INTERVIEW: 'FIZZY BLOOD' - WE DIVE INTO THE MINDS OF LEEDS FULL-THROTTLE FIVE PIECE

We seem to have a thing for interviewing bands from Leeds! First it was thrash rock heavyweights Pulled Apart By Horses then masters of psychedelia WEIRDS and now we've had the absolute pleasure of picking away at the brains of a band who are bringing the beef and balls back into punk rock. Fizzy Blood are quickly emerging as one of the most exciting bands in the UK today. We managed to catch them live a few weeks back at Cheltenham's wonderful 2000 Tree's festival, they drew quite a crowd for their mid afternoon set in the sunshine and soon after it began we could see why. Buckets of energy, stage presence and talent, they're a band you NEED to add to your 'must see' & 'must listen' lists for 2017!

So far they're yet to release a debut album, but from what we hear it's due at some point soon in the not so distant future. But for now, it remains but a glittery twinkle in the bands formidable eye. Their first EP 'Feast' was released back in 2015 featuring their big hitter January Sun!

This year has seen the band step up a gear releasing two NEW singles in the form of 'Pawn' and 'Summer Of Luv'. You can listen to 'Summer of Luv' below and make sure you check out our review of 'Pawn' here. It's an absolute belter of a track with an accompanying music video that'll surely put you on your back in laughter.

Fizzy Blood have been hitting the touring pretty hard over the past few years and so far this festival season has seen them conquer stages across Europe and the UK. As we enter the back end of summer 2017 they embark on important sets at Reading & Leeds Festival in August before they head over to Reeprbahn, Germany in September. We stuck our nosey oars in and amongst their busy schedules to chat with frontman Benji about everything from footballing legends and pub sessions to touring tales and guitar gear! Take a read below and see what you think of his Ultimate Supergroup selections!

So where did the VHS/ boyband instructional video idea for NEW single “PAWN” come from?

The idea behind the video is actually pretty simple. ‘Pawn’ is a song detailing what we believe to be the uglier and more ruthless side of the music industry, and the video basically pokes fun at shows such as ‘The X-Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’… although the song isn’t exclusively about talent shows.

What does the future hold for Fizzy Blood, can we expect another EP or debut album anytime soon?

Now that you mention it, our second EP is due for release around August time and we can’t wait for people to hear it. It’s definitely the best material we’ve recorded to date. In regards to an upcoming debut album? You’ll have to wait and see.

Are there any particular records or live experiences that have been really influential on you as a band?

Every experience we have as a band and as individuals in some way influences the music we write I suppose. In terms of live performance, I think that the amount of shows we’ve played over the past couple of years have taught us to perform consistently and I think this is something that only experience can teach. What I mean by this is that for example if we were to experience technical difficulties mid-set when we first started out, we’d panic, stress and ultimately it would affect the performance. 3 years down the line and a couple hundred shows later, we know to remain calm, just keep performing and identify the problem as and when. If you as the performer look as if you’re having a bad time, members of the audience aren’t going to be much better, no?

Tell us a bit about how you guys met and formed Fizzy Blood?

Me and Paul have known each other from a very young age. We were in a band together based in Lincoln for a few years prior to forming Fizzy Blood after Paul moved to Leeds. We put an advert out for a drummer at LCM (Leeds College Of Music) and Jake was the first person to reply. Ciaran was living with Jake at the time so he joined in on the fun playing bass. We played a few gigs as a 4 piece but after recording a live session one day with Tim filling in on keys and playing the extra guitar we all decided we liked it some much we’ll just get him in permanently if he’s up for it, and he was! So there you have it.

This is a question for the guitarists and bassist, which single pedal could you not live without?

For me, it would be my Fulltone OCD. I can guess for Paul it would be his EHX Pitchfork, Tim would either be a Strymon Blue Sky or Ibanez Tube-screamer and for Scan it would 100% be his Sansamp (Scansamp).

You’ve played a lot of live gigs/festivals but which is your favourite UK venue?

We’ve got loads of venues dotted all over the country that we love playing and seeing familiar faces, but we’ve got to stay true to Leeds and say the Brudenell Social Club.

Do you have any superstitious rituals before you go out on stage?

Sorry to disappoint, there’s no voodoo going on in the green room before we go on. It’s all about getting the energy levels up in an NFL-esque huddle so we can kick it into maximum rock overdrive when we hit the stage.

Like yourselves there’s a lot of great emerging talent coming out of the UK at the moment, which bands have caught your eye?

We’re all big fans of Get Inuit, fantastic live band, massive sing along tunes and all great lads, they’re gonna go far. SuperGlu are another band I discovered this year, haven’t stopped listening since we got back from SXSW. Tigercub’s latest album was unbelievable; the whole band was singing ‘Memory-Boy’ in the van non-stop for at least 3 months. Honourable mentions go out to Demob Happy, Press To Meco and Allusondrugs.

Growing up, what festivals did you guys go to and which festival would you most like to headline one day?

The first ever legit festival I went to was Leeds festival back in 2008, of which I spent most of my time hanging around the Lock-Up tent, I think it’s called The Pit now? But yeah, I’d love to headline that stage at Reading/Leeds just so I can live out the numerous daydreams I had when I was a 17 year old.

Everyone has a guilty music pleasure so what’s the most embarrassing song on your Spotify or iTunes librarys?

Justinnn Bieeeeaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! I can’t even say it!

You can bring back any three people back from the dead to take down the pub for a boozy session, who would it be and why?

George Best, Jim Morrison and Lemmy. I don’t even think I need to explain how mad that night would be. Probably would travel back in time whilst I’m at it and invite 24-year-old Gazza along as well.

If you had any words of wisdom for an aspiring young musician out there what would it be?

Don’t imitate. Innovate.

And finally (for a bit of fun)! Give us a rundown of your ULTIMATE supergroup, any setup, any artist. Who would you pick and why?

Okay, let’s keep the line up vanilla and go with lead guitar, vocalist, bassist and drummer. Keeping it ‘current’ though I’m going to list members of bands who we ourselves have played with.

Playing mad riffs with madder sounds on lead guitar would be Andrey ‘Drey’ Pavlovic of Allusondrugs. Hands down one of the most innovative guitarists I’ve seen about.

Shaking his hips and screaming down the mic would be Dan Clark of the recently deceased Fighting Caravans, a great band that sadly ended before their time. Dan is a great singer and front man who can capture a crowd’s attention with the way he performs.

On Bass I’m gonna with Dan Ely of Rory Indiana. I didn’t really have to think too much about this, Dan is one of the tightest live performers going and the sounds he can create with his bass rig are next level.

As much as I’d rather not include a member of my own band I’m gonna go with Jake Greenway on drums. He drives me up the wall sometimes but we’re very lucky to have a drummer of his calibre driving us forward.