The Moshville Times - #ROADTOBOA Interview: The Crawling

Here we go again… Last year we covered every band on the Hobgoblin New Blood and Jagermeister stages in the run-up to Bloodstock 2015. This year, we’re going one better and aim to have interviews from all the bands on those two stages as well as all of those on the SOPHIE stage prior to the event kicking off on August 11th. That’s almost 100 interviews to get online for you lucky people over the course of the next couple of weeks. I bloody love this job, but you lot owe me a beer at Catton Hall, right?

Thanks to all the bands who’ve taken the time to respond!

The Crawling – Hobgoblin New Blood stage, Friday

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

We live on either side of the city but the band is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

How did you meet?

Over the last couple of decades all three of us have played in different bands, so we all knew each other for quite some time. Andy (guitar/lead vox) fronted a band called Honey for Christ, Stu (bass/backing vox) played in local favourites Severance and Gary (drums) played in Overoth and plays in another band, Zombified.

Stu had been out of action for a while and hadn’t played live in years and decided he wanted to get back on the local circuit and ed Andy, as he knew that his band HFC had all but stopped and asked him if he would be interested in starting a new project. They started writing and rehearsing with a couple of other musicians under the name Rate of Decay. After some months rehearsing, the band became a trio, changed the name to The Crawling and Gary ed as the new drummer.

How long have you been playing together as a band?

The current lineup started playing together in late October, Early November 2014, so we are a relatively new band.

Where does the name of the band come from?

It was recommended by a friend of ours and we really liked the sound of it as we thought it suited the music and atmosphere we try to make perfectly, we hope you agree.

What are your influences – individually or as a band?

As a band our influences would be anything that evokes darkness and creates an atmosphere instantly.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

We like to create misery but not a miserable setting. You can stand in a corner and tap your foot to it.

What’s your live show like – why should the baying hordes troop over to the stage you’re playing on to watch you?

Our live show is very simple – no corny theatrics, no kitsch props, just a dark setting and our material played loud and from the heart.

When/how did you find out you’d been selected to play at Bloodstock?

We took part in the Northern Irish leg of the M2TM competition, competed in some extremely hard heats against very popular local acts and thankfully won in the final.

What sort of setlist can we expect?

You will have to come and see us to find out.

Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?

TWISTED FUCKING SISTER!

What are you working on at the moment?

Currently we are rehearsing our album material and we hope to have that out by winter.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?

What happens on tour stays on tour ;)

What advice would you give to a young band just starting out today?

Being in a band can be very difficult at times and very hard work but an absolute blast as well. If you aren’t having fun and don’t love doing it, forget about it and move onto something else.

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!