And so it was that as the Sun gave way to the Moon in a moody glade somewhere in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne that Roxie sat and talked a while with Druidess keyboard player James Hill....
Introduce yourselves. Who's in the band?
Danny on Guitar and Saxophone; Shonagh on Bass and Vocals, Sam on Drums and James on Keys
When did you form?
Danny started writing the riffs back in Lockdown before getting Shonagh on board in 2022 to pen the lyrics. James and Sam joined at the start of 2024 to get ready for the bands first gigs in March this year.
Where y'all from?
We are all based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Although we are 50 % Geordie and 50 % Yorkshire.
Were you in bands before?
Yes, it’s a bit of a ‘local supergroup’. Danny played in Ravenage and his solo project Aloeswood. Shonagh was in Edinburgh’s Juniper Grave before moving back to Newcastle, Sam plays in Shan and Nuclear Sunset (amongst others) and James plays in Kylver.
Who influences you musically?
A lot of Danny’s Riffs follow the Iommi school of writing, with the prog parts lending from King Crimson and Pink Floyd. Lyrically, Shonagh likes to tell a story through the song in a similar way to, say, an Orange Goblin. Sam brings in the likes of Mastodon and Clutch whilst James pretty much exclusively listens to Taylor Swift. The overall vibe of the band lands somewhere around the likes of Merlin and Green Lung.
Why did you choose the name of the band?
We came up with quite a long list of potential names, this was pretty much the only one that wasn’t stupid.
How would you describe your music?
Cocktail doom.
Tell us about your debut EP "Hermits and Mandrakes". What's the songs about?
The songs are at times a bit tongue in cheek but based around stories of our local Folklore. ‘The Hermit of Druid’s Temple’ is about a professional hermit, who was hired in the 1800s to live at a stone circle in Northern England and entertain visitors by being ‘a bit weird’. The song is written from the perspective of an advertisement to bring families for a ‘nice day out’ to see a recluse with a beard.
‘Knightingales’ is about Easter before Jesus ruined it, chronicling the battle between nightingale and rabbit for the mascot rights. ‘The Forest Witches’ Daughter’ is about people thinking you are a witch when you act slightly spooky, and are a witch.
How did recording go?
Danny pretty much did everything for the recording outside of the vocals, it’s quite hard for him to imitate Shonagh’s voice. We put up a a DIY vocal booth in Shonagh’s living room complete with a pop-shield made from old tights and blasted through the vocals on a particularly delicate-headed Sunday.
It’s a good benchmark for our sound but we will be in the studio in August this year to re-record those alongside some new tracks and get James’ keys added.
How about live shows? Any plans?
We played our first live shows in Spring this year, with 3 local shows at Little buildings, Trillians and The Cluny. We then headed on tour with Smoulder and made it to Portsmouth, London and Bristol. We had a really good time on stage and came away pretty warm and fuzzy with how that all went - good reactions from the crowd and we worked well as a group on stage, having a lot of fun.
We have a few more dates booked in this year. We will be back in London in August to play Helgi’s birthday party on the 23rd. A place we’ve always wanted to visit so dead chuffed to be asked to that one.
We are in Glasgow on Halloween, Shonagh has already worked out the costumes I think, then we will be playing Byker Grave Festival in December alongside Eyehategod, Goatwhore, Discharge, Ard, Margarita Witch Cult and Goblinsmoker. We then visit our second home (Bradford) before the year ends.
We’ve also started booking 2025 shows and have another trip to the South Coast booked in for the summer.
What's the scene like where you are guys?
It’s in a good place at the moment, after lockdown people were keen to get out to shows and attendances were strong, and that hasn’t really died off yet. We have a lot of good bands up here, Crowley, Ponyland, Smote, Pigs x 7, Scott Hepple, Fashion Tips, Goblinsmoker … could go on and on. The hardcore scene has been doing really well with some younger promoters like Connor at Conviction Records. Then the likes of Byker Grave, Endless Window, Wandering Oak are putting on lots of shows and we have some nice independent and DIY venues like The Lubber Fiend, The Cluny and The Star and Shadow.
What's next for Druidess?
Our full album will be recorded over the summer - release date is not confirmed but likely early 2025, then we will be playing as many gigs as we can fit in!
Druidess is:
Shonagh Brown (Vocals & Bass)
Daniel Downing (Guitar & Saxophone)
James Hill (Keyboards / Hammond)
Sam Armstrong (Drums)
Check out this concert footage!
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Hi and thanks for your input!