Stereoboard Talks To Ben Ward From Orange Goblin About Bloodstock & The Band’s Ambitions (Interview)
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Written by Ben Bland
Hi Ben, it’s Ben from Stereoboard here.
Oh, hi Ben. It’s Ben from Orange Goblin here.
This could get confusing…
I don’t think there’s much danger of us forgetting each other’s names at least (laughs).
Your latest album 'Eulogy of the Damned' has got a really good reception from fans and critics alike. How satisfied are you with the reaction to the album?
Yeah, we have been really satisfied, especially because it was a bit of a wait for the album to come out. I genuinely think it is the best record we have done and so the fact that other people agree is more satisfying as a result.
As you alluded to there, it was a bit of a wait for the new album (five years to be precise) to come out. Were you worried that some fans may have forgotten about you?
I don’t think we were worried that people would have forgotten about us exactly. We’ve always had some very loyal fans that have gone out and bought our records. All we can ever expect is that those people who our fans of ours come to the shows and buy the records, etc. Those people are there and we can rely upon them, so I don’t think we felt that would be a problem. After all, the reason we have been away making this album for the time that we have is that we have been trying to make the best record we possibly could. We’ve not been fucking about all this time!
One of the keys to the success of the new album, I think at least, is that it’s an evolution but a subtle one. It’s not like you’ve disappeared for five years and then turned up out of the blue sounding completely different but at the same time there have been changes. What are your views about how the band has evolved over time?
I think that has been a key part of the band. I mean, we have always been a heavy band and we have always been heavily inspired by heavy music but over time we have perhaps got a bit more open to what we can include in our songwriting. There are aspects of the new album that perhaps we would not have dared to do on previous records, and I think that evolution has allowed us to make a better record.
You’re headlining the Sophie Lancaster Stage at Bloodstock in August, and headlined the Jagermeister Stage at Sonisphere last summer. This seems to me like long overdue recognition of your place in the UK’s heavy music scene. What are your views on this?
I can say from the bottom of my heart that it is such a MASSIVE privilege to be asked to headline a stage at any festival. When we got asked to headline the stage at Sonisphere last summer that was a huge thing for us and it is the same with Bloodstock this year. It is amazing to think that we are considered right for those kinds of slots.
So-called ‘stoner rock’ bands seem to fit in better with the heavy music scene than ever before nowadays. Why do you think this is?
I don’t know really. It’s a tricky one because I am not sure how much of a thing ‘stoner rock’ even is. We have never tried to fit into any one scene but we have sort of become a stoner/ doom band by association over the years I guess. Maybe people have become a little less fussy about what genre of music they are willing to listen to in recent times?
Orange Goblin live shows are quite an experience. How important an aspect do you think this is of the band’s overall reputation?
Oh, I think it is a massive part for sure. We wouldn’t be anything if we didn’t play live. We have become very lucky to get a dedicated live following over the years. There are lots of people who seem to enjoy watching us play our shows and that’s good because we love playing them!
With the band being as popular as ever, what are your aims now moving forward?
Well, the difficulty has always been that we have always been doing this alongside doing normal, proper jobs. As a result it has always been very difficult for us to think about aims beyond “the next tour” or “the next record”. However, the new album is doing pretty well and we have been sitting down and thinking about how things are going. I can’t say too much but we are hopeful that perhaps within the next few months we may be able to finally call it a day with our day jobs and do this professionally, full time. That depends on a few things but the prospect of that happening is massively exciting for us because it is obviously something that we have always wanted.
Aside from that we are really hopeful that we can go and tour in some places we do not get to visit so often very soon. I am talking the US in particular. We have got lots of fans over there who have been waiting to see us and we really want to get over there and give them the Orange Goblin experience. So, more touring and hopefully getting the chance to do this on a more full-time basis - that is what we are aiming towards. Who knows if it is going to happen…but hopefully it will!
Well, all I can say is the best of luck to you with that. I really hope that it comes off for you - you definitely deserve it after all these years!
Thanks Ben, that’s nice of you. As I say, all we can do is wait and see but it would be really fantastic if things turned out as we hope they will.
Orange Goblin headline the Sophie Lancaster Stage on Saturday at Bloodstock.
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This could get confusing…
