Interview with Pint + Blister

November 24, 2019

Pint + Blister have had a busy few months with the release of two singles: ‘Angry Machine’ and ‘Upwardly Mobile (Ultimately Vile)’, as well as number of live performances across the North West. Check out the interview with the dynamic trio from Chester below!

Check out their singles on Spotify here

1. How did Pint + Blister form?

PINT + BLISTER were originally a two-piece called ‘Sockets’ with Matt on guitar/vocals and Josh on drums. We started with covers but then quickly moved onto originals – Matt has books of material to go at (literally!). Nathan then joined in March 2019 and the current line up came into being.

2. What/ who inspired your band name?

It’s not the greatest story really; it’s just a case of Matt mishearing a mate. Somebody at a gathering had said, “I’m off for a pint and bifter” and somehow Matt heard ‘pint and blister’. Anyway, it stuck in his head and whilst coming up with a permanent name after the ‘Sockets’ days, it was the one that stood out most.

3. What/ who are your biggest music influences?

In the early days with the covers, we were playing a lot of White Stripes stuff as well as SLAVES; we get a lot of inspiration from them as a collective. Punk bands from the 70’s and 80’s are massive for us as well, like The Sex Pistols, the Clash and The Fall. We love some of the new stuff that’s up and coming too. Recently bands like IDLES, LIFE and Fontaines DC have been great, as well as Sleaford Mods and Shame. Individually, the range is massive though; we all like different things. A couple of examples of some of our personal inspirations would be bands like Arctic Monkeys, Guns N Roses, Led Zepplin, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Throw all that lot into a pot, give it a good mix and you get to us, basically.

4. What is it like being part of Chester’s music scene?

We’re loving it at the moment to be honest. A lot of the bands around here are our mates and it’s always a good laugh getting gigs with them. What’s great at the minute too is the investment people are putting into the scene and it’s starting to feel like we’ve got something going in this little city of ours. Restless Bear Promotions have booted the scene back into life with their recent shows, giving the bands round here a chance to show what they can do.

5. Which venue is your favourite to perform at?

We’ve had some amazing gigs both in Chester and outside in the North West. Locally, we’ve enjoyed playing Live Rooms and we can’t wait to play St Marys Creative Space through Restless Bear. Outside of Chester, We’ve had some great shows at Night and Day Cafe in Manchester, Alchemy in Runcorn and LiveBars in Warrington.

6. How did your audience react to the release of your single Angry Machine?

The audience have been loving it! What surprises people is we did everything ourselves; recorded, mixed and mastered by us three. We wanted to make a statement with that song and we feel it does just that.

7. What does the future hold for Pint + Blister?

The future? We’ve got a couple of gigs in Chester this month to promote our new release, Upwardly Mobile (Ultimately Vile), and that might well be our close to 2019. Don’t worry though, we won’t be gone for too long! we’ve got a lot planned for 2020 – new songs, new releases, bigger gigs, bigger venues. And beyond that? Well, lets just say the world ain’t ready.