From Guitar Hero to Bloodstock: Wailing Banshee’s Unexpected Road to the Big Stage

0:04 Hey, you love one too, Yes, that's true. W see wow for you your. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures plate Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm here with Whaling Muchie Waiting Munchie. And you're here at Bloodstock. So all of you two I forgot to tell you beforehand. Whoever speaks, just speak right up on Mike like you love it absolutely, so tell me about the journey to Bloodstock for you guys. Oh, it was really weird one because we weren't expecting it in the slightest. We just got a message randomly on Facebook, hey guys, do you want to play the Serpent sla And we were like, this is a fishing scam now, guys. He's trying to get a personal info.

0:58 And then we sent him over to Bible Canagia and he was like, hey, guys, I hope you're free for Boodstock because you're playing it. I mean we were like, oh my god, no way, this is ridiculous. Like you got to be careful sometimes you think there's scam out emails and like you'll delete it and then shit, it was real. So how does it feel to be here now at Bloodstock? Now you're here I still hasn't sunkin. I was sure we're gonna get it turned away at the gates, but it really really hit like halfway through the set when everyone's chatting along and sharing. For us, it was like, shit, we're at Bloodstock. We're playing our music at Bloodstock. And does that blow your mind that people were actually like they're cheering it on like you didn't probably didn't even expect that, right.

1:43 Always, any gig we play it it's humbling to have people just be interested invested in what we do to just party along with us. That's always humbling. And so each one of you tell me, what was that first moment in life that you decide this is what you needed to do? Oh man, I my sister came on with a copy of Guitar Hero three and I'd picked it up left handed, and they were like, I think you can do that. I'm not sure. It didn't take long for them to get me a real guitar for my thirteenth birthday. Nice. That's a pretty good story too, because I'm a lot better at a guitar Hero than I am an actual guitar. I'm still better at gauzitar Hero than I am for me.

2:29 I remember my mum was always watching stuff on MTV when I was growing up, and I saw something one day. I used to want to dig up dinosaur burnes. And then I was about five and I was like, no, I want to play guitar. So I got a little three quarter acoustic and ever since that's what I've been doing. Yeah, nearly twenty two years on off of trying to learn how to play the guitar, and I'm still not good. He's not here, sadly, but the drummer introduced me to why I made in our first year of high school, so I must have been eleven years old, and I was like, wow, that's just truly, truly amazing. I've never heard anything like it. He was like, yeah, do you play anything? We need a bassis for the band. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I play bass. Didn't play bass, never played bass in my life. So he started from there and now now play guitar, and it's it's yeah, that's where we go from.

3:12 I'm gonna ask you a question first before we go on a trivia question. Do you know who is the most famous bass player that was not a bass player? Had to play bass because they already had two guitarists, Ronny Woods. No any other. Guesses here, famous bass, I'll give you. I'll give you a hint, Liverpool, not mcconne, no way. Yeah, he was originally a guitarist and he had he actually got he actually got a piece of ship bass to play, and now it's like one of the most famous basses. He's all right, yeah, he's kind of like. It's funny.

3:53 After I found that out all of a sudden, I'm listening to Beeal songs. I'm like, yeah, it does sound like he's playing it like guitar, you know, So it's. Wild for me. Probably so since I was really little, I always wanted to sing, Like my mum couldn't get me to shut the fuck off all the time. But I remember saying to like my teachers in primary school, being like, I'm going to be a singer when I grow up, and they were like, should try and find it like a real job. That's not going to happen. People don't do that, And I was like, no, I'm not having a backup plan. I am going to be a singer. And like there still is no backing plan. I'm just winging it, doing my best to try and make it a reality. I guess in terms of like metal. The first band I went to see live were Blackfelt Brides, nice, super cheesy, fun and it just looked like so much fun watching them up there, I was like, oh my god, I want to do that.

4:49 You know what's amazing about what you said too, is I'm also a motivational speaker, so I teach people don't have a backup plan, don't have a plan B, because you're always gonna fall back on that backup plan if you have no other choice but move forward. You'll do whatever it takes. So kudos to you for that, and that's how you're here at Bloodstock. It's still it still doesn't feel real that you're saying that as well, because like my dread, I thought i'd have like a massive adrenaline done today after playing and having like such a a real time, and then I was just like, I walk up to it and I was like, I'm still a Bloodstock. I can't believe it, and our first time as a band's playing it obviously, but also being here, we've never you know, we've never done a full festival like this for us, like we did Call the World earlier this summer and we managed to get a couple of days there, but we were still on tour with another band, Bullets Knocks In, and we we didn't get a chance to kind of just do the full festival experience. We were really like, we turned up, we watched a few bands, we then played that we had to be were playing the last day as well, so we weren't like fully into it still going on as well. So this weekend it's just been crazy.

5:54 It's been so much fun. Yeah, and this is one of my favorite festivals. Like I do festivals all over to you its UK, Europe. This is my favorite because it's a family here, it's a community, and there's no assholes. I haven't found one yet in all the years I'm doing it. We were saying this earlier, like not only have the crew been so welcoming to us, but every single person that we've met along the way, like it's just we're a unit. Everyone's a unit, Like we're all here for the same reason. We're all here to listen to some good music. It really does feel like, I don't want to sound too cheesy, it does feel like we come. Home, you know. It's what twenty thousand, like mining in individuals. It's funny you should say that because when I got here the first day, I did a posting on my socials that I came home with my family at Bloodstock.

