We spoke with Norwegian band Shining prior to their performance on the Sophie Lancaster stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival tonight.
How are you all?
Good thank you! A bit tired.
You’re playing the Sophie Lancaster Stage tonight at 8pm, what can we expect from your set?
A lot of energy, we are playing for an hour so we are just going to go get ’em!
Are there any bands that you are going to be watching?
We are going to try and see Mastodon after our own set, that’s all we really have time for, maybe listen to Gojira through the tent, they’re going to ruin our sound check.
You’re a black jazz band which is a genre that I personally hadn’t heard of before, how do you manage to combine both metal and jazz into one?
Metal and jazz are both limitless, they both have history of being experimental, not that every metal or jazz band is experimental but they definitely can be so we just tried to be experimental and combine it.
What made you want to do that?
We started out as more of a free jazz band and then we got more into rock and then more into metal, industrial stuff and it’s now just merged into black jazz.
Other than that how would you say you differ from the other bands here?
Good question, we just follow our own path, we do what we want to do so that’s what makes us unique, as long as bands are true to what they believe in then they’re unique in their own way. We still have some elements from the jazz like the saxophone as well.
When you play shows do you keep the same set list or are you constantly changing it?
We change it all the time, based on how we feel, the audience, what we want to play that day etc. Later this year we are maybe going to try some new material. Of course we have a fixed set of songs that we know work well.
Other than the set list, how do you ensure each show is fresh?
When we rehearse we try to do the whole set rather than just the odd songs, try to mix it up and then when we play a festival we have a lot of options.
Do you have any music that you’re currently working on?
We are in the wood shed yes, trying to hack out a few ideas, we have a few demos ready to listen to as a band and see if it’s worth following up but I think we are on to something.
Finally, what do you hope to get out of the next few years?
A couple of beers and a nap! We will continue doing what we’ve always done, writing material, going on tour, playing festivals and try to step up the game and get better at everything!
Thank you for your time, it was lovely to meet you!
Thank you!
