“Just because it's real metal innit?!”

Tea, beer, a third nipple, famous encounters in the toilets- that’ll be Infobia then…

Rm13: How was Bloodstock for you guys?
Alan: “I think it's safe to say it was the best gig we've ever played. Just being able to get out on the main stage was an awesome experience; it was great to have so much room to move about and not worry about running into each other! It was a little daunting knowing that we had to actually open the festival's main stage but we just went out there, did what we do best and had a great time doing it. The size of the crowd and the noise they made was a bit of a shock, to say the least. We had expected a reasonable size crowd but not as many as actually took the time to come in and see us - we may play bigger things in the future but I think Bloodstock 04 will be the one that I'll have the best memories of. For me, though, the best part about opening the festival was being able to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend as a punter!”

Rm13: What was it like before you walked on stage? Have you ever played something this huge before?
Alan: “It was kind of weird, really. I was pretty nervous until I got to the side of the stage and the intro started. Then the crowd started to make some noise and I just relaxed and couldn't wait to get on. We couldn't see how many people were in the hall and it was a real shock when we got out there and saw them all. The photos and video footage I've seen so far shows us all grinning at each other like idiots. We've never played any gigs on this scale before. We opened the Darwin suite at Bloodstock 02 but this was a totally different experience.”

Rm13: What about the other bands, what did you think of them?
Alan: “There were so many! Band of the festival for me was Primal Fear. I'd never heard them before Bloodstock but I'm a complete convert now. I thought they just stole the show - great songs, a tight band and a brilliant front man who can actually sing. It worked perfectly for me. As for the rest of the festival the big guns Synergy, Evergrey and COB all put on great shows and Threshold were superb, as always. The great thing about Bloodstock, though, is that it showcases the amount of talent we have in the UK. Invey and Illuminatus were superb, Panic Cell played an absolute blinder and anyone who missed Fourwaykill headlining the Darwin should be kicking themselves now; their set was easily the best I've seen them play. Every UK band I saw impressed me in some way and the diversity is incredible. Gutworm and Cruachan playing the same bill just couldn't happen anywhere else really.”

Rm13: Other than catch some of the other bands, did you hang backstage, or with the crowd?
Alan: “We were only allowed backstage on the Friday and we did rub shoulders with (name-drop alert!) Alexi from COB and Kai Hansen from Gamma ray. Kai actually burst in on me while I was in the toilet, which isn't much of a claim to fame but, hey, it's all I've got. I spent most of my time out front mingling with the crowd. I enjoy talking to people about Infobia and it's only fair that the band should spend some time with the people who make it all possible.”

Rm13: Are you having a break now, or are you doing anything else for the next few months?
Alan: “We're going to try and build on what we achieved at Bloodstock. We already have a bunch of gigs booked and the next thing is to try and secure some kind of distribution for the album. We're selling it on-line and at gigs but we want it out there in the shops and it's not as easy a thing to do as it sounds. Ideally we'd like to get picked up by a bigger label and that's another area we're concentrating on. We're just gonna be shoving Infobia into everyone’s face so that we can't be ignored!”

Rm13: If you were an axe which would you be?
Alan: “I'm going to assume that you're using the metal slang for guitar here! I'd have to be a Gibson Firebird 'cos I'm a bit strange and rounded off on all the corners. If you're talking proper chopping axes then it's got to be a bloody great double-headed Viking war Axe. Just because it's real metal innit?”

Rm13: Tell us something we don't know about the band.
Alan: “I have three nipples and an uncontrollable Frank Zappa obsession while the rest of the band live in a monastery on the banks of the River Hull. Or, more truthfully, myself, and Paul our drummer used to be in a Jazz/Funk/Rock band called "Q" (sometimes you have to get these things out of your system!).”

Rm13: Who would be your ideal band to do hang out with?
Alan: “Saxon. They always used to drink loads of tea and I'm addicted to the stuff! Seriously, it'd have to be Queensryche. They've been my favourite band since I saw them open for Dio in the 80's and I'd just want to listen to them describing the processes behind the recording of classics like Mindcrime and Rage For Order. I'd also happen to mention that I know all of Chris DeGarmo's guitar parts if they happened to need someone in the future! I'm happy to hang out with any band really - as long as they're not full of their own bullshit I'll be there, beer (or tea) in hand.”

Rm13: Has playing Bloodstock inspired you to do anything differently?
Alan: “I think it's made us more aware of the effect we can have on a crowd if we get the chance. We have a reputation for not taking ourselves too seriously on stage, which I think is a good thing to an extent, but you can take it too far and the last thing we want is to be thought of as comic relief. We're certainly going to have less of the joking in-between songs; live shows will be much more business-like. Musically I can't see us deliberately changing - we're always pushing ourselves anyway. The diversity of songs on "Evolution" shows that. The traditional metal audience sometimes has trouble knowing how to take us because we don't really follow the rules but the Bloodstock closing song "Hell In Me" proves that we're more than capable of doing straight ahead metal if we want and the crowd loved it. In contrast the new stuff we're writing now is turning out more complex than previous material but still as powerful. It's different but it's still unmistakeably Infobia. We have a really loyal following that kind of expects us to surprise them. I hope that the new material and on stage attitude will do just that.”