite show you’ve played so far?
Probably a show we played in May in Deptford in London with some French bands called Human Compost and Geranium. About 60% of the crowd were the others bands and their crew members, which meant the majority of the audience had no idea what I was saying inbetween songs aha! But during the songs everyone was headbanging like crazy. The Bird’s Nest (the venue) is really small and intimate and everyone was crowded in which was cool. Kev, the promoter was a really nice bloke which always helps. It was a great show but the summer shows we have booked are shaping up really well, so some of those might top it.
What were your influences when starting Black Veins and what are your aspirations? (World domination?)
Musically it was bands like Narrows and His Hero Is Gone when we first started, but as times gone on we’ve took influence from a broader range of bands we listen to. None Musical influences are just a way of expressing ourselves and having fun whilst doing it. Everyday experiences shape alot of our lyrics, we wouldn’t write things we couldn’t relate to, hopefully other people can relate to them aswell. We’re influenced by loads as individuals and as a collective, Dystopia, Rot In Hell, Electric Wizard, Converge, Neurosis, Insect Warfare, Baroness, Napalm Death, GBH, Orchid, Crowbar, The Melvins, Hatred Surge etc. We listen to pretty much anything though. As for our aspirations, we’d just like to take this as far as humanly possible without watering down our sound or morals. I know everyone seems to say something along those lines, but it’d be great if we could leave our mark whilst still enjoying ourselves. Touring and releasing as much as we can are pretty much are priorities for Black Veins.
Any rad bands we should be checking out?
The Witch Hunter family, Iron Witch, Let It Die, Year of the Flood, Tree of Sores. Rasputin, GWC, Monolithian, any releases from Speedowax records, Remember who are a great band from Germany, Full of Hell from the states, Moloch, Human Hands, Cavalcades, IO. Keep an eye on the stuff Moshtash are distroing and releasing too.
Any last words?
Thanks to Ed for sorting this out! Thanks to anyone who’s read this far. If you’re interested in listening to us, keeping up with any info or booking us on a show here are some links:
http://soundcloud.com/blackveins
my boy xedx knows how to hook a brother up. mad love bro
MOSHTACHE LOVE
DIY South West based label/distro
KCHC
