Bloodstock 2019 – Band Feature/Interview: Saurr

Bloodstock Open Air 2019 is nearly upon us and to say we’re excited is an understatement. We adore the festival and this year’s line-up is simply phenomenal. From the Ronnie James Dio Main Stage to the Sophie Lancaster Stage to the New Blood and Jägermeister Stages, there is something for everyone! Not got your tickets yet!? What are you waiting for!? Head over to the Bloodstock Festival website here and join thousands of like-minded head-bangers for a weekend of quality rock and metal.

Saurr are an alternative metal band from Manchester, UK formed in 2016. Their music consists of hard-hitting guitar parts, aggressive bass and drums and powerful vocals all backed by atmospheric synths. Combining influences from bands such as Gojira, Periphery, Machine Head, Slipknot, and many more to create a wall of sound delivered by an energetic and passionate performance.

They released their debut self-titled EP in the summer of 2016 which was recorded at The Motor Museum in Liverpool, along with a free instrumental track at Christmas. Both of which can be downloaded from their Bandcamp.

Saurr are now currently in the mixing stage of our new EP ‘Twisted’ which will be released in the near future.

They will be playing the New Blood Stage on Friday the 9th August 2019.

Interview

1. Congratulations on winning the Manchester leg of the M2TM and earning your slot on the Bloodstock New Blood Stage. What made you decide to take part?

Thank you very much, we can’t wait! This year was the 3rd year competing in this competition and right from the start we dreamt of having the opportunity to play Bloodstock, the idea was just surreal to us. Ultimately we thought the competition would challenge us and we wanted to prove to ourselves that we were good enough. Plus playing Rebellion on a regular basis has been such a good way of getting our name out there and connecting with the heart of the Manchester metal community.

2. What were some of the highlights of your competition run?

This year’s semi-final and final definitely stand out as the best gigs we’ve ever done. The crowds were insane and we’ve never had a reaction that good before, we’ll never forget it. We’ve become good friends with some of the other competing bands and it’s always an honour to share the stage with such talent.

3. Describe the feeling if you can upon hearing your name read out as the winners?

We were in complete shock, we all kind of zoned out for a second whilst our friends and family were screaming in our faces. It was absolutely amazing.

4. How big of an opportunity is playing the New Blood Stage for Saurr? We’ve seen some bands really grow from it over the years!

Words can’t explain how excited we are. This is our biggest achievement and we look forward to what the future holds for us after it’s over. We’ve seen bands like Barbarian Hermit and Footprints in the Custard really take off after playing the New Blood Stage and we would love to achieve the same success.

5. What can Bloodstockers expect from you come festival time? Why should they come see you?

Anyone who is looking for an energetic, engaging and atmospheric performance, with musicianship to match, should certainly come and check out our set. Our finely crafted blend of progressive and groove metal is unique and unlike anything else that will be heard at Bloodstock. We put everything into our performance and just have a blast on stage. We always make sure the crowd has just as much fun as we do, can’t wait to see you all in the pit!

6. Are you regular attendees to the festival or will this be your first time?

Our bassist and drummer got a day ticket to see Gojira last year and they said it was the best gig they had ever been to. The sound was incredible and the crowd were absolutely mental! Our singer also attended in 2016 to see Gojira and was blown away by the experience. We find that Bloodstock, as a festival, has an atmosphere that no other festival we’ve attended matches. It has a strong sense of community and feels like everyone is a part of one big family.

7. Are you hanging about all weekend? If so who are you most looking forward to seeing?

We are indeed and we were looking forward to seeing Code Orange who are unfortunately now not playing but we are hyped to see Tesseract again! It’s also great to see Parkway Drive being given a big opportunity to headline and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for us!

8. What does the rest of 2019 look like for Saurr? Shows? Releases?

We are currently working on our second EP which should be ready later this year and are planning on giving away a single from this EP at Bloodstock, as well as designing some exciting new merch to take with us. We have a few local shows booked in but once Bloodstock is done, we’ll be focusing on getting the EP ready and released. We’ll also be doing an EP launch gig so keep an eye on the Facebook page for more details!

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | YouTube | Bloodstock Open Air