Blood Gutter are one of Brighton Hardcore & the BN1 Collective’s staples in the scene and have been for quite some time.

They have played with some of the UK’s iconic hardcore bands over the last couple of years including the likes of Prowler, Bulldoze & lastly Your Demise.

A while back I spoke with Blood Gutter frontman Baxter. Where we spoke about how we both grew up in and around the same area of Hertfordshire.

How going to London shows and Rucktion Records played a major part in his introduction to the hardcore community.

We also spoke about how his move to Brighton created Blood Gutter and later on, how he was an instrumental part in the formation of the now known BN1 Collective.

So without further ado, please go on ahead and read what Baxter has to say!

FIRST OF ALL WHERE ARE YOU GUYS BASED & HOW DID YOU ALL MEET?

At the moment all the members are based in either Brighton or Worthing.

Blood Gutter started in 2017 when I moved to Brighton. I had some riffs from an old powerviolence band that I was in but I wanted to do something more metally so I modulated a couple of those riffs and wrote the songs that would eventually become the EP around them.

I’ve been trying to be in a band since I was like 15 without much success. I had also just lost a loved one and needed to do something to occupy my time and create something to capture and catharsise the feelings I was having.

Once I had some songs together I started trying to get people involved using Facebook forums and stuff like that, but as it turned out most of the members that wound up being in the band were from local shows.

Luke reached out to me on Facebook but it turned out I met him at a Cowley Club show, and Curtis offered me a lift back from London one time and I kind of shanghai’d him into the band from there.

James and Josh responded to messages on Facebook and we came together and started practising in late 2021.

We played our first show at the Cowley Club in 2022, which Oscar from Burning Water put on, and later that year The Coming Strife approached us to put out a song on a compilation of UKHC bands.

WHAT WAS THE SCENE LIKE WHERE YOU WERE GROWING UP IN HERTFORDSHIRE & HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN IT?

The hardcore scene where I grew up wasn’t super cohesive. A fair few bands were coming out of the areas nearby, there was all the St Albans HC bands like Your Demise, Run, Bound For War, Enter Shikari etc. and Hemel/Watford had bands like Lower Than Atlantis, Gallows & Blackhole but only one promoter in Hemel was really consistently putting them on.

Up until I was about 16 I was pretty much straight into metal, I’d seen a few bands that were hardcore adjacent like viatrophy, but still very much looked at it through a metal lense, but I saw Your Demise in Hemel in like early ’08 and got hooked in.

Then bands like BWP, TRC, Get Fucking Dead and Pay No Respect started coming through. I remember the first time I saw TRC and Sam kicked me in the chest so hard I turned green, and shortly after my friends band Grindhouse supported Knuckledust in Watford and I started getting into London bands, then I started travelling further afield for shows in London.

I look back at that whole section in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s as a bit weird, because while lots of people were turning out to certain shows, there was a lot of very elitist attitudes which surrounded a few of the very popular bands and meant that feeling part of the scene wasn’t really very accessible to me and my friends and a lot of others.

A lot of them stopped going by the time it hit around 2009 and 2010 because they were just tired of how they were being treated. But my friend Tobi and I kept going to all of these shows all over the country and basically stuck around like a bad smell until people kind of had to accept we weren’t going anywhere.

Special mention to Ajay for always making me feel welcome when I would rock up at shows alone during this time, stuff like that helped a lot in seeing the wood from the trees and stick around despite the dickheads.

Not too many people and bands from that era specifically are still around, but a lot of the people who are from the times before then are now still involved in the same bands and putting on shows and making new music.

Seeing the staying power of these people had a big influence on the kind of attitudes and behaviours I associate with being part of this community.

I also went to a lot of shows in Southampton which were put on by Jonny Pipes and UYC, some shows in Essex too done by EBD, and these times introduced me to people who are still my friends in this community, and really introduced a sense of belonging and acceptance that I hadn’t really felt up until these points. 

LBU also put on shows pretty much whole time the time I was going. 50 Caliber and Prowler played a show in Watford that I went to quite early on, and I caught the last few 12bar shows before they move to The Unicorn.

As well as that, Nat, May, Mog and Martine put on shows in London that I attended which showcased a lot of Rucktion bands alongside overseas bands, and later this was carried on by Ready Eye Collective.

These shows were also very instrumental in me feeling welcome and included in this community and probably had the largest influence on the music that I would go on to want to make in the end.

Rucktion has a very distinct musical style that I haven’t really encountered anywhere else and a specific mentality that goes with it. I try to carry that through in the music I write.

