From the UK shores and based in South Shields are a band that keep the metal burning despite thats all been thrown at them! Culloden charge forward with their historically inspire heavy metal!

THE NWOTHM: Hey Culloden, can you introduce us to the members of the band and where you are
from?

CULLODEN: At this moment of time it’s only myself, Andrew Halliday, on vocals and bass, as well as drummer Adam Mole. We’re based in South Shields, in the North East of England.

THE NWOTHM: How did Culloden form and is there any insightful story surrounding its formation?

CULLODEN: I met former Guitarist Graeme Johnston while studying music at South Tyneside College. We
jammed a lot together there and did make a couple of college bands before Culloden but this was our
first proper attempt of forming something together outside of college. I came across our original
drummer Harry Thomas on a local music forum, and it pretty much started from there. All back in
2010.

THE NWOTHM: How did you choose Culloden as the bands name? And did you have any other band
names before?

CULLODEN: I was having a conversation with a friend about historical events, and potential band names one evening and he suggested the name to me thinking it’d make a good Metal band name.

THE NWOTHM: As a band, who would you say your biggest influences in life have been, both
musically and outside of music?

CULLODEN: The main, inescapable influence on us musically is Venom. Being local legends around these parts the story of a trio of Geordies conquering the world was always awe inspiring. Each of us had
different influences that we drew from for our respective instruments when writing music but it was
Venom that kind of glued it all together. Outside of music, our main influence is History. I’ve always had a deep connection and fascination with History, I’ve done various bits of volunteer work at Historical sites in the North East of England learning what I can about what makes us, us, and who the figures behind this were.

The other NWOBHM icons and legends of the North East are a big inspiration and influence for us
too. I used to drink at a local venue called the Office when I was still in college. Every weekend I’d go
to see some of the best covers and tribute bands with some of the best musicians in the region.
Many of these top lads and the regulars I met, I learned were in bands such as Hollow Ground,
Blitzkrieg, Fist, Mythra, Tysondog. Their encouragement and their stories of days long since gone
were a huge motivation for me to make something of this band.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell us more about your instruments? What brands do you play with etc?

CULLODEN: I play a Rickenbacker 4003 bass, with Rotosound swingbass strings. A lot of my sound used to come from just putting everything through an Ibanez TS9 pedal but, I recently switched to a modeler called
an Ampero Ho-Tone which I used at all our gigs last year. Adam, uses Soultone cymbals and collision drumsticks.

THE NWOTHM: What do you guys think of the current UK Nwothm/heavy metal scene?

There’s a couple of bands that fizzled out during the pandemic that I still mourn for, such as
Skyryder, but we’ve still got some fantastic bands such as Toledo Steel, Kaine, Seven Sisters,
Midnight Force and Eliminator going, flying the flag for the UK scene.

THE NWOTHM: In your music collections what records would you say are your most prized
possessions/favourites?

CULLODEN: I have all the Atlantean Kodex albums, and I never grow tired of them. I also treasure the Midnight Force albums I have, and Gatekeeper’s East of Sun album. The Fer De Lance album, the Hyperborean is another. All absolutely sublime pieces of music.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell us an interest fact about each band member?

CULLODEN: I’m very open about being on the Autistic Spectrum myself. It’s a huge part of who I am, and the work I do outside of the band today. It’s a huge part of what I believe has allowed me to learn so much in
so much depth about the local history here in the NE. Adam, our drummer, is someone who’s had experience training in the local wrestling circuit. Aspiring to be a wrestler on top of a fantastic drummer.

THE NWOTHM: If you could hang out with anyone from the past or present, dead or alive who would
it be and why?

CULLODEN: Tough question. I would love to hang out with some of the greatest historical writers and figures such as Bede. Who was the man behind writing the first proper historical records of England during
his time. I’d love to hear his thoughts on a time period that fascinates me so. And has influenced the
band so much so.

THE NWOTHM: How do you go about writing lyrics for your records and where do you gain
inspiration from?

