We caught up with Evile in the press area at Bloodstock festival to talk about their third outing at Bloodstock in a row, their forthcoming third album and much more.

Thanks for taking time out to do this interview.

Who would you say your main musical influences are?
(Matt) For me it was Queen and Metallica .
(Joel) Yeah Queen was the first band I ever saw, Iron Maiden, Anthrax and Metallica.
(Matt) We all like a whole range of stuff from Caracas, Obituary, Sepultura so a whole lot of different influences, you know Girls Aloud!

You released your second album ‘Infected Nations’ back in September 2009, how has the album gone down with both your fans and the press?
(Matt) It went down actually as we expected it to, its a bit of a different album compared to the first one. We knew it divided them straight away, we decided people would like it as its something different. Well we saw it as different and I think people joined us on that one. We are proud of it.

If you had to pick a favourite song from the album what would it be and why?
(Joel) Metamorphosis as we have just started playing it live, I think today is the third time we have played it. Its quite a long song, bit slower than the usual stuff but its been going down really well.
(Matt) I'm going to say the same, its a song about change and its taken a whole new meaning after the events that happened last year. It kind of means a lot more to play it now too, I will go with Metamorphosis.

I understand that you have begun work on your third studio album, what direction have you down this time around and when do you expect it to be released?
(Matt) Every album that we do we want to create something different, improve on what we did before and figure out what works and does not work, get rid of the crap stuff and find the good stuff. I expect we will do the same with the third record.

You went through a big tragedy last October when Mike Alexander passed away, how did you deal with it and were there any thoughts of the band coming to an end?
(Matt) Personally there might have been a thought for like a second that I don't want to do this if its not the four of us but then you realize we only ever knew Mike for doing the band for 10 years, if we stopped doing it that completely ruins everything he built with us, it would be the worst insult ever. We wanted to carry on, we love doing it and make it worth the time he put into it and see it through.

You have opened a fantastic Mike Alexander tribute website, can you tell us more about that and how the fans can get involved?
(Matt) It's a site that we did so that people can just look at pictures of Mike, his Mrs put some photos of herself and the kids up there. It just shows Mike as he was, if people have photos of Mike that they have taken live or with him they can send them in. If you have never met him then you can get a good idea of what he was like because Mike was always the first people to dive out at a gig and talk to the fans.

You have a fair few songs on the Rock Band game now; do you ever find yourselves playing your songs on the game whilst on the road? And have you managed to get any crafty 100% scores on it?
(Matt) No we have not managed to get anywhere near a 100%, we are shit at it. The weird thing is that we have grown up playing computer games, to be on a computer game is the best thing in the world! Such geeky little kids, we never play it. I tried to play it once and failed miserably and just went “oh go away!”

How does it feel to be returning to Bloodstock?
(Matt) Amazing as always, third time in a row now. First time was in 2006 on the unsigned stage, pretty much at that gig we got signed so it's kind of like a spiritual bond. It's such a good place and everyone is really nice to us and to be able to play the main stage in front of so many people is mind blowing.

You are spending the later part of the year touring all over America, how do shows in America compare to those back home and are you looking forward to certain shows more than others?
(Matt) I don't think they compare in away, they are the same. The people are the same, people who don't like you and do, people who could not care less it's always the same. It's part of the fun of it, there are some places that we played last time that were horrible horrible dives, we will be going back to those so we can not wait! Really can not wait, yay.
(Joel) The people in America right from the East Coast to the West Coast are so nice, weather its at a show or at the gas station its really cool, that is one thing that is different to the UK and Europe.

You have been teamed up with Jagermeister for some time now, how would you say they help you and other bands within the music industry?
(Matt) I think they help get bands names around and vice versa, not that Jagermeister need to get there name around anymore, they are everywhere. I think they are really good, they just help bands out with stuff. I think they once said do you want anything making with the Jagermeister logo on it then lets us know, so my imagination is asking what the hell could I get, a Jagermeister wheelchair or something. Its good to have people who are willing to work with bands, just to give them that foot up and a bit more exposure.

Do you find yourself having Jagermeister parties often during long tours?
(Matt) Haha if there is I'm not there.
(Joel) Yeah yeah, you get it thrown in your hands just randomly.
(Matt) In the UK we used to get given a bottle a gig or something like that. I don't drink though, its a bizarre thing really.

MySpace seems to be a big tool in the music industry these days with artists communicating with their fans over it and some even ditching their own website and having just a MySpace site, what are your opinions on MySpace as a tool in the music industry?
(Matt) Myspace makes bands! It fully does, I mean look how big Job For a Cowboy got just from Myspace, Bloody massive. Its just fantastic because you can find any band in the world and just listen to them and you could not do that twenty years ago. I love it.

Where would you like to see yourself this time next year?
(Matt) Under Kelly Brook. Just doing the same thing really, we enjoy doing what we do. I would like to see the new album getting good reviews. I don't want anything massive like millions of pounds, I just want to keep doing this.

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a Zebra and a Giraffe which one would you be and why?
(Joel) A giraffe because I think they are cool
(Matt) I would be a giraffe, then you would think I was cool. Yeah giraffe because you can spy on people.

Thanks for your time, do you have an message for your fans reading this?
(Matt) Thanks for listening, please continue to do so and we will keep doing what we do. Thank you to the Bloodstock people for watching us in the rain too.

Interview By Ellie Pockley