Paul: Let’s start with a brief history of the band
Nick: The band started up in 2014. As a group of mates (Rob, Josh and Nick) playing different types of music in other bands, the idea came about around the kitchen table of forming something new and different from what we were used to, that also gave us the chance to rock out together live on stage!
This led to the release of our first EP Freedom’s Key in 2015. After a shuffle around in the line-up, bringing Nick onto Vocals from Bass, Kieran joined the 28D family. More shows were played along with our first entry into Metal 2 the Masses in 2016 (Mansfield), where we managed to reach the grand final! In 2017, we released our second EP and Music Video Risen which was well received and a major step forward in the band’s new sound. Due to personal reasons, Kieran took a break from the band which gave us the chance to find Gav, a bassist from the local scene who we had been seeing at gigs for years! Continuing to gig and raise the profile of the band through 2017/18, Kieran re-joined us late 2018 to complete the live sound of the band and giving our audiences more oomph at shows.
Our focus for 2019 has mainly been Metal 2 The Masses; more on that later! But we are also planning the drop of a new music video around the time of Bloodstock in August!
Paul: Who is the current line up?
Nick: Nick Ward (Vocals), Rob Tallant (Guitar and Backing Vox), Kieran Agnew (Guitar and Backing Vox), Gav Archer (Bass) and Josh Woodhouse (Drums)
Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences?
Nick: Individually, we all have very different and varied tastes in music. Together we draw our inspirations from all those places, resulting in catchy melodies, body grinding grooves, intoxicating solos and driving heavy riffs bundled in a fresh modern package! If you like bands such as Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry, Slash and Myles Kennedy, Down and Black Sabbath (to name a few) then you’ll most likely enjoy one of our shows!
Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?
Nick: Well, there’s obviously our EPs and Videos that we’ve released, it’s always a positive experience when we’re working together on big projects, we’re good friends and have fun with it! We’ve also played some cool shows in the past with Power Quest, IamI, and lots of fun shows with Witch Tripper (who won the M2TM Mansfield 2016). We’ve also enjoyed opening for tribute acts like Hi-On Maiden, Mentallica and Popestars etc! We’ve played a lot of charity fundraising shows and put on our own fundraiser ‘Air Aid’ (2018), which managed to raise over £1200 for the East Midlands Air Ambulance service. We then turned our focus to Bloodstock!
Paul: A neat link indeed. Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey
Nick: I guess, our road to Bloodstock truly started in 2016 when we entered and reached the Mansfield Finals! The networking raised profile and comradery from that fuelled a year’s worth of gigs! Once we had completed our sound as a 5-piece band, this brought momentum and we felt it was the right time to go and give the competition another go! We decided to enter the Leicester M2TM for the wider networking opportunities. Choosing Leicester was a great choice! They have a vibrant and friendly scene filled with lots of talented musicians. We’re honoured to have won their hearts as an outside band, which has enabled us to fulfil this milestone dream! Making lots of friends on the way, you can expect to see some great Leicester bands performing with us soon!
Paul: Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it
Nick: The thing with a competition like Bloodstock’s Metal 2 the Masses, is that everyone really wants the opportunity to perform on that stage as the region’s winners! As bands progress through the rounds of the competition, everyone ups their game and raises the bar of their show! We played a new set each round of the competition, refining the set-list with what went down well, and not so well. We wanted our final set to be well balanced and hard hitting, giving a taste of everything we have to offer! Making it to the finals and the build up around it, like every time you advertise the events on social media, was quite nerve-wracking all-in-all because your goal is so close you can almost taste it! Then on the day we drew the last slot out of the hat! So, we got to see all the bands perform well in the 9 hours leading up to our stage time, thus raising our nerves even more.
Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?
Nick: A massive rush of euphoria, shock, amazement, over the moon… too many to really properly describe! We had set out to fulfil a milestone dream and had managed to make it a reality! It took us days to come down off cloud 9!
Paul: Moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?
Nick: We are very much a live band. You can expect a full-on high-energy performance, lots of riffs, catchy melodies; all bundled into a no-messing Hard Rock Show! We’re there to give everyone a good time and have a good time ourselves doing what we love!
