We sat down with N0trixx halfway through the festival to discuss all things from being a producer to the other artists at this year's Bloodstock, as well as reflecting on her strongest year so far.
If you could start off by introducing yourself to our readers?
I'm N0trixx. I'm a self-produced, one-woman alternative metal band. I originate from Russia, but because of my anti-regime activity and my protest activity, I can no longer be in that country, so I came here with a Global Talent Visa. Now, I'm building my career from scratch over here.
I make music which is very mental health-influenced, and every song is about a different mental health issue. Because I am a producer, I basically draw inspiration from different genres and different artists and make my own style that I call bedlam-core. This is because it says that it's all insane to represent the mental health aspect of it.
I'm interested to know, with such a specific style of music, what artists or producers inspired you to form your own sound?
I consume a lot of electronic, metal, and rap music, but the ones that have influenced me the most are nu-metal bands such as Korn, Slipknot, and System of a Down.
On the production side and stage side, I draw a lot of inspiration from The Prodigy. Particularly because of how they perform their sets and how they make everyone enjoy themselves at their shows. I also learnt a lot about production from a trap producer called Apashe. All of these are ones that I mix together.
What a cool mixture! Is this your first time at Bloodstock? Have you ever been as a fan or performer before?
No, I've never been to Bloodstock before; this is our first festival in the UK. We're loving it; we're really excited. After following Bloodstock for a long time, it's very good to attend it.
Are there any bands you're really excited to share the lineup with?
I haven't seen much with being so busy. I saw Cryptopsy on Thursday. Yesterday I saw Party Cannon and SKYND; they were both amazing. Those were really exciting. I was looking forward to SKYND because those are almost like a sister project. They have the same thematic idea but with all sorts of serial killers. It's a similar concept to mine, with mental health issues. They're also female-led as well, which is always great to see them doing something as big as this. Party Cannon was also extremely exciting.
I'm looking forward to seeing Vended later and Slaughter to Prevail. Then there's Body Count tomorrow. There's loads.
It's such a good lineup this year all around. So looking back on this year so far, what's been your career highlight?
I released my album earlier this year, in March. Ever since then, things have started gaining real traction, like being featured in magazines and getting invited to festivals. I think so far in my five-year career, this has been the most successful release.
The tour was also amazing. We had a UK tour for the album, and it also went great. We had some really nice shows; it was twelve shows long. There's more to come later this year as well.
What else can N0trixx fans look forward to for the rest of this year?
There are a lot more shows, at least ten until the end of the year. One of them is a headlining slot for a metal festival, and it's the first headlining slot for us at a festival. It's called Rabidfest, and it's in Oxford.
Then I'll possibly be working on new material. I'm not limited to anything. I just sit down and do my thing, so I have started working on something. Hopefully next year I may be able to put out a new release as well.
Emily Teague
Image: Tim Firth