GMA Interview Interrogation: Kremated @ Bloodstock 2013

Bloodstock "must be supported because if we haven't got that then there's going to be no more metal bands in 5 to 10 years time, we're just going to be watching Megadeth coming out on Zimmer Frames! That's going to be no fun is it?"

On Thursday 8th 2013, GMA managed to get a few words with London thrashers Kremated, well we say a few, probably more than that but enough to get the answers we wanted LOL. This was done prior to their set on Sunday 11th August on the New Blood Stage and so let's hear what the lads have to say about Bloodstock and their plans.

Listen to the audio version for the in between bits, banter and more as well as some questions we left out of the text form. We have chosen 5 of the questions for text form, the rest are on audio.

Duration: 30 minutes

Rhys Stevenson here for Global Metal Apocalypse and I'm with... KREMATED
Pete: YES!

So guys introduce yourselves, what do you play and who are your main influences?

Phil: Right Ok, I'm Phil I'm the lead guitarist of the band and basically influences are bands like Kreator, Slayer, Lamb Of God, loads of other stuff, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, right across the board.

Marcus: I'm Marcus, I play bass and my main influence comes from Black Metal basically bands like Aura Noir, bit of Immortal.

Pete: I'm Pete, I sing and play guitar and my influences are from everything, it's mostly Crust, Punk, Punky stuff, Old School Thrash and I suppose if you want bands Sodom, Varukers, Discharge and Terror; it's a new band, ish, (laughs) it's probably the only modern influence I have got I think.


Because you are from London and you play Thrash Metal, what is the Thrash Metal scene like in London?

Phil: It's ok, it's just quite laid back, it's a bit touch and go, isn't it (looks at Marcus)
Marcus: It's a bit clicky (Phil agrees)
Pete: Yeah, it's a really good scene but if your not part of that I suppose if your not part of a little sub-scene people tend to enter into divisions like genre's, yeah I suppose so and it's like the Death, Black and Thrash scene is huge in London especially around North London, but yeah I mean everything is accepted but yeah I suppose pure Thrash, not so hot, there are bigger markets elsewhere in the UK and Europe.


I take it that this is your first major appearance at a metal festival, are you nervous, are you stoked or are you waiting to get absolutely pissed?

Pete: Oooh, I was nervous till a couple of days ago and then I just had a think about it and thought well it's at the end of the day no offense it's just another gig and we are going to go on stage and do the best we can, it doesn't matter if we're playing in front of 20 people or 20,000 we're the same people doing the same job and we can't see past the first five rows anyway, so yeah just treat it as another gig and do the best we can.

Marcus: Yeah I'm really looking forward to it, I was really shocked when I first got the news from Pete and now it's getting crazier by the time I just cannot wait, really excited.

Phil: Over-excited, just seen the size of the New Blood stage for Bloodstock it's an absolutely enormous tent and looking forward to smashing the living hell out of Bloodstock for Sunday.
(Pete remarks "It's grown", all three members chuckle, Pete continues "Ten years of Bloodstock has made it fat")


Of course it's your first appearance at Bloodstock, do you feel that Bloodstock gives more attention to British bands than other metal festivals in the UK?

Phil: Oh most definitely, I mean you got these big festivals like Sonisphere, you got Download and everything else, but this one is sort of catering for the middle of the range kind of people and I mean like I just been out of a tent (Sophie Lancaster Stage) to see a band we've actually played with Bull-Riff Stampede, absolutely amazing set tonight, I'm absolutely... it was absolutely gob-smacking and so it makes me feel proud to be a part of that and to be part of this festival is definitely a part from a childhood dream. It's just absolutely smashed it for me, I mean I'm like a little kid playing with big toys tonight and so I'm speechless, I can't say anything better than that, you know it's a dream come true.

Marcus: Yeah I mean absolutely, I think that the atmosphere of this festival is just unparalleled compared to any other festivals in the UK, I mean it's just a really nice community like tight-knit and what that do for unsigned bands is just incredible, I mean there is no other festival sort of doing anything like this, it's just so good to see that a major festival really likes pushing unsigned metal.

Pete: I think what Bloodstock scores over all the other festivals is that because it's a bit smaller it's a bit more based on being inclusive rather than being exclusive, everyone gets a chance, it's the only festival that's got a decent stage for up and coming bands, unsigned bands, I can't think of any other festivals in the UK that does this sort of thing, whether it's attached to something like Metal To The Masses or not, and Bloodstock is doing more for up and coming metal than anyone else. It must be supported because if we haven't got that then there's going to be no more metal bands in 5 to 10 years time, we're just going to be watching Megadeth coming out on Zimmer Frames (laughs occur), that's going, that's going to be no fun is it? You know? I mean bands like Gama Bomb, Evile you know 5, 6, 10 whatever few years back they were just playing little pubs and trying to get a following, but look at them now and people supported them and pushed them forward and we've got you know a new breed of major interest Thrash coming out of the UK and it proved positive that this works so people must support this because it's the only way we are going to keep the scene from dying on it's arse!


