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Thursday 29 March 2012

Band Profile: Blue Origin

So we're on a bit of a roll with these interviews and band profiles at the moment, aren't we? We just figured it would be a nice way for all HippyHazers to get to know the bands a bit better and create a friendly relationship between our rock-stars and festival goers :) Speaking of friendliness, we really must let you know what happened when we sat down with Blue Origin as Tom and Nick are a couple of the most genuine lads we've had the pleasure of meeting...


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Tell me all about Blue Origin... 
Tom: Blue Origin is a five piece rock and metal act from the glorious town of Stoke-on-Trent! The band consists of Nick on Vocals, Mike on Guitar, Jim on Guitar, Danny on Bass, and me on Drums. We do have day jobs but the main focus has been and always will be our music and this band.
 

 

Good stuff, and how did you guys get started?
Nick: Blue Origin started about seven years ago when I met Tom. He was air drumming to Puddle of Mudd's She Hates Me at a party…

Tom: Blue Origin has been through a number of small line-up changes but the line up we have now is the strongest we've ever had!

Onwards and upwards :) Who writes the lyrics?

Nick: I write the lyrics for all of our songs. All of my writing starts off as short poems usually which I later bash into a song structure. This is kind of where my background as a writer comes in useful! I’ve been writing from such an early age I think I started around 12. I wasn't all that cool in high school!

Haha, well now you’re in an awesome rock-band... you don’t get much cooler than that! What do you base your lyrics on?
Nick: In terms of inspiration, I'm quite an introvert writer, usually writing about a lot of the things going on in my life when we wrote the song, though I'm trying to push towards a wider, more outward style at the moment. I never stop learning and changing how I write, nor should any writer. If you think you've got nothing to learn then you need a reality check!

That’s really cool to have a constantly evolving style. So who are your biggest influences?
Tom: Every single member of this band has different influences that they bring to the music we write, BUT if we were to say overall, we are greatly influenced by bands such as Shinedown, Black Stone Cherry, Alter Bridge and so many more.
 

And what's been your best gig so far? Or best rock star moment?
Tom: I don't really know what Nick thinks but for me I would say it was our big headliner at the Sugarmill at the beginning of 2011. The place was just rammed and the crowd was insane. We had an intro video shown through a load of broken TV's scattered around the stage. The crowd was insane and the energy on stage was absolutely immense!
 

Yes, I’d have to agree that sounds pretty cool. However, things don’t always go so good do they? What's been your worst moment as a band so far?
Tom: For me it was our slot supporting another band in a popular Stoke venue... The headliners were a great bunch of guys and they play what they play very well. The only issue was the crowd did not like us at all! The place was full of skinheads dressed in Doc martins and dungarees, like a scene from 'This is England' it was mental.

That sounds quite nerve-wracking. Onto more positive things, who are you excited about seeing at HippyHaze?
Tom: I am excited about seeing our good friends in Nameless, they put on a great show and are a fantastic bunch of guys. As well as them I am looking forward to seeing Sworn To Oath as I haven't been to a show of theirs in a while but the last one I went to was mental and I’m sure this one will be just as great. 
Nick: Yeah, for me Nameless are going to be fantastic! Those guys always put on a great show, and everyone thinks Josh (the singer) is Tom's son… It's a bit of a running joke really!


Haha, I see the resemblance with the lovely locks of long hair! Finally, just to wrap things up what's next for Blue Origin after HippyHaze?
Nick: Well HippyHaze will be the 5th gig on our 2K12 Spring Smashup UK Tour so it’s all busy, busy for us currently. Aside from that it's all about our Debut Album due for release later this year! We currently have a crowd funding campaign going on through pleasefund.us and we're offering all sorts of cool rewards for people helping us out with this. For example, do you want us playing a gig in your living room? Yeah, we can arrange that! Things are becoming very exciting for us here in Blue Origin and this is just the beginning... watch this space!

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Getting to know all the great musical talent Staffordshire has to offer has been one of our favorite things about organizing HippyHaze, and Blue Origin are some lads we're hoping to stay in touch with long after the festival. If you'd like to give your ears a sweet sweet preview of their music then go check out their Myspace page. Then if you're feeling generous, go donate a bit of your spare dollar to their band at pleasefund.us. We're sure they'd greatly appreciate it, and if you're looking for a band to play in your living room hold them to Nick's promise! Blue Origin will be supporting Sworn To Oath at HippyHaze on the Saturday, so make sure you head over to their marquee during their set, because this is one band you don't want to miss.

TICKETS ARE SELLING OUT RAPIDLY NOW. MAKE SURE YOU HEAD INTO MUSIC MANIA OR THE HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE COMPANY IN NEWCASTLE OR HANLEY AND GET YOURS NOW. A COUPLE OF THE BANDS ARE STILL FLOGGING TICKETS, BUT THEY'RE RAPIDLY RUNNING OUT NOW SO GET THEM WHILE YOU CAN! £14 FOR A DAY PASS INCLUDING ONE NIGHT CAMPING AND JUST £33 FOR A THREE-NIGHT CAMPING TICKET. See you there :)

Love and milkshakes
The Hippy Hippy Shake Company


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