Due to the huge number of bands playing at Bloodstock this year, and the fact that our two roving reporters will actually want to watch some of them, we’re doing a little round of pre-festival interviews this year. We’re focussing on the bands playing the Jagermeister and Hobgoblin New Blood Stages so they get a chance to convince you to go and watch them. , these guys and gals are the future of our musical world!
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
The band is based in Northampton but individually we are from different areas – Milton Keynes, Banbury, Daventry
How did you meet?
Liam, Mike T and Tom were in a band before called Apparitions of the End. When that ended, we started up F.E.t.E. George is a long time friend of Liam and Tom that was in another local band, and when the spot for bass came in he took to that opportunity. We found Mike B on an online site where you can search for musicians. We went through a couple of tryouts but Mike fit the part instantly.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
We formed late 2011 but started working solidly in 2012.
Where does the name of the band come from?
Mike T (singer) had a dream when we were in the band Apparitions of the End that we had a song called “From Eden to Exile”. The name just stuck with him and when we formed F.E.t.E we liked the name.
What are your influences – individually or as a band?
Tom – Sylosis, Lamb of God, Deftones
George – Pantera, Killswitch Engage, Sylosis
Mike B – Sylosis, Machine Head, Children of Bodom
Mike T – Himsa, Death, Pantera
Liam – Killwitch Engage, Caliban, Lamb of God
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We think we don’t have a specific genre, although we have elements of all sorts of genres.
We have thrashy bits, breakdowns, even the very rare singalong. We like to write with no limitations and have the full extent of freedom when writing our material. From this we think we have a bit of music for everyone, without writing for a specific scene or audience. We think the unique side to us is that we are a raw metal band sound and performance wise. We don’t clean everything up as much as you can find with some bands nowdays. What you hear on the CD is what you will hear live. It seems nowadays bands think about getting the recording videos and getting merch, etc. before their live performance whereas we base everything on performance first.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
What you will find at our show is full energy and an aggressive onslaught. We keep our shows with a more personal feel to them, engaging the audience to not just hear it but feel it. We make sure everyone is involved throughout our set. As far as how many shows we have played… we’re not too sure. But combined individually we have been on stage a hell of a lot during and before this band. For this band we are only really just branching out from the local scene. We probably have done about 40 + shows so far but we are now at the stage where branching out is the key goal.
Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it?
No, not at all. We almost entered it with the idea that it’s a bit more exposure and the popularity of the competition would help give us the experience and gain us more fans. It wasn’t until the semi-finals that we really had a change of thought, and started to believe and aim for the winning slot.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Fast paced heavy energetic music with some melodic vibes. All in all it’s heavy riffing orientated noise! We will be throwing some bouncy numbers in there just to get people jumping about too. Our main focus is to perform the best we can but we will be sure to get every person in that tent banging their heads.
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
Bands like Death, Napalm Death, and our good friends Divine Solace who will be hitting the Jagermeister stage that day.
What are you working on at the moment?
We are currently preparing and focusing on Bloodstock as much as we can, practising the set as much as we can. But on top of that we have just released our E.P. Soundtrack to Your Demise and we are trying to get that heard as much as possible. We are currently working and recording a new single which won’t be out for a while but we hope to release as soon as possible.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?
We haven’t yet been out on tour but we aim to make that happen very soon. But in previous bands we had the pleasure of touring with the almighty Divine Chaos. Wild things ranged from playing a game of chicken but with a knife. essentially throwing a knife at each others foot and see who can last the longest. Don’t try this at home! There was the occasional wax strip to the hairy parts. There was also the night with the hot chilli sauce. One of the lads from Divine Chaos thought it would be funny to spike our drinks with this chilli sauce but forgot when going to the toilet he was using his fingers to wipe the sauce on our drinks. I’ve never seen a guy ride and bog wash his bollocks in a toilet like that before.
What advice would you give to a young band just starting out today?
Practice hard and don’t jump into spending their money on “great sounding” recordings and shiny music videos. Focus on the live performance and make people listen and enjoy your time on stage.
If you could be part of any 3-band line-up who else would you have on the bill? One band above you and one below – a chance to plug a smaller, unsigned act!
Tom: Sylosis, F.E.T.E., and Krysthla
Liam: Killswitch Engage, F.E.T.E. and Black Peaks
Mike T: Lamb of God, F.E.T.E., Agharta
George: Sylosis, F.E.T.E., Divine Chaos
Mike B: Machine Head, F.E.T.E., Sylosis
From Eden To Exile play the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage on the Saturday.
From Eden To Exile: facebook | twitter | youtube
