EMQs With Spriggan Mist
EMQs With Spriggan Mist
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with UK Folk Rock band, Spriggan Mist. Huge thanks to their Bass player, Baz Cilia, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Baz Cilia , I play Bass and do some vocals . the band was formed in 2009 by my wife, Maxine Cilia and I to get into some small Pagan festivals free. We cut our teeth in the pagan folk scene and slowly but surely developed and morphed into a rock band with folky elements. A cheeky application to HRH prog XI at the o2 in Sheffield In 2022 and several bands pulling out and bumping us up the bill in those fragile tentative post-covid years saw us perform to a large audience . Our rather unconventional appearance and quirky Spriggery Proggery caught the attention of the audience and from then on, we’ve been adopted by the UK Prog scene playing at festivals such as Nene Valley Rock Festival Weyfest Cambridge Rock Festival Darwen Live .
How did you come up with your band name?
Spriggan’s are mythical creatures kind of like Well’ard faeries that protect sacred site and standing stones. Disrespect a sacred site and they play lkittle tricks on you like tie your shoelaces , trip you up . Really annoy them and they’ll conjure a mist and lose you forever , hence Spriggan Mist.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
Bracknell Berks, it was great until they shut down our local Live venue The Couch, but Reading is just up the road . To be honest we rarely play in our area . Our Uk tour is taking us Kidderminster, Carlisle , Bridgend Wales, Sheffield, Glasgow, Great Yarmouth, Camden, Southampton, Coventry, then Reading.
What is your latest release?
The Glare album comes out 2nd November but we have released Ianatores Teresteres from that album as a single on 1st October.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Personally? I’m a Marillion fan and love a bit of Maiden, love Steve Harris and the rest of the band have very different influences.
What first got you into music?
Always loved music, older brother I suppose but my wife actually taught me my first bass line after my kickboxing competition career ended. Music became a surrogate martial art while bringing up kids, day job is a full time martial arts instructor now.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Tobias Forge from Ghost… Huge Ghost fan. The versatility and they appeal across genres is incredible.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Well, there is talks of us playing Glasto in 2027 so that’s a bucket list tick off hopefully. Would love to do Cruise To The Edge, basically a Prog festival on a cruise liner.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Fay, our lead singer… She has been a gift that keeps on giving.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Buy tickets in advance, at grassroots level. Venues are getting jumpy.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Neil Peart… What a drummer.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Enjoying – playing in new places all over the land and hopefully beyond…
Hates – filling in pre-interview questionaires hahahahahah!
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Crap returns from streaming.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
“Misplaced Childhood” – Marillion.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs or Downloads?
Depends on what machine you want to play it, cassettes don’t fit in a CD player!
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
HRH 02 Sheffield 2002 – it sparked off the band.
Nene Valley Rock festival 2025 -we filled our stage big time.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
When I’m not wielding an instrument I teach people to punch and kick
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
The band and soundy… getting us all in the same room is like really difficult.
What’s next for the band?
UK tour… Maybe Europe?
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
https://www.facebook.com/www.sprigganmist.co.uk/?locale=en_GB
https://sprigganmist.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMzWEQfbeAbqHlcloLXWt9Q
There’s a long-standing food-based debate here in the UK. And we’d like your help. So… A Jaffa cake – is it a cake or a biscuit? Discuss!
Cake… When it goes stale it goes hard so that makes it cake, biscuits go soft when stale… like duh!
Thank you for your time.