A Mansfield three-piece heavy rock band is making a big noise in the world of heavy metal.

Witch Tripper, who played at the last night at the Intake Club in the town before its closure in June, won a competition at the venue the previous day.

Success at the regional Metal 2 The Masses (M2TM) final, a European-wide battle of the bands-style contest involving East Midlands bands, won them a slot to play at the Bloodstock festival for a second successive year.

Bloodstock, a four-day heavy metal festival held annually at Catton Hall, Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, since 2005, is to be headlined this August by Mastodon, Slayer and Twisted Sister.
Witch Tripper is made up of Richie Barlow (vocals and guitar), Chris ‘Stoff’ Daughton (bass and backing vocals) and James ‘Jimmy’ Collins (drums).

Richie, (34), of Mansfield Woodhouse, is director and teacher at Instru-Tech Music School, Mansfield.

Stoff, (28), Huthwaite, is a buyer at Integrated Doorset Solutions, Forest Town, and Jimmy, (18), of Newton, is an engineering apprentice.

They have been together since January 2014, gigging most weekends at pubs, clubs and festivals and building up a dedicated fan base, especially in the Mansfield area.

The band, whose influences include other metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Extreme, Clutch and Orange Goblin, were formed when Stoff and Richie — old friends after Stoff previously taught at Richie’s studio — bumped into each other on a drunken night after a few years out of touch and decided to start a band.

They knew Jimmy, who was a student at Richie’s studio — although not taught by Richie — and Witch Tripper was born.

Stoff said he had been thinking of the name Witch Tripper for a few years before the band was formed. When he realised that metal band Down had written a song called Witch Tripper, they decided to take that name.

As well as building up a strong reputation as a fast-paced, hard-hitting, powerful band guaranteed to put on an energetic show featuring all their own material, Witch Tripper have enjoyed success in regional band contests.

They first entered M2TM in July last year, when it was held at the Intake for the first time.

The competition aims to find the best self-signed and unsigned rock and metal bands.

Stoff said: “We entered M2TM because we knew we would get to play with some awesome bands and meet new guys to play with.

“Never for one second did we think we would get through to the final, but the crowd and the organisers’ reactions each time was humbling and unexpected.

“We actually came second but the M2TM guys liked us so much they gave us the opportunity to rock Bloodstock.”

Witch Tripper headlined the smaller, but popular Jagermeister stage, central to the festival.
They reapplied to M2TM this year and won through the first heat and semi-final, joining other bands 28 Double, Army Of Walking Corpses, Burn Down The District, Hung Daddy and Parasight in the final at the Intake.

This time they won to gain a place at Bloodstock again, where they will play on the larger New Blood stage.

Stoff said: “We are still in awe at the response we received in getting through to the final a second time, then going on to win.

“It was so unexpected. We just wanted to play some great gigs with the cream of the local talent, so the fact that we came first and are playing Bloodstock again is such a boost to the time and effort we have put into doing something we love.”

An added bonus for the band came shortly after the final when an established musician who also appeared there asked if they would support a well-known metal frontman in his side project band for three UK dates that are soon to be announced.

Success in M2TM also meant the band, who plan to release their first album in August, played all the last three nights at the venue they called their second home.

Witch Tripper — Jimmy, Richie and Stoff — are pictured at a gig in Sheffield. To find out more about the band go to www.facebook.com/witchtripperuk