Imagine the best new band you’ve never heard and Blowsight might just fit the bill. rushonrock‘s Louisa Kouzapas caught up with frontman Nick Red as they cross the UK opening up for the mighty Sonic Syndicate.

rushonrock: Give the UK an introduction for those out there who don’t know you!

Nick Red: Blowsight is, basically, four totally different individuals, loving the same thing, reaching for the same goal. Most people think that a best friend equals someone who has the exact same personality as you, or share the exact same interests – but we are very different in this band, and that makes us strong. That makes us best friends. Every time we’ve been on a long tour together, the first thing we do when we come home is calling each other up and get together for a round of Guitar Hero or a couple of pints. It is also reflected in the music, and how the music turns out. We all share the love of heavy rock music, but there is so much more – jazz, hiphop, hardcore, punk, pop, electronica, whatever – we pour all our influences into one big melting pot and out comes the music of Blowsight. We like to see our albums as rollercoasters, going from catchy pop choruses to heavy metal riffs, and everything in between. There’s no end to the possibilities. That’s why it’s fun to see our crowd having shirts with everyone from Green Day to Dimmu Borgir on. And to see them standing next to each other, singing along, is a great, great feeling. We unite all rock genres.

rushonrock:  What would you say your sound is and who are your biggest influences as a band?

NR: We label ourselves as “Popmetalpunk”. The catchiness of pop music, the heaviness and guitar sounds from the metal school and the rawness and attitude from punk. Influences? Me personally, I love everything from icelandic singer Björk to our fellow countrymen in Meshuggah. It doesn’t matter what genre it is, there is amazing music in all styles. The UK has tons of amazing acts, and one of them is Sikth. I listen to them almost everyday and I am so pissed off that I didn’t get to see them live while they were still around.

rushonrock: So this is your first time playing here in the UK – what should we be expecting and what are you most looking forward to?

NR: Yes it is! First time. And I am very honoured to finally be playing your venues. I grew up reading Kerrang! and Metal Hammer UK, getting them imported to my mailbox, and I read about all these kickass places. Now, we’re PLAYING THEM! It’s sick. A dream come true, no doubt about it. What to expect? A good fucking mood, tons of energy, clapping, jumping, moshpits and screaming. That’s what Blowsight has grown to be live the last couple of years – just good energy, good times and tons of sweat.

rushonrock:  Your first album Destination Terroville is a rock n roll explosion, ripping apart the common rock formulas and mixing up the best of the rock genres – what’s different about your new album Dystopia Lane?

NR: The new album has more upbeat parts, way more organic sounding songs, even catchier choruses, and we think the songs fit much better live. They are more fun to play and the crowd seem to grasp it better. We still love to twist the classic rock’n roll sound around, throwing in whatever we want. Lyrically though, this album is, if possible, even more dark. I just went through a deep depression and I’m slowly climbing out from it. This album helped me through a lot. My three brothers in Blowsight give me a lot of freedom to sing what I want to sing and it’s been like a diary and something that got me back on track. What I mainly wanted to work on lyrics-wise was around the theme “normfucking” – trying to get people to be proud of being abnormal, and not sticking to whatever the society wants you to be. We encourage people to be different.

rushonrock: The line up has changed since you did Destination Terrorville – how has that impacted on the band?

NR: Well, we have an even more feminine bass player this time around!! No, Mini brought in a lot of new influences and we are a democracy in Blowsight. We wanted him to know it the first second he “got the gig”, so to speak – that he would not be suffocated in his creativity. Two weeks after he was official, we wrote Three Words (Under Ordinary) with him, and the upbeat, happier moods started poppin’ in through our music doors. We never had this fun before and I am sure you can hear it through the music. Nowadays we just love every moment of the Blowsight journey, whether we’re in the studio or on tour.

rushonrock:  You are currently touring Europe with Swedish rockers Sonic Syndicate – how did that come about?

NR: They got the question from their management which was basically “What band would you want to tour with?” and they all answered “Blowsight”. We’ve been good friends with them for almost five years now and I guess they missed us! We are having a great time with them, we share this huge bus with them and every night we party together. Life is good.

rushonrock:  You have quite a different sound to them, how are their fans receiving you over here?

NR: That is true. They have more growling vocals and more kick drums. Although I think if we sounded more similar to their sound people wouldn’t really care about us. It’s the fact that we have our own sound makes people listen – it’s not the typical metalcore band as a support act, we bring another flavour to the gigs, and people appreciate it. They mosh, they scream, they sing along. We love talking to people after the shows, and they have nothing but good things to say, whether we are in Barcelona or in Hastings. The response has been amazing, and we knew people would dig it.

rushonrock:  Any great stories from being on the road with them?

NR: Do I have to share them? Well, first of all – the tour has been so hectic we don’t have a lot of days off.  The Blowsight members never drink before we go on stage, so the partying occurs on the bus after the shows. But I think I would get in a lot of trouble if I told you what happens on the bus… come onboard next time and we’ll show you!

rushonrock:  You do an amazing cover of Pokerface by Lady Gaga  – what inspired that?

NR: Well, it basically started out as a fun jam in the rehearsal studio back in Stockholm. I am a big fan of Miss Gaga, and the first time I heard the melody in the bridge (the “oh… oh oh, oh ohh” part) I was like, “Wow! That would sound like a goddamn Slayer riff if it was done with distorted guitars! So, we recorded it for fun, and handed it out to our friends. They loved it, started playing it on parties and DJs in Stockholm started playing it and so we decided to release it properly. It’s one of those songs where people who have not heard our music before really go crazy when we play it live. Like I said, I love Lady Gaga, she is like the female version of Marilyn Manson. The world needs some provocation nowadays, and she is doing it well. Also, the fact that we got two personal thumbs up from Lady Gaga herself before we released it through our label, is an amazing honour. Next thing we have to do is get her on stage for a guest appearance, right??

rushonrock:  What does the future hold?  Will we be seeing a headline UK tour?

NR: We will be doing tons of summer festivals in 2011, and some more touring before that. We will start recording demos for the next album and we will just have a great time. We will definitely be doing some headline gigs in Scandinavia, but nothing definite for the UK yet. We want to, but we will see what the future holds. Also, since I am 50% English, I would love to come play England more. It’s my second home country. The atmosphere in the venues has been fantastic, people are treating us like kings already. We love it here. A dream would be to tour the UK during the summer, some outdoor gigs, some Strongbows and just kick it. Oh, and salt & vinegar crisps!

rushonrock:  So for anyone reading this, where can they catch you over the next few weeks?

NR: We’re already four shows into the UK leg of the tour, but the remaining Blowsight shows will be in Birmingham, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Leicester, Norwich, and finally London! Come one, come all and I’ll buy you a pint! The more, the merrier!