Our focus for 2019 has mainly been Metal 2 The Masses; more on that later! But we are also planning the drop of a new music video around the time of Bloodstock in August!
Paul: Who is the current line up?
Nick: Nick Ward (Vocals), Rob Tallant (Guitar and Backing Vox), Kieran Agnew (Guitar and Backing Vox), Gav Archer (Bass) and Josh Woodhouse (Drums)
Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences?
Nick: Individually, we all have very different and varied tastes in music. Together we draw our inspirations from all those places, resulting in catchy melodies, body grinding grooves, intoxicating solos and driving heavy riffs bundled in a fresh modern package! If you like bands such as Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry, Slash and Myles Kennedy, Down and Black Sabbath (to name a few) then you’ll most likely enjoy one of our shows!
Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?
Nick: Well, there’s obviously our EPs and Videos that we’ve released, it’s always a positive experience when we’re working together on big projects, we’re good friends and have fun with it! We’ve also played some cool shows in the past with Power Quest, IamI, and lots of fun shows with Witch Tripper (who won the M2TM Mansfield 2016). We’ve also enjoyed opening for tribute acts like Hi-On Maiden, Mentallica and Popestars etc! We’ve played a lot of charity fundraising shows and put on our own fundraiser ‘Air Aid’ (2018), which managed to raise over £1200 for the East Midlands Air Ambulance service. We then turned our focus to Bloodstock!
Paul: A neat link indeed. Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey
Nick: I guess, our road to Bloodstock truly started in 2016 when we entered and reached the Mansfield Finals! The networking raised profile and comradery from that fuelled a year’s worth of gigs! Once we had completed our sound as a 5-piece band, this brought momentum and we felt it was the right time to go and give the competition another go! We decided to enter the Leicester M2TM for the wider networking opportunities. Choosing Leicester was a great choice! They have a vibrant and friendly scene filled with lots of talented musicians. We’re honoured to have won their hearts as an outside band, which has enabled us to fulfil this milestone dream! Making lots of friends on the way, you can expect to see some great Leicester bands performing with us soon!
Paul: Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it
Nick: The thing with a competition like Bloodstock’s Metal 2 the Masses, is that everyone really wants the opportunity to perform on that stage as the region’s winners! As bands progress through the rounds of the competition, everyone ups their game and raises the bar of their show! We played a new set each round of the competition, refining the set-list with what went down well, and not so well. We wanted our final set to be well balanced and hard hitting, giving a taste of everything we have to offer! Making it to the finals and the build up around it, like every time you advertise the events on social media, was quite nerve-wracking all-in-all because your goal is so close you can almost taste it! Then on the day we drew the last slot out of the hat! So, we got to see all the bands perform well in the 9 hours leading up to our stage time, thus raising our nerves even more.
Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?
Nick: A massive rush of euphoria, shock, amazement, over the moon… too many to really properly describe! We had set out to fulfil a milestone dream and had managed to make it a reality! It took us days to come down off cloud 9!
Paul: Moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?
Nick: We are very much a live band. You can expect a full-on high-energy performance, lots of riffs, catchy melodies; all bundled into a no-messing Hard Rock Show! We’re there to give everyone a good time and have a good time ourselves doing what we love!
Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?
Nick: As a band, individually we have quite varied music tastes, so there’s a lot of bands that we’re looking forward to! We’re all excited to see Parkway Drive again (most of us went to see earlier in the year) as that’s gonna be one hell of a show! But alongside them, Scorpions, Tesseract, Anthrax, Evil Scarecrow … and the bands we’ve had the chance to play with over the years like Witch Tripper, Graves, Ten Ton Slug, Resin, Footprints in the Custard and Grand Elder.
Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?
Nick: You could call us veterans! Gav started going in 2004 back when it was the indoor event at Derby Assembly rooms, then by 2008 we were all regular attendees and able to call it home! Since then, it's been a permanent fixture on all our calendars.
Paul: If yes, describe the three best things about the festival?
