PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Airstryke are set to attack the New Blood Stage on Sunday 12th at this year’s Bloodstock.
We catch up with the guys to find out more about them, what there are about, the festival and what you lucky Bloodstock go-er’s will see!
Can you introduce yourself?
Airstryke is!!!
Jay Fowkes -Vox
Andy Kopczyk – Guitar
Rob Tallant – Guitar
Dean Markham – Bass
Morgan Pettigrew – Drums
The band was formed to re kindle the British hard rock that forged nearly all other rock n metals. That and we all love boobs n booze. Influences range from the obvious kiss, Halen to Jason Becker and other classical dudes, Judas priest, XYZ loads of stuff. We play British hard rock, hair metal, glam metal, glam rock, bla bla bla bla….. who fucking cares about a stupid title were a band we live to entertain whether laughing with us or at us at least your laughing. Our first gig was 1 Jan 2011, (it should have been a NYE gig, but technically, we went on at 1am) we kicked ass, nearly blind drunk on new years, headlining the bell in derby.
Good starting blocks for an 80’s loving band? Off go the stabilisers, can we start the interview? :P
Have you ever been to Bloodstock before? If so when and what did you enjoy most about it?
The band really are at all levels of ‘metal love‘, so no we haven’t all been there as a unit before, something that deep down might worry us, knowing how much we love the party once were together!
Some of us like thrash, some like death metal, but we all have the same love for classic rock n roll, and the power of 80’s glam metal! Basically anything with heavy rocking beats!
Andy’s been the obnoxious drunk at the front of the main stage since year one, and yet jay has never been before. The beauty for all of us is though that it’s a home ground for us, its an honour to play as derby band and we will promise to give you guys 118%!!
It’s meant so much to land a spot at what some of the band have already called a summer home.
How can you pick a moment better than hearing that?? The news was great and we’ve been like kids ever since!!
Why did you want to become part of the New Blood Stage line up?
New blood means so much to so many people, no matter how you think it sounds. Some other Festivals in the UK also stage an ‘unsigned’ tent or stage, tucked away in the corner with a couple of hundred people just getting away from the mayhem.
What we love is that bloodstock doesn’t Just put on a stage for the guys on the way up, they embrace it, they love it and more importantly, they make sure that its promoted as well as everyone else! We know that people wont judge commercial push and power to dermine where or why they should be, if they see us walking around catton hall and decide, ‘that looks different’, then the bloodstock crowd wont be afraid to come see what’s so different about us. And that’s great!
What was your initial reaction when you found out you where playing on the New Blood Stage?
The whole experience has been like a game of leap frog! No sooner were we jumping up at down at the chance to play at Nottingham’s famous rock city, were competing for a slot at bloodstock, and honestly up against the incredible competition we faced in that final, once told we were going to be playing at BOA, it would probably have taken a big heavy object to knock the smiles off all our members faces!
What is your opinion of the Bloodstock lineup?
Bloodstock still stands out as such an independent brand, not listening to current chart positioning or sales, but to what the real fans want to hear. What we love about bloodstock is that no matter what sub-genre of metal you are, everyone gets listened to, if something doesn’t suit you fine, but out of all the festivals this year, I think the spectrum of sub genres proves that if you love rock and metal, you will have an amazing time this year!!
What are you looking forward to most at Bloodstock?
Well, having the honour to play at a to festival gives anyone the opportunity to show the world what you can do! A festival slot is a massive opportunity to us, and were honoured to play anywhere we possibly can!!
Dropping lucky playing on the Sunday night is that we can go around as many people as we can and explain that there’s going to be a party on the new blood stage on Sunday night, we just hope the tent is full, and yes, when it is bursting full, there is nothing that would bring us back down!
What can the audience expect from you at the festival?
Absolutelyno level of boredom, every time Airstryke walk onto that stage there are 5 pulses racing like crazy, fueled with adrenaline. We don’t just see playing a set as playing some songs, were passing over a message, were joining in with the party ourselves. The way bands like van halen, kiss,motley crue and those sorts of did this in the 80’s was so inspirpirational to us, and the moment we took notice and started playing and enjoying our music this way, the fans immediately joined in and we created what we like to call a party set.
Can you sum up Bloodstock in one sentence?
Best fucking festival ever!
Any message you wish to pass on to the PM readers?
Don’t be afraid of something different, were not gonna be walking around in dark clothes, more than likely running around in Baywatch outfits, rescuing parched festival goers by administering large amounts of booze. Hell we might look like crazy bastards to you, but that’s exactly what we are!
Links
http://www.facebook.com/airstrykeuk
www.airstryke.co.uk coming Sept 2012
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