There was a lot to feel envious about at this year’s Glastonbury Festival – Tame Impala knocking it out of the park, Beck’s buckshot setlist, Adele cussing into an ocean of mud – but the act that truly captured its beating heart was Blossoms.
It’s always the surprise festival discovery that resonates longest, and in this regard the Stockport five-piece managed to walk home with a legion of fresh fans. But as frontman Tom Ogden suggests, bigger is not always better.
“You play to a huge audience and you’re going to of course 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.
“You want them to always be that little bit better, and I guess that is kind of theatrical in a way. There’s even a lot of drama within the lyrics. You want to sound big and bold.”
The intimacy of an enclosed venue notwithstanding, the Brits certainly managed to impress a great many people at Glastonbury who had never heard their music before. Since 2014, Blossoms have dropped four EPs, but it is only now, with their self-titled debut album approaching, that the mainstream is starting to sit up and pay attention. They are being hailed as the Glastonbury breakout act, yet for those unable to witness their festival chops first-hand at Splendour In The Grass this month, 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, it creates this other atmosphere. As long as you can see people enjoying themselves, even in this 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.”
It’s a pretty significant shift from where Blossoms first embarked down this unlikely path. All five were born in Stepping Hill Hospital, which not only makes for a neat genesis story, but with a name like that is clearly the most haunted place in the world. 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 is 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 really 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. It’s alright, really. 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.”
Given the grind of recording the album and hitting the touring trail, it’s no surprise Blossoms are short on time, though it has brought with it inevitable sacrifices. Ogden once saw himself as a future filmmaker, and the band’s early videos were largely self-made. He had a gift for editing that has been put to one side now as Blossoms gain momentum, though it’s unlikely you’ll hear any of the band members complaining. They aren’t the kind of artists to take their success lightly, and while they are earnestly ambitious, their hopes for success lie entirely on maintaining their sincerity with an audience.
“We are just five lads from Stockport,” says Ogden. “We started this not even as a real career and now we’re playing Australia. It’s mind-blowing. We want to be as big as we can, so there’s no limit of where we would take the band. We want to headline festivals, to find ourselves years and years in the future and still see people out there enjoying themselves. We want to be a band that means something to people, that’s not just an overnight thing that’s going to go away. We want to be around for a long time. We don’t want to be a drop in the ocean. We want to be a massive splash.”
Blossoms’ self-titled release is out Friday August 5 through Virgin/EMI. Tthey support Jake Bugg at the State Theatre,Tuesday July 26, and also play Splendour In The Grass 2016, North Byron Parklands, Friday July 22 – Sunday July 24.
