By Bastion King
When the sun is already beating down on the arena and many attendees are still acclimatising to the festival, an early slot in the day can be challenging for any band. Straight For The Sun were definitely eager to get off the mark, as they started their set early and they definitely didn't let the timing dampen their energy. They took to the Southall Lawless stage on Friday at Call of the Wild this year with quite a bit of flare.
While the crowd was understandably smaller than it would be later in the day, those gathered in front of the stage responded well to the band's blend of heavy riffs and hard-hitting grooves. The frontman made excellent use of the stage throughout the set, constantly engaging with the audience and ensuring there was always something happening visually. Behind him, the drummer delivered a relentless performance, attacking every song with intensity despite the sweltering conditions.
We also had an opportunity to chat to the band and they spoke to us about their experience at the festival so far.
How are you finding the festival so far?
"Amazing. We're having such a good time. We're getting treated so well here. We even have cucumber water."
Have you had much chance to explore the festival?
"We've had a good look around and we're all feeling the heat a bit this year. There's loads of cool stores about. We went straight to the bar and went to watch Cell Games after, so that was good as well."
Who's your favourite band that's performing at Call of the Wild today?
"I'm going to say Florence Black. I absolutely love those guys. Seen them a few times now. They just never fail to impress me. There's also Glamour of the Kill. Liked them for a long time, so it would be cool to see them for sure."
Is there anything about those bands and their styles that you take inspiration from?
"Not really. We were saying to someone else a little bit ago that we take inspiration from the weirdest things. Most of the time, as weird as it sounds as a metal band, we don't take inspiration from other metal bands. It's everything from Classic Rock, Blues, Rap, Hip-Hop, Drum and Bass, 80s Glam. I think that's kind of why we sound how we do, because it comes from so many different backgrounds."
That mix of influences really came through in their set. There were heavy, crushing riffs as you’d expect, but they were balanced out with more groove-led sections and the odd melodic moment that gave the songs a bit of breathing room. Visually, the band also made a point of staying active on stage, which definitely helped in an early slot like this when the crowd is still building. The two guitarists regularly swapped positions, which kept things feeling fresh and meant there was always something to look at, while the frontman kept the energy up and made sure the set never felt static.
I noticed you've added a couple of members as well, since I last saw you at Northants Rocks.
"We've had to add a couple of people, as Jamie, our drummer, had to cancel last minute due to a wedding commitment. And Pauly just wanted to go on holiday, so f* him I guess(!) Part timers, the lot of them. Jokes aside, both the guys with us are from great bands. Nick, the drummer who's filling in for Jamie, is from a band called Nameless. And then Sam, who's filling in for Pauly, is from Black Water Fiend. He's a great, great guitarist and there's a good little support system around us."
Have they taken long to be brought up to speed on the songs?
"Not really. They're really good at improvising real rock and roll solos, especially Sam. I know most of the guitarist parts anyway, so I figured I'd do all the weird finnicky stuff and just have Sam shred over those parts and learn the riffs. And we got away with it."
Despite the last-minute changes to their bandmates, there really wasn’t much sign of any disruption once they got going. Festival sets can be tricky enough at the best of times, let alone when you’ve had to bring in replacement members with very little notice, but Straight For The Sun handled it well. The stand-in musicians settled in quickly and didn’t feel out of place at any point during the set. Everything still came across as tight and confident, like they’d been playing together for a lot longer than they actually had. The replacement drummer brought plenty of energy behind the kit, while the extra guitarist fit in naturally and helped keep the stage movement and overall presence strong. If you hadn’t been told about the lineup changes, you probably wouldn’t have even picked it up just from watching them.
What's the funniest f*** up you've ever had on stage?
"Today! Absolutely today, I shouldn't have played this year. I should be in A&E. It might not be the biggest f** up, but this might be the stupidest thing I've done. To cut a very long story short, me and my wife went to pick up furniture and it couldn't be delivered as we were over in Bulgaria at the time. It got delivered to the shop. My wife isn't capable of lifting much as she has a slipped disc, so the lifting is up to me and this little old woman who runs the shop. I hoped she might have that 'farmer strength' as she works here (she doesn't). As we both picked this piece of furniture up, she dropped it, I took the weight and essentially, tore the muscle from my pelvis to my coxics. This was less than 24 hours ago, so I can't walk anymore and it's too short notice to quit. There's people who have turned up with t-shirts on, so I can't just not do anything."
"To add another funny moment, because I don't want you to ever live it down. There was a place called Devil's Dog in Birmingham, where they did really cool events. We did an acoustic show there, but we performed 'Walk', a song that we normally end on, as if we were all electrified up. So moving around the stage, Callum was getting down and jumped off the stage, which was really, really high. He does his big ending, then tries to get back up on stage and he can't get back up. He keeps trying to hop up, then failed and slipped. It's on YouTube somewhere!"
Knowing that the bassist was performing less than 24 hours after suffering such a significant injury makes his appearance on stage all the more impressive. It also speaks volumes about the band's commitment to their fans, particularly those who had travelled to the festival wearing Straight For The Sun merchandise.
After overcoming injuries, last-minute line-up changes and the challenge of an early afternoon slot, Straight For The Sun delivered a thoroughly enjoyable set that helped kick-start Friday's proceedings on the Southall Lawless Stage. The crowd may not have been the largest of the weekend, but those who made the effort to get down early were rewarded with heavy riffs, infectious energy and a band clearly determined to make the most of their opportunity.
What can we look forward to from Straight For The Sun in the future?
"We're trying to write an album, so there will be stuff tied to that that we can't say just yet because they're not finalised. But obviously, it's an album, so we want to go big and go way bigger than we've done before to keep the momentum going. Singles, music videos, all that good stuff. A lot of it is mix and mastered, so while
we're still working on the album, we've not got as much to do as you might think. It's mostly getting it all together with the things that need to be released and getting the different events lined up. We are also trying to arrange some more tours for the end of this year, just so we can do a couple more runs as well as a number of 1-off shows. We'll be testing a number of these songs at those shows."
If Friday's performance is anything to go by, those upcoming songs and future tour dates will be well worth keeping an eye on.
In the meantime, we encourage you to check out the bands mentioned and keep an eye out for any upcoming live shows they have planned. You can find out more about Straight For The Sun and their plans for the future here:
Straight For The Sun
Photography by In My Lens on behalf of Get Heavy UK. Images are not to be redistributed, reproduced, or used elsewhere without prior permission.
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