Nick: Really relaxed being not too big and very much a family atmosphere! Every year we’ve had great fun and seen performances from good bands. Bloodstock always supports the underground scene and invests in opportunities for the possible bands of tomorrow!
Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!
Nick: As a band, individually we have quite varied music tastes, so there’s a lot of bands that we’re looking forward to! We’re all excited to see Parkway Drive again (most of us went to see earlier in the year) as that’s gonna be one hell of a show! But alongside them, Scorpions, Tesseract, Anthrax, Evil Scarecrow … and the bands we’ve had the chance to play with over the years like Witch Tripper, Graves, Ten Ton Slug, Resin, Footprints in the Custard and Grand Elder.
Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?
Nick: You could call us veterans! Gav started going in 2004 back when it was the indoor event at Derby Assembly rooms, then by 2008 we were all regular attendees and able to call it home! Since then, it's been a permanent fixture on all our calendars.
Paul: If yes, describe the three best things about the festival?
Nick: Really relaxed being not too big and very much a family atmosphere! Every year we’ve had great fun and seen performances from good bands. Bloodstock always supports the underground scene and invests in opportunities for the possible bands of tomorrow!
Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!
Rob: I have always really liked Oasis and like most Nickelback songs other than ‘Rock Star’! lol
Josh: My guilty pleasure is the band Paramore, it’s been one of my favourite bands for years, I still listen to them regularly and have even been to see them twice!
Nick: My guilty pleasure is to listen to Classic FM when I’m driving! It tones me down! Lol
Gav: My guilty pleasure is Florence and the Machine. I can't say I was a fan or really listened to their music until I accompanied my wife to see them live in Nottingham and was completely blown away. I have now been to see them live several times and every time, I'm as equally in awe.
Kieran: My guilty pleasure is Coldplay. The band that most people seem to love to hate but I think they're brilliant. Especially the first 2 albums. I get why people dislike them but some of their tunes are modern classics, plus they sell out stadiums!
Paul: A massive thanks to Nick and 28 Double for their entertaining and honest interview. I have to admit to being partial to a bit of old Florence Welch but as for Coldplay? Well, you can fuck that in the eye! Look out for 28 Double on Sunday 11th August at the New Blood Stage. I think they will be one of the bands of the weekend. You can find out more at the following links:
www.facebook.com/28doubleuk
www.twitter.com/28double
Instagram: 28_double_band
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3cfKpZzVFuouBLhiG8vqH9
https://www.youtube.com/user/28doubleuk
http://28double.bandcamp.com
Last Music Video: 'Risen' - https://youtu.be/41-DFhVzHaw
Live at M2TM Leicester Grand Final (Multicam) - https://youtu.be/YPpNWJxAA1A
Josh: My guilty pleasure is the band Paramore, it’s been one of my favourite bands for years, I still listen to them regularly and have even been to see them twice!
Nick: My guilty pleasure is to listen to Classic FM when I’m driving! It tones me down! Lol
Gav: My guilty pleasure is Florence and the Machine. I can't say I was a fan or really listened to their music until I accompanied my wife to see them live in Nottingham and was completely blown away. I have now been to see them live several times and every time, I'm as equally in awe.
Kieran: My guilty pleasure is Coldplay. The band that most people seem to love to hate but I think they're brilliant. Especially the first 2 albums. I get why people dislike them but some of their tunes are modern classics, plus they sell out stadiums!
Paul: A massive thanks to Nick and 28 Double for their entertaining and honest interview. I have to admit to being partial to a bit of old Florence Welch but as for Coldplay? Well, you can fuck that in the eye! Look out for 28 Double on Sunday 11th August at the New Blood Stage. I think they will be one of the bands of the weekend. You can find out more at the following links:
www.facebook.com/28doubleuk
www.twitter.com/28double
Instagram: 28_double_band
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3cfKpZzVFuouBLhiG8vqH9
https://www.youtube.com/user/28doubleuk
http://28double.bandcamp.com
Last Music Video: 'Risen' - https://youtu.be/41-DFhVzHaw
Live at M2TM Leicester Grand Final (Multicam) - https://youtu.be/YPpNWJxAA1A
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