Electronic rock group Blood Sugar have taken some time out of their busy schedule to come and talk to us about their debut album “Lights” which was released last month. The five piece group from Manchester scored a UK top 10 single with their song of the same name a week before their album also reached the top 10. Their new single Utopia is released next month and the group are beginning their UK tour in Manchester on the 15 August. The band consists of frontman and vocalist Daniel Smith, lead guitarist and brother of Daniel, Harry Smith, drummer George Fenton, bassist David Ford and Robert Gleave is in charge of the mixing. Today Daniel and Robert have come in and we asked them some questions about their career.

1. Q: What has been the best part of your career so far?

A: Daniel: Probably just being where we are now, top 10 single and album, sold out UK tour etc. We’re not bothered about mainstream success but it’s nice to be recognized, we’ve been working for years releasing countless EP’s and shit songs and it’s finally starting to pay off. We’re making a name for ourselves now and hopefully in years to come we can become even bigger, play arenas and be up there with some of the biggest groups in the world.

Robert: Plus we’ve had loads of birds since we got big, can’t complain.

2. Who are your biggest influences?

A: Daniel: Well we’re into different things really; we’re an electronic rock band so our influences come from different genres. With me being the vocalist I’m more influenced by artists like Foo Fighters, Oasis, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Blur, The Prodigy and more. All have singers with powerful, distinctive voices, I’ve grown up listening to those bands and they’ve really influenced my work.

Robert: I’m more into electronic style music, doing the mixing and all. Pendulum, Chase ‘n Status, Example, Nero etc. They’ve all had some influence in my work, obviously the groups Daniel mentioned have influenced me too but with doing mixing, most of it comes from electronic artists.

3. What’s the best part about touring?

A: Daniel: Probably all the shit we get up to be honest, we have some long journeys so we need things to keep us entertained, we always think of some nonsense things to do on the tour bus and the banter is honestly one of the best things. There’s nothing quite like actually playing a show though, hundreds and thousands of people bouncing up and down to your music, quality.

Robert: Yeah we love a good bit of banter, playing FIFA on the tour bus or whatever it is we get up to, it’s all fun but nothing compares to the live shows, they’re amazing. I like after the shows too when we go out and get bladdered.

4. What do you do when you have time off?

Daniel: We’re quite big film fanatics so we spend a fair bit of time in the cinema. It’s not often we get time off at the moment so we like to make the most of it but sometimes I just want to sit back and relax with a brew but I find that I waste too much free time doing that. In the evening sometimes we’ll go to a restaurant for food and alcohol and then we’ll go to a club or something.

Robert: I go to the gym quite a lot and if I have free time I’ll spend a bit longer than usual there or go for a long jog, like Daniel said though we go to the cinema quite a lot.

5. Which city are you most looking forward to playing on your UK tour?

Daniel: Probably Manchester, it’s our home city and we’ve played lots of gigs there in smaller venues, we’re playing the Apollo on our upcoming tour which is the biggest we’ll have played and it should be a lot of fun, hopefully we’ll play the MEN one day. Also Birmingham and Newcastle always provide a pretty crazy atmosphere.

Robert: Yeah they’re a crazy lot in Manchester but honestly everywhere in the UK provides a cracking atmosphere. We’re playing ten different cities so who knows, we may have a new favourite by the end of it all.

6. Are you playing anywhere outside of the UK?

Daniel: We’re actually supporting Pendulum for two shows in Australia which should be fun, also we’re playing a gig in a few cities in Europe; Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Holland and Belgium are all going to be entertained. It will be the first time we’ve played outside of the UK when we’re not the support so it should be fun and a good chance to expand our fan base.

Robert: Yeah, I hear European gigs are mental, and like Dan said it’s our first time outside of the UK not as a support so it should be good. Also supporting Pendulum should be great, they’re one of my favourite bands so I’m looking forward to it.

7. What’s the best gig you’ve been to?

Daniel: I saw the Foo Fighters in 2005 which was absolutely epic, probably the best I’ve been to but I’ve been to quite a lot of gigs so it’s hard, seen the Prodigy twice which was mental as well.

Robert: I’ve seen the Prodigy a few times too and they really were great. I saw Chase ‘n Status last year and that was brilliant, they’re crazy live. Calvin Harris as well, they’re all up

there so it’s difficult to choose. I’ve never actually been to a Pendulum gig though so that’s something I’m gonna have to do before I die.

8. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?

Daniel: Given that we’re a five piece group, we don’t tend to collaborate with people as a group but I have as a singer collaborated with Knife Party, DJ Fresh and Deadmau5 who are all great but I’d really like to collaborate with a band at some point. A collab with someone like Calvin Harris would be great as well.

Robert: Being a DJ I usually collaborate with vocalists but I haven’t really done for a while. I have also collaborated with Knife Party which was great because it’s two guys from Pendulum. I’d love to collaborate with someone like Example, Professor Green or Plan B.

Well it really was a pleasure to meet Daniel and Robert, it’s a shame the other band members couldn’t come in but I’m sure they’d of been equally as nice as them two. Very down to earth lads they are, they’ve put so much hard work in and they’re finally starting to reap the benefits. I see a big future for these lads; keep a look out for them. I’ll definitely be going to one of their shows in the near future!