Seemingly one of the first things that people notice about Alunah is the presence of their female singer Sophie Day. Regardless of the fact that the band have a front woman, this shouldn’t be a point of interest. Putting on an absolutely brilliant show on Sunday’s instalment of Bloodstock the band are forging forward in the Doom arena. With a UK tour scheduled for later this year, Alunah will be a name that you will definitely be hearing more of in 2016. Able to chat with both Soph Day and Dan Burchmore we spoke about what it’s like to be performing for the first time at Bloodstock this year among many other things.

You recorded the video for Heavy Bough, how was that?

Soph : Oh it was fun wasn’t it! It was a day like today, it was really hot and everyone was out picnicking and we’re there just in this big room with these big windows and we’re sweating you know all dressed in black. It was really good wasnt it? first video that we did. Rhodri Thomas, a mad welshman directed us and he was crazy, really good. 

Dan : Really good to work with, really good ideas, he had the whole thing envisioned before we even turned up.

Soph : I was just like I want a man with horns in the woods and I want him to kidnap me in the end and he just sort of made it made it happen! 

How very Black Metal! 

Soph : It was a bit tongue in cheek as well, a lot of people asking was that serious, well kind of was but we have got a bit of humour haven’t we. 

Dan : It’s kind of seventies vibe, Hammer Horror thing so you know! 

Oh yeah you can’t beat it! Stuff like Susperia 

Soph : Exactly! We’re big Horror fans so we had to have a bit of the cheese in there.

Is there anything thematically, like books that you might take influence from?

Soph : Not so much books but definitely English folk lore stories and stories about English witches and practices that happened Bricket Wood Coven and the people who started that Gerard Garnder who started Gardenerian witchcraft, wiccan so it’s all to do with that and it’s all kind of linked so there’s a couple of songs where there’s reference there’s a high priestess called Doreen Valiente and I sing about her a lot, so there are a lot of things that weave in and out. “Heavy Bough” is just about the ewe tree and about the uses it has had throughout history in terms of a healer and a killer and it was used to make bows so there’s a lot of thing that weave in and out, so not so much books but definitely stories and references from English history…

Listen to the unedited interview below on our Soundcloud, you can also access a ton of other interviews that we have conducted with various bands from all over the metal spectrum.

Alunah will be touring later this year! With a London show on November 7th.