Alter The Press! Presents: Blowgoat

With just 5 shows under their belt, Newport's Blowgoat are still a relatively new band. However its roots lie in the demise of hardcore punk group, Die Chihuahua Die. After the departure of one guitarist earlier this year, Tom Conway and vocalist Paul Davies decided concentrate on Conway's other band, Free Beer which at the time was a hardcore/classic rock trio which would eventually to a five-man band known as Blowgoat.

Together they make a chaotic, scrappy sound that fits their comparison to The Bronx and The Ghost Of A Thousand perfectly. Whilst having played shows alongside the likes of Shaped By Fate and Island In The Sky, has already led them to creating a good following, one that is bound to grow in the coming months, especially as a CD release and more shows at home and abroad are in the works.

For Fans Of: Every Time I Die, The Bronx, Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster, and The Ghost Of A Thousand.

Alter The Press: Why should Alter The Press! readers check you out?
Blowgoat: Because we combine the raw savageness of hardcore (without being a prick) with irresistible punk/classic rock riffs that you can totally party to. You don't have to worry about dominating the pit with the best windmilling, we just have fun. We're a new band in the Welsh music scene who want to make some noise. Serve cold with friends and alcohol!

ATP: What's the story behind the band?
Blowgoat: Ollie (Gould - guitars) and Wookie (Matt Dennison - guitars) started a side project called Free Beer with Tom Conway who at the time was the drummer of garage punk band Die Chihuahua Die. It was nothing serious at all; we kept in classic rock as fuck for a laugh. Free Beer went from strength to strength in terms of writing songs and eventually Paul (Davies), vocalist of DCD became involved. We got in touch with Paul after a few people's auditions for vocalist left us trying really hard not to laugh. He joined along with Jon (James), our bro from uni who had been playing bass in Rico And The Thieves previously. Our songs and shows have been coming along very nicely since then. We employed Blowgoat as a name which is what DCD were originally called and we've played 5 shows so far to great feedback and are looking to support some more established acts.

ATP: Single highlight as a band so far?
Blowgoat: Some dude called Neil Cooper from Stressed Sumo Records (http://www.myspace.com/stressedsumorecords) rocked up at our first show and said he wanted us to play in Germany. So if that comes together we should be able to take the band to other countries which is sick!

ATP: What are your plans for the 12 months?
Blowgoat: If all goes according to plan we should be able to get Stressed Sumo to release our debut CD mid-2011 and hopefully travel to Europe with the band, so the future's bright.

Blowgoat on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

Sean Reid