When did you find out Voodoo Sioux were playing Bloodstock Festival?
A little while ago now. Our drummer Nige was away on holiday in Wales when he received the email. The wi-fi over there is a bit hit and miss, so it could’ve been a few more days before he picked it up. He made sure he found some telephone reception though to let therest of us know the fantastic news. To say we were blown away would be an understatement!
Is this something you have wanted to do since the band reunited?
It’s something we’ve thought about, but to be honest we’d dismissed. When you check out each year’s line-up, it is essentially the UK’s biggest and best metal festival. We don’t really consider ourselves metal, so we didn’t think we stood a chance of playing. Then bands like Europe and Saxon appear. And this year there’s Mr. Big, so we thought.. “Hey, we could play there..”
How do you feel playing a metal festival, even if you aren’t a ‘metal’ band?
It’s awesome!! Someone asked us if we think of it as a challenge, but no, we’re just gonna hit the stage and go for it. We like to think we’re a bit different and we’ll throw some Voodoo magic over the whole weekend. We hope to leave the audience smiling and singing along to our tunes. No black leather and studs for us, it’s the lyrics that can be dark and abrasive.
While we are on the subject, how would you describe your sound?
It’s bass driven hard rock. Multi-coloured metal has been one description. We’ve been compared to the Wildhearts, Aerosmith, The Cult… the list goes on. Our songs can be bright and vibrant, but listen carefully to the words and you’ll find a sordid and sometimes
unsettling core, straight from the pit of Nick’s mind.
What do you have in store for your Bloodstock set?
You’ll need to hold on tight as we scream through seven or eight manic tracks. We’re sure we’ll surprise some people, but rest assured it’ll be hard and heavy. Trust us, won’t be taking our feet off the gas!
Now the band have been back together for almost 10 years, does it feel like a different
band? or the same band it was in the ’90s?
It’s pretty much the same, but with less hair! One thing that has changed is that we feel we’re better players and our minds are more open to different influences and types of music. When we got back together, after a 12 year break, we had to quickly get our heads round social media, lack of venues, lack of money and how gigs are promoted. So much had changed. Once we’d got our heads round that, it was all pretty cool. And our goals are different now. We’re driven now purely by our love of the music and giving the best performance possible.
Whats in store next for Voodoo Sioux?
We’re currently working on the follow up to our ‘Grotesques Familiares’ album with producer Mark Stuart (Magnum). We’ve got some awesome tracks lined up for it. Two singles from it – ‘(Falling Off The) Edge Of The World’ and ‘Into The Garden’ are already available, but we should have the whole thing wrapped up and ready to release next Spring. On top of that, we’ll be putting together a UK tour to promote it. We’re already looking forward to an exciting and busy 2019!.