CULLODEN: We base our songs around lyrical concepts, ideas. If there’s a particular person, battle or event I feel makes a good song I make a rough draft of lyrics I think are good, present them to the band and then
adjust them to suit the music that’s been created with that vision in mind. I gain the inspiration from
historical people and events, either based on my prior knowledge or I visit various places where
battles took place, or sites key to figures I want to write about for inspiration such as Bamburgh in
Northumberland which was once the Anglo Saxon capital of the North.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell us more about the artists behind your artworks?

CULLODEN: For our Witchpricker EP we had a good friend of the band’s, Thomas Perryman create the art based on an image of some gallows for us to suit the theme of the EP’s title song. For our upcoming album I made a commission from the absolutely legendary Seventh Bell, who’s done sublime work for Sanhedrin and Seven Sisters before. It’s a piece done in woodcut style based on the Harrying of the North which is the title of our album.

THE NWOTHM: From your previous releases, which songs would you say are your personal
favourites?

CULLODEN: From our 2019 demo, Hills of Culloden is special to me. It’s where I felt the band’s then lineup really completed the song and made it feel like it should.From our 2018 EP, it’d have to be the title track Witchpricker because it’s the first and sadly the only song I worked on with our then rhythm guitarist Karl Moore, and encouraged him to show off as much as he could. I absolutely adored writing and playing that song with him. The feeling of seeing your best friend show the world what they can do is special as can be.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell more about ‘The Harrying of the North,’ the songs and the writing
process behind the record?

CULLODEN: Much of the songs were written at various points in 2017 and 2018, but perfected by the proceeding lineup in 2019. Some were originally written between myself and original rhythm guitarist Karl Mooreover a few drinks and retro games at his place, some were written with our 2019 lineup between the
extensive gigs we did that year. Every song we do is based on an historical person, battle or significant event. The Harrying of the North is no different. Some songs I wrote with then lead guitarist Graeme Johnston never quite made it to the final track list of the record, but we worked hard during the pandemic on a fair few to add an even higher level of sound to the band’s repertoire. Most of the stuff on the album was put together through a trial and error process and refined through our live gigs on 2018/2019, slowly being honed to the point where we are now.

THE NWOTHM: Do you have any interesting and insightful stories from the road?

CULLODEN: Our 2019 Edinburgh gig, where we stayed the night in the town and explored the nearby hills and alleys to really take in the 3AM sights after a few drinks and a take away. The amount of sheer laughs
and silly banter we had between us then was top stuff. Also in 2019 we played Mearfeast in Slough, a beautiful metal festival organised by our brilliant, good friend Brian Mear in memory of his stillborn child, Molly. As an encore we got to play the Grim Reaper anthem See You In Hell with the now recently departed, legendary Steve Grimmett who was more than happy to sing it for us, and really demonstrated the difference between a band like us, and a legend like him. What a powerful moment it was.

THE NWOTHM: What are your tour plans for 2023? Do you have any big tours of festivals lined up?

CULLODEN: Our priority for 2023 is to get a functioning live lineup which is all but confirmed, thanks to an offer from a friend of ours. Release the album, and see what we got offered from there, and where.
We don’t have anything as grandiose as tours or festivals lined up but, anything can happen. It all
depends how well we play and who sees us play.

THE NWOTHM: Will you be writing/ releasing new music in 2023?

CULLODEN: Our debut full length ‘The Harrying of the North’ should be out at some point this year and there are plans to go beyond that for a followup as there are a handful of songs that weren’t quite ready in
time for the album that more than deserve to be on a record in some form!

THE NWOTHM: Where can people check you out on social media and buy your music/merch?

CULLODEN: Our Bandcamp has our music and merch.
https://cullodenuk.bandcamp.com

THE NWOTHM: is there anything else you would like to mention?

CULLODEN: Yes, even in such trying times as these with a rising cost of living, the pressures of finding the spark again after lockdowns, the fact so many bands are still going and releasing music especially here in
the UK is amazing. I’m looking forward to more music from our friends in Midnight Force especially
who are some of the best lads we’ve ever met and played with.