I moved to Brighton in 2017 and I put on a few house shows with astral noize, Then lockdown happened and after that Connor and I started BN1 collective with Joey and Tillson, and Oscar started putting on shows too, Brighton Hardcore started popping off and here we are now.

THIS MIGHT SOUND LIKE A DUMBASS QUESTION BUT HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME BLOOD GUTTER?

We were actually originally going to be called ‘Marked For Death’ but a couple of my mates were forming a band called that so I decided on Blood Gutter as a follow-up because it sounded hard basically.

The blood gutter is a colloquial term for the fuller groove in a blade and at the time I thought it was for blood to run out of when a blade is put into flesh so the blade doesn’t stick in the wound, but as it turns out that’s not true.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO SOMEBODY WHO HASN’T HEARD YOU BEFORE?

Prowler playing Lamb of God tunes.

WHAT HAS BEEN SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU’VE BEEN FACED WITH?

Lineup changes, really. We got a few shows out in 2022 and then our drummer at the time James went travelling for about half a year and came back with plans to move to Scotland so we had to find a new drummer.

Jordan was in a few other local bands at the time like Ikhras and Burn it All, so he stepped up to fill in for a while, eventually joining full time to play on the EP and subsequent shows, which brings us up to the last few months where we’ve run into some further lineup changes.

We’re currently getting the new lineup prepared to start gigging again this year to come back with some new music, but as a band, there have been a few things we’ve missed out on because of our periods of inactivity.

WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR ALL TIME FAVOURITE ARTISTS?

Prowler, Lamb of God, Your Demise, Below, Brutality Will Prevail, Hang The Bastard, Viatrophy, Cold Hard Truth, The Black Dahlia Murder, all of these bands had huge impacts on the writing of Blood Gutter.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SHOWS YOU’VE REALLY ENJOYED BEING A PART OF & DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE VENUE YOU’D LOVE TO PLAY?

Playing with Prowler was probably the biggest one so far, which happened earlier this year in Brighton.

We also got to support Bulldoze in Sheffield which was one of my favourite shows to date.

Lastly, we got to support Your Demise in Brighton this year which was a bit of a full circle moment for me as they were the band that got me into this. 

I came up going to shows at The Underworld in Camden, I’d really like to play there one day. More locally though, The Prince Albert in Brighton is probably my favourite local venue as far as the space itself, and I’d really like to play a show there sometime too.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM TOUR TO GET BLOOD GUTTER ON?  

Honestly, it’s less about the bands that we would play with and more about the people who are on it.

Things like tours are only really fun when you’re spending time with people that you enjoy the company of so more than specific bands, I’d want a tour where there would be mates along.

I think it’d be really nice for a lot of the local talent in Brighton to come together and do a tour that takes the bands that have been bubbling here for a few years around the UK and Europe to show our style to new audiences.

Bands like Bodybag, No Relief, Tempers Fray, Outlive, Imposter, Exhume, Plastics and many others would all be fun touring parties.

WHAT HAS BEEN SOME OF THE CRAZIEST EXPERIENCES YOU’VE HAD TOGETHER OVER THE YEARS?

Playing some of the shows. We were lucky enough to get to play in Germany and around Europe which was pretty surreal, seeing rooms full of people who are from other countries dance to our music doesn’t really get old, particularly in Ghent and Gortliz.

Also going to festivals I have gone to since I was younger like Leperfest and seeing people in our merch is pretty wild. We are lucky that nothing truly crazy has happened to us yet, the band is still pretty young though so there is time.

HOW HAVE YOU FOUND THE SCENE CHANGE IN RECENT YEARS?

The scene has gotten a lot more accessible. In a lot of ways this is good, there are more people attending shows now of different backgrounds and identities than I’ve seen before and overall it feels a lot more inclusive.

This can only be a positive thing.

In some ways though, I have noticed some negative aspects in that there is more of a hesitance for people to stand up and protect values that are held within their community.

There’s a lot of focus on online discourse surrounding how issues are dealt with rather than direct action or face to face dialogue, and when I first started going to shows if someone acted in a way that was not welcome, it would be dealt with in a fairly swift and unequivocal way. That made it clear that person wasn’t welcome.

I put this down to some of the people who were involved in bands and putting on shows at the time I was coming up, but these days I see a lot more of people trying to be friends with everybody and not speaking up or being critical and standing on their beliefs where it is most difficult and needed, and this ultimately allows dangerous people to move in communities that they shouldn’t have access to without fear of consequence.

I don’t rate that.

I’ve also become aware of the cylcical nature of people coming together and falling apart and in a lot of ways, this is just a natural part of being in a community with lots of people in it.