So you're playing at Bloodstock, what plans have you got for the rest of the year?

Pete: We've got Beermageddon in two weeks after that, the biggest most drunken metal barbeque in world history, i don't know unless 2014 gets any bigger, we got some shows, erm what have we got?... carried on by Phil talking about another festival

Phil: Playing with lots of goth bands, different alternative bands, I mean it's being sponsored by so many different (interjected by a punter asking about the Slayer signing sessions, which didn't happen for a few days...), ANYWAY where was I? Pete takes control.

Pete: Alt fest they've announced all the goth and industrial bands, but haven't started building the metal menu yet, but I am assured it's going to be incredible, what else we got? Oh, OH Full Thrash Assault next year, that's going to be insane! Phil takes control... again

Phil: It's not been announced properly yet because they're still going through it, erm Rad fest, there's also, what else is there? Pete interjects

Pete: We got a big charity thing in November for a friend of ours, Colin Tyler. Who had to have his arm amputated when he was a kid and this is the 30th anniversary of him losing his arm, so he's putting on a great big metal festival and donating proceeds to the charities so we're doing that one, erm whose on that... NeonHalo, Wretched Soul, Inner Fire, Unforeseen Prophecy, that's going to be good, erm... i don't know, anyone got any offers? (Laughs ensue) " facebook.com/Kremated ", put the songs somewhere, please we'd like to play outside London more, we have fans in the Midlands, we have fans all over the Midlands who are dying to see us which is going to make Beermageddon interesting, but we are looking for shows so hit us up on Facebook and get in touch, we'd love to come up and play, see what happens. You know we just enjoy doing this and that's it if we get an opportunity to do it then brilliant, you know we're not after world domination, you know we don't want to be doing that all jumbo jet s**t of course it would be nice but that's not the point of us, we play Thrash Metal because we love playing Thrash Metal, if we don't love doing that we wouldn't be going out and lose money on gigs, you know what's the point we love doing this and that's why we do it, you know if we break even then great but you know we love Thrash Metal, this is why we do it. Might even get a second album out if we're lucky! We've half written it, "I ask them: so is that going to be different from the first album?", response? Yeah it's going to have a different title and a different cover.


Are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings you wish to issue to friends, family, fans, bands playing today, bands you know, etc?

Phil: Yeah I want to say thank you to my daughter for being so supportive, she's only 12 years old and she's let me go off on tour, it's been difficult for her but I love her lots. Friends wise I'd like to say thank you to The Pandemonium club, all the Kent scene, the Kremated army, I'd like to say thank you to Simon Hall and Adam Fillary (who is on Darkstore during the festival) for actually giving us that chance and also so much support from the whole team. It's been appreciated, but also thank you to the bands that have actually welcomed us into the scene and had us play with them, no it's been absolutely amazing so far and we're looking forward to many more seasons of this.

Marcus: Yeah I'd just like to thank my friends and family for all the continued support they offer me, yeah all the people at Bloodstock that have made this happen every year, Phil comments 'I think the DJ's as well, multitude of DJ's, including Mr. Alan Hicks, he's the man!', Jim Beerman, there's so many.

Pete: John 'Beastie' Beeson our partner in crime, we done Adam Fillary, Jim Beerman, err COLIN TYLER, Stubb brothers... both of them. Ash Nash, Ben Richardson, the Original Kremated army, Annika Burgess with incredible feats of determined hard work, Andrew O'Neill comedian and guitarist of The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing great guy, good friend of mine, he's helped us out a lot, he booked us for probably one of the best shows we probably have done, we supported the men at Kings Cross which was a full house and we went on stage to a full house of Steampunks thinking this is either going to be brilliant or this is going to be excruciating and we won them over and the place went mad, I cant thank him enough for that. Anybody that has taken the time to come to talk to us, you know bought CD's, merchandise, thank you and booked us for gigs, anything. Anybody who has done something with us or for us, everybody, too many to mention.

Phil: I mean yeah that's also promoters, there's magazines, everything else there's MetalMouth, Metalnet, there's so many out there, er TotalRock Radio, there's just so many people out there erm we cannot thank enough for actually putting the name out so, we couldn't do it without you so you've been amazing. Yeah a very big thank you... Pete yells out "and you!" All of them together "Rhys Stevenson!", Pete says 'oh I forgot your sitting right in front of me', yeah sterling work!

Cheers guys!

Pete: Thank you!

You can listen to the other questions through the audio player at the very top of the page, some questions are already in text so you can read along to it as well. N.b. make a note of where you pause because 30 minutes is sometime.

https://www.facebook.com/Kremated