Author Ellie McGee

Once described (not inaccurately) as “strangely akin to a whack on the head”, I’m basically a cider-fuelled hobbit crossed with a glittery retrogoth Care Bear. Raised on an eclectic mix of English and Irish folk, Enya, The Beatles and a lot of old-school reggae; rock and metal happened to me in 1998, in the form of three life-changing albums: Mechanical Animals, Without You I’m Nothing, and Cruelty and the Beast. From there I ended up knocking around the Midlands unsigned scene, before getting talked into my first Download in 2006. The festival habit stuck, and over the course of more drunken weekends than I care to (or can) remember, I discovered the joys of folk, black, post, industrial and weird/niche metal in general (I blame Damnation for that last one). With the notable exceptions of Metallica and a bit of Maiden, I mostly bypassed the more mainstream metal bands, but I can talk your ear off about the likes of Alcest, Godflesh, Darkthrone, Satyricon, Orphaned Land, Årabrot, The Kovenant, amongst others. Non-metal favourites include Nouvelle Vague, Hatari, The Andrews Sisters and Janelle Monáe, so there’s a bit of pretty much everything lurking on my Spotify. Did a lot of press in a previous life, the pinnacle of which was watching Twisted Sister at Bloodstock with the slightly less wasted half of Korpiklaani. At a gig, can usually be found at the bar, making new friends in the ladies and/or smoking area, or getting a better view than you on the disabled platform.