“You play to a huge audience and you’re going to get lots of exposure,” Ogden says. “It’s surreal and really enjoyable, but then when you’re in a tent, it’s a bit more intimate, it’s darker. It takes it to that next level. Even small things, like when you finish a song and the lights go down, the audience get that excitement, there’s more drama. Whereas an outdoor show like Glastonbury is more getting our songs onto this huge stage with all of these people not knowing us, just standing there taking it all in, finding you for the first time. I enjoy both, but some of the best gigs on this festival tour have been when we’re in a tent. We can create a bit more of an atmosphere.”
The intimacy of an enclosed venue notwithstanding, the Brits certainly managed to impress a great many people at Glastonbury who’d never heard their music before. Since 2014, Blossoms have dropped four EPs, but it’s only now, with their self-titled debut album approaching, that the mainstream is starting to sit up and pay attention. They’re being hailed as the Glastonbury breakout act, yet for those unable to witness their festival chops first-hand at Splendour In The Grass, you can catch them in a different light supporting Jake Bugg’s latest tour.
“Different [songs] lend themselves to different places,” says Ogden. “Like Glastonbury, when you slow things down. There’s a song called My Favourite Room, which I think went down really well. That was stripped back and they could hear every word. It’s a song that everybody in that huge crowd can relate to, they’re there with you, it’s like it’s just you and them – while other heavier songs, with the lights going mad, creates this other atmosphere. As long as you can see people enjoying themselves, even in these big outdoor places, that’s the dream. The euphoria of seeing people singing along to the words, which is the place we see ourselves in the future.”
Stockport itself is just a stone’s throw from Manchester, so growing up the lads found themselves with a gamut of influences.
“We kind of found our way alone, tough there’s quite a rich musical heritage there,” Ogden says. “We have Strawberry Studios – a lot of great bands have recorded there like Stone Roses, Joy Division, The Smiths. But that’s not even a studio anymore, it’s just offices. It’s not that historically rich now. We’re so close to Manchester that all our parents were really into that music scene. That bled into us, and became part of what we grew up on.
“Stockport itself is like five minutes on the train from Manchester; it’s quite industrial with a lot of old mills. We’ve enjoyed living here, and when we come home there’s always that sense of finding something nice and cosy in Stockport. We have our rehearsal room here, which is actually our bass player’s granddad’s scaffolding yard. It’s quite unusual, but it’s also nice and hidden. But we’re all so busy with touring these days that we don’t really get back there to rehearse. There’s just no time.”
BY ADAM NORRIS
