Interview: Royal Blood – Very. Fucking. Loud.

Royal Blood takes a Finnish stage for the first time in Ilosaarirock. The band told us that they have been very busy this summer and their best moment has been their gig in Glastonbury. Hopefully, Ilosaarirock will top that.

According to Mike Kerr the best part of making music is being able to play it. That is the reason he loves his job and keeps doing it.  Photo: Antti Pitkäjärvi

The combination of just a bass guitar and drums is not a new idea and Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr emphasizes that other bands have done it really well before them. Kerr and the bands drummer Ben Thatcher might not be the first ones to do it, but they do it really, really well.

– People just kept leaving the bands I was in. So, I didn’t really come up with the idea, Kerr tells about the formation of the band.

He is in Finland for the first time and tells that the country is really beautiful.
– It’s very peaceful and the air is so clean.

Royal Blood’s summer has been very busy even since the duo started touring again in May. They have toured in United States, UK and Europe.

– I’m very sorry it’s taken us this fucking long to get to Finland but we’re here now. We’ll be doing some shows here soon, I hope, Kerr states.

Kerr tells that the best gig so far was in Glastonbury. It was the first time the band played on the main stage and their album was number one in the UK on the same day.

– Those two things really worked together.

When asked to describe Roayl Blood as a band in three words, Kerr has an answer ready.
– Very. Fucking. Loud.

Text: Pasi Huttunen
Photo: Antti Pitkäjärvi
Translation: Tuuli Ahonen