6:41 Oh brilliant, you know. And then today coming in, you know, I'm parked over at the press artists parking and I'm walking in with my backpack that's super heavy, and this never happens to me at any festival. Golf cart pulls over one of the crew people and says, you need a ride, and I'm like okay, and we were talking about the whole family thing, and like now it's my new friend. And like normally at other festivals they don't do that. They're on mission. They gotta go some there and they're not supposed to just pick up random people, you know. And like I was like, no, that's really freaking.

7:22 Cool that this is it. It's something that I've really loved. Like this morning, nine o'clock, I had two guys just come set up as at me. Can we have a breakfast here? Yeah, go for it, And just got talking about the bands I've been seeing and the bands I've been seeing and this that and the other and it's it. Just doesn't happen anymore. It feels like people don't speak to each other anymore. But here, no, they're in front of their phones. Yeah, that's it. Everything's everything goes out the window and everyone's just friends and it's it really is nice to it's just great to be in this environment. Yeah. And it's funny even while I've been here, I have, you know, friends of mine or people complain that I'm not like responding to their Instagram thing or whatever. I'm like, I'm just immersed in Bloodstock. Fuck the phone, right, And So, speaking of bands besides your own, who was your favorite set that you saw here at Bloodstock?

8:13 Gona jump in first? So far Saxon Nay, God, my god, Ah, the Gods of mel They are so so good. Granted we're going to see Judas Priest later as well. I've no doubt they're going to be amazing. They will. Saxon just just really set the standard for the Is it the first Thursday that they've done yeah, Bustart this year. Yeah, and they were like they're like, oh, I should do Thursday every year. You know, if Saxon's on every Thursday, I'm here every year absolutely, they were so so good and the way that Biff just controls and holds the crowd at the tip of his fingers, it's it's really really just great to see. It was a live fun. The only thing that was stupid on my part. A whole weekend of doing interviews and I jumped into the pit with this fucking dust, okay, and I was fucking room, not from the pit but from the dust. That that's it. My nose at my throat was all fucked up. Like the next morning, I'm like down in vocal zone and tea and honey they get my voice back to be able to speak and to breathe.

9:17 But it's worth it, absolutely, always worth it, no doubt. Who's next, I. Mean a close second for me would be ARCAA on the New Blood stage the Liverpool Metals to the Masses winners and it's so nice seeing people where I'm from doing so well at that level. Or it's got to be leave from within. Nice. Saw them in March on the on the tour and they've been in Belfast or Doubling the day before and the ferry had been delayed and they didn't get to the venue until they were supposed to be on stage and the supporters didn't get to play, and they came on and it took a lot to kind of lift their mood and get like the crowd really behind them, but they just got to go out yesterday and just like they got their flowers. They said, it's biggest should they've never done, and it showed.

9:57 And they did kill it too believable. Okay, oh my god, the last show in the UK ever. I feel blessed not only for watching Stary but also the drummer Gras and I believe his name is, and he's just fantastic. But my top top set of the week, of all all the days so far is a band called Redeemon. They're a scarcore band and they came on with a four piece horn section and absolutely dominated. It was amazing. Now you bummed me out because I like scar and I was in here working and I missed it. There my god, they were. I just I've never been so taken back by a new band before watching somebody like that. I bumped into the singer and one of the one of the sax players and just got talking to them with such lovely people.

10:44 But at the same time it was just like I don't know how they just came on and blew it blew it out the water best set by far i've. Seen this weekends. Nice thanks for making me feel bad? Oh god? Ah so again. Close second and a band that we're quite good friends with, Venitas, played the EMP stage the other day and it's their first time playing Bookstock as well, and I was at the front. They had a packed our audience. I was at the front watching them play that first song, absolutely sobbing because I was so proud of them. They've come so far. But I can't boot your bundits. This morning sipping my margarita at eleven am, and they were just so much fun, like throwing inflatable catuses out into the audience. The water pistols are just gay cowboys. What more could you want in your sat at Sunday morning metal show.

11:38 That's the thing I love about Bloodstock too. All the bands are only so supportive of each other, especially with like Melton and Masses. It's like you guys are competing, but not It's like you're happy to see another band win even if you don't, because you all support each other. That's a rare thing nowadays, so that's what's really cool. I think at the end of the day, like we're all metalheads. Yeah, we're all hit soft uplift each other. There's no there's no room in these scenes to kind of be chatting ship about each other and and dragging each other down, like we all want to see each other succeed, like we are all friends and that's that. It really is something special. That is key and that that's why Bloodstock is such a great festival because it's like, you know, not all festivals are metal. Festivals just have metal, so then you have a little different vibe. But when you have all metal heads in one place, we could solve all the world's problems if we would just all do that.

12:37 That. Well, you guys are fucking amazing. Tell everybody how they can reach out to you on socials and buy your merche because they can't listen to my show and let's say, buy your fucking merch. Yeah. Well, so, first of all, websites w W whaling Banshee dot com, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok is all at whaling Banshie official and yeah, we're currently on tour around the UK at the moment, we're about to go to London, we're about to go to Birmingham. We're coming to Scotland. So if you check out our social check out our to your poster and if you can come down a gig, say hi, we'd love to meet you. That'd be amazing. Well, thanks a lot for being here at Bloodstock and thanks for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Thank you for having us, Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipemin.

13:24 I'm w for CUI Radio.