Not everyone is always going to get along, but I do firmly believe that people who are in an organisational capacity working together creates a more cohesive and positive experience for everybody, bands, attendees and promoters alike.

I’ve seen firsthand the ways that people letting their personal differences get in the way of how shows and communities are organised can be detrimental and I’d like to see more of people coming together and working together rather than defining themselves in opposition to each other.

Ultimately nobody is going to look back and remember all of the social dramas that led to people not working together. They’re just going to look back and recognise the missed opportunities of bands that could have worked together and shows that could have happened.

Overall, more UK bands are getting more recognition than ever before. Bands like Malevolence, Higher Power, High Vis, Desolated and Basement are getting to sell out big stages all over the world, and this redefines what is possible for UK bands.

When I was younger, seeing Brutality Will Prevail play the middle of the day at Leperfest felt utterly massive, so seeing how far it has come is inspiring, and regardless of the negatives that come with increased exposure on the hardcore scene, the positives and opportunities they bring ultimately outweigh them.

A lot of people like to complain, but if that energy went into booking shows they want to see it would be a better use of their time in my opinion.

WHO HAS BEEN SOME OF THE LARGEST INFLUENCES IN YOUR SOUND?

Rucktion bands. Particularly bands like 50 Caliber, Bun Dem Out, Prowler & Knuckledust this is the music that I really identify as UKHC.

Special mention to bands like Your Demise, Below & Viatrophy, they were major influences on below no one.

Also Lamb of God‘s first album was a huge influence on our sound. The newer stuff has a few more elements of bands like Raiden, Cold Hard Truth and some Melodeath bits, similar to BDM and Elysia in there too.

WE CAN’T ALL BE MUSICIANS 24/7 SO WHAT JOBS/CAREERS DO YOU GUYS HAVE? 

I work in a form of software support, Josh sells carpets, Harry is a Chef, Curtis is a Sparky and Raakin works in sustainable energy.

HAVE YOU GOT ANY HOBBIES/INTERESTS THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE PEOPLE?

Warhammer and Muay Thai is where most of my time outside of playing shows goes.

YOU RELEASED YOUR EP ‘BELOW NO ONE’ LAST YEAR. WHAT WERE YOUR INFLUENCES FOR THESE TRACKS AND HOW HAPPY WERE YOU WITH HOW THEY CAME OUT?

I’m really happy with how it came out to be honest, I had very high standards for it and it lived up to all of these. This is largely thanks to Charlie at Monolith Studios who recorded and mastered it.

Special mention has to go out to our old guitarist Luke who worked endlessly on pre-prod to get it to a stage where we were able to walk into the studio and bang out as easily as we did.

Special thanks also go to Oli, Rhi and Gunther from The Coming Strife, a lot of opportunities we have had would not have come through without them. Also, as well as the other influences listed earlier, Splitknuckle releasing innocence bleeds was what finally put a battery in me and made me start writing, hearing people I know make the kind of music I wanted to hear made me realise I could do it too, and the day I heard Lingchi I wrote my first ever song, which eventually became Welcome The Rope.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE FROM YOU GUYS HEADING INTO 2026?

For 2026 you can expect new music, more shows in places we haven’t been before and new levels of shit being chatted by me.

There are a couple happening this year, but they may already have happened by the time this interview is released.

Most importantly to me, we are playing Josh Fest in Reading on the 29th of November, which is a memorial show for Josh Clapham, who was a promoter and musician in the area.

This band is very much inspired by the feelings of loss of loved ones. So to be able to play an event that celebrates the life of someone that many of us have loved and lost means a lot.

FINALLY, HAVE YOU GOT ANY OTHER ARTISTS/FRIENDS YOU THINK THE PEOPLE SHOULD CHECK OUT?

I want to shout out Dimi from stray4life for all he’s doing to get young people to come to shows, same goes to Joey and Laurence doing presented by LBU, Lou running Betrayed by Life in Southampton, Joe and all the guys running SWC in wales, Val from MCHC in Manchester, Dojo Dan in Nottingham, Vae Victus in Kent, Broken Remains and Cut & Run Collective in London, Less Than Zero in Essex.

All of these people and many more are working to bring young people into the community, which is really the most important thing. Most importantly any of the bands that are coming through at the moment is the work that these groups are doing, much respect to them.

Make sure you check out Blood Gutter on Instagram (@bloodgutterbn1) and keep your eyes peeled for new upcoming shows and news.

If you liked what you’ve read make sure you also give Blood Gutter a listen via the link below and support them whether that’s at shows, buying merch or recommending them to your friends!

Huge shoutout to Baxter for taking the time to chat with me for this interview!

Until next time I’ll catch you in the pit!

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