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Hammer Interview 2025

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Forked Tongues: Hammer Interview 2025

As the second guest headliner at the 2025 Scottish Metal 2 The Masses Grand Final, we’ve raised the most recent winners, Hammer.

This capital city mob are hard hitting, with an intense stage energy. It’s no wonder they seized the crown in 2024. While semi-established, they’ve nor been around for a huge amount of time, so their underground status and solid work ethic made them a perfect fit to go over the line and represent the country at Bloodstock Open Air in 2024. With just one day before the final shebang for 2025, we grabbed hold of frontman, Jim Andrews to ask; how was it for them?

Jim Andrews: “We entered metal to the masses with an open mind, it was an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. It was also a good opportunity to push ourselves and improve on what we do. Whilst we didn’t go in with many expectations, we were keen to get our name out there. The competitive element can seem a bit weird in an environment that usually is about collaboration and building relationships but I don’t think anyone was there to not get on with people! It was nerve racking for sure – you can’t help but get the butterflies when the results are being announced!“

Winning M2TM is one thing, but taking to the stage at the UK’s biggest independent metal festival is another.

How did they feel about playing the New Blood stage, and how were they received?

Jim: “We’ve had some great shows following on from Bloodstock. By far the best experience has been our tour earlier this year with Swarms & Verminthrone. Our first time out on a tour as a band, and we all worked to put this on between ourselves. The shows in Bristol, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh and Newcastle were a great experience. We’ve met so many cool people through what we’re doing and this tour was just a culmination of so many good vibes. The boys in Swarms and Verminthrone are lovely and we’re delighted to have got to spend all that time together whilst gaining more experience.“

“We met Swarms as part of the M2TM last year when they came and played the pre-show in Edinburgh. They reached out to us straight after the final to congratulate us and offer us tips on how to make the most out of bloodstock having been in our position the year before. Honestly, the Swarms guys are so mint! We’ve also been able to speak to other bands via some of the channels that playing bloodstock opened which has been great. We did learn, however, that there is more to winning shows than just playing bloodstock so we’ve been working hard in other areas to ensure we’ve taken all lessons on board. ‘The more you learn, the less you know’ as they say and since playing Bloodstock we’ve not stopped learning.“

Hammer Interview 2025

Other than the Scottish Metal 2 Masses Grand Final guest headliner spot this weekend, Hammer have been suspiciously quite on the live front for a while. Too quite. Is there something else going on we should know about?

Jim: “Well spotted – yes we’ve got a few shows lined up over the next few months but our core focus has been on our big project for 2025. We’ve been on this since last September and we can’t wait to make an announcement soon about what we’ve been working on.“

It looks like they band aren’t budging, and remain intent on playing their cards close to their chest in terms of their own upcoming endeavours. In regards to the M2TM initiative, though, and for bands thinking of getting involved, they had the follwing closing statement to add:

“Don’t even think twice, just enter.”

“We had such a good time with M2TM and even if we hadn’t won we’d be encouraging people to get involved. Bring your A game but don’t forget to be cool and chill with the other bands, promoters and the venue staff – an ego will only get in your way. It is such a good experience to meet other bands and people in the scene so try to enjoy all of it rather than just focusing on the results. Whilst it might sound silly, music is only a part of what you’re doing in a band – there is so much more to building momentum. You’ve gotta be someone that people want to work with, put on shows and support. M2TM is a great opportunity not only to work on tightening up your live show but also to get into wider networks of people who you’ll be seeing again in the future. Its the same with everything you do in life – go in and be yourself, be open and collaborative!“

And with that… it’s almost time… Catch Hammer as our second guest headliners at the Metal 2 The Masses: Scotland Grand Final on April 26th, at The Hive in Edinburgh, featuring Catalysis, A Dose Of Death, Catalyst Symphony, Dreich, Nothing Speaks, Those Made Broken, and Trowsholm.

Tickets are still available here: https://www.eventim-light.com/uk/a/64e4bd9fe21f656bd75a0c93/e/675590212febfa79283b142e