
Their first live performance was only five months ago yet Blood in The River has already played to a large audience at Manchester Academy and looks set to play there again. I joined the Manchester-based rock band at the Academy where excitement was high before their first big gig. “The promoter actually approached us” Lead singer Aaron Baker says. “They said they really liked our sound and wanted to put us on so we jumped at the chance, it was a fantastic night.” Joe Baker who plays bass guitar describes their music style as heavy rock mixed with elements of metal, punk, grunge and alternative rock. He exclaims “If someone came up to me right now and said I could play bass as a day job for the rest of my life I would be straight into work to hand in my notice!” Dave Cropper who plays drums adds that “I love playing with the band, they inspire me to push myself to become a better musician, and it'd be fantastic if we could make a living by making music full-time.”
At the Manchester Academy nerves were high before the performance but everyone seemed to be in good spirits and were excited to play in front of a large crowd. Front-man Aaron’s confidence and originality really made them stand out and Glyn, Joe and Dave all played exceptionally well. The audience received them fantastically too, so I can see them going far in the future.
The band began at a pub in Manchester 18 months ago where Aaron met lead guitarist Glyn Tebbutt by chance. Both sharing a similar enthusiasm for rock music they set off together to form Blood In The River. Aaron recruited his brother Joe and Glyn recommended his friend Dave to play drums.
All the group members are entirely self-taught musicians so they attribute their success to a passion for music rather than a quest for fame. Glyn describes that “Over the years I have learned the technicalities of scales and relationships between notes but I've always gone back to feeling, which for me is the most important aspect of music. I've always had a passion for music but there's never been a grand plan.” Dave describes that “I decided to start playing the drums a couple of years ago, during my tenure in another band where I programmed drums on a drum machine. Playing actual drums seemed like a logical progression, but I'm still surprised how quickly I picked up the basics.”
Aaron explains that there is no ‘normal’ process for writing a song. Sometimes he writes lyrics first for the music to fit around but in other instances he is inspired by the band’s music and writes new lyrics for it. He says “I write about things that spark a strong emotional response in me like people mistreating each other or valuing possessions over other people. I like my lyrics to have a message to convey and not just be meaningless filler.” Glyn adds that, “All the bass and drums is completely down to how the guys want it to feel and sound. Other times songs come out from us just jamming. For only one song I had a distinct idea in my head of how I wanted the instruments to sound.”
Life hasn’t been painless for the band, however. “I really find it difficult to understand how people get noticed,” Glyn explains. “A lot of the time people ignore us, which really does knock your confidence. I don't know how but the promoters for the Academy contacted us. Other than that it's just a constant fight to get noticed.”
Joe finishes our interview by offering some advice to new bands; “Promote yourself whenever possible and always talk to other bands on the bill to make friends. This will benefit you so much and you get to meet some really cool people. You need to remember that it’s not a competition and that bands should support and look out for each other.”
Blood In The River’s latest performance information can be found on their website, www.bloodintheriver.com and their Facebook group. Currently they’re playing at TV21's in Manchester on the 7th December and The Crescent in Salford on 15th December, both from 8pm.