From support band to bona fide headliners in their own right, it has been a pleasure to watch Manchester’s Guilt Trip grow as a band. After touring with heavyweight’s Malevolence and Landmvrks, the band will embark on a headline run later this year (with several of the venues being upgraded). Rewind to June of this year and we spoke to guitarist Jak Maden and drummer Liam McCarry just after their triumphant set at this year’s Download festival. Here’s what they had to say:

Last time I spoke to you, you said playing Download was on your bucket list. How does it feel now you’ve actually played it?

Sam: It’s a dream come true, simple as that. Unbelievable. The best show we’ve ever done. A childhood dream accomplished.

Tom: It’s hard to put into words. I think it’ll take a while to sink in.

It looked like you really slayed it on stage. Was there any nervous energy involved?

Tom: In all honestly, no. I think we were ready for it this time. It was like the first time we played Bloodstock, there was nerves involved because that was the biggest festival we’ve ever done, but this time we were so ready for it. We said to each other before we went on stage; just play like it is your last ever gig, give it your best shot and do the best you can.

Sam: I did have nerves, but not to the point where I wasn’t going to play well.

How do you “come down” after such an event? Is the adrenaline still flowing?

Tom: It has been a bit of a fast paced day, so we haven’t had time to think about it. There’s still a lot to do, we want to watch Limp Bizkit and Machine Head.

Sam: It is usually the next day where you feel a bit low. The rest of the day will be exciting because there’s bands we want to see and we’ve got our friends around us. And we were starving, we haven’t ate, so getting some food…we’re excited for that!

So now you’ve attained this level of playing Download, where do you go from here?

Sam: Aim for a headline slot on a smaller stage, maybe that’s the next bucket list item.

Tom: My goal for this, if we ever play Download again, I’d love to do the second stage.

Sam: Playing the Opus stage would be great, then who knows? Maybe the Main.

Tom: Then when you’ve played the Main, you want to headline! We are just gonna keep aiming upwards, no matter what.

Sam: Maybe aim for a festival we’ve never played before, maybe Leeds and Reading.

Tom: I’d love to play Leeds. 100%.

You are kind of festival veterans now; you’ve played Slam Dunk which is more punk, Bloodstock which is metal, and now Download which is somewhere in between. How does Download rate to other events?

Sam: It is special to us. It’s sacred ground. Metal undoubtedly started in the Midlands with Sabbath. It’s the Holy Grail for us being a UK band. We’ve been coming here watching bands before we even dreamt of playing it.

You’ve been on some high profile tours recently with Malevolence and then Landmvrks. How were they as learning curves? What lessons did you take from them?

Tom: We changed quite a lot going into the Malevolence tour, stage wise they were a lot bigger venues so when we got to the Landmvrks tour we kind of knew how to deal with them and how to set up our kit on bigger stages.

Sam: We’re a more professional band now. We know how that side of the fence works now, it felt like we’d been climbing for ages just to get into the bigger venues and now we’ve done them, we know how they work and we’ve learned a lot.

When you were a younger band you were helped a lot by Malevolence. Now you are more established, how do you help the new breed?

Sam: We chat a lot to the younger bands and give them advice; Overpower are a prime example [shout out to them guys] we’re always on hand to give advice on the industry and how to navigate it. If any bands want to hit us up, we’ll always be there and that’s what bands should be doing.

The band is always on the merch table and accessible to the fans. Will you try to keep that going as the band gets bigger?

Tom: I don’t think we’ll ever change, we just feel blessed to be doing what we’re doing.

Sam: We don’t want to disrupt things too much, but we’re fans of the music so we like walking around the venue, watching bands and meeting people. A lot of the venues we play, there’s no escaping that, they don’t even have a backstage area, and you know what, that’s the best thing; it’s nice to chat with the people who’ve brought tickets.

Your latest album Severance has been out in the world for a while. Are you happy with what it’s achieved, and is there anything you’d like to go back and change?

Sam: It was perfect for what we wanted it to be.

Tom: 100%. We achieved everything we wanted to with it. Especially with the writing…we are very, very proud of it. That’s taught us a lot because at the time we thought it was the best stuff we’ve ever done, but the songs we are writing now are a step above.

You had some special guest appearances on Severance. How was it working with people like that?

Sam: Wicked. It adds a lot to it. it’s just a privilege that those bands wanted to be involved with it. It definitely helps both sides but more so us because most of those artists were bigger than us apart from Rough Justice, maybe they’re not as well known as us so it was nice to give them some exposure.

It goes back to what we saying earlier about helping the younger bands.

Tom: Maybe that’s the case, but we never though about it that way, we just wanted them on the album because we like them.

The type of crossover you play gives you a lot of freedom. Where do you envision your sound going next?

Tom: What I will say is that we’ve upped the bpm, so it’s fast, but it doesn’t change our core sound, it’s still quite groovy.

Sam: I think it’ll be the most aggressive thing we’ve ever put out.

The last 12 months have been a whirlwind. Do you plan on taking any time off?

Tom: No way, it has become almost a full-time thing now. So this our main focus. Sam works on it every day.

Sam: It has become part of our lives now. I don’t know what we’d do without it.

Finally, it’s magic wand time again. What’s your wish?

Tom: A tour with Korn!

Sam: A tour with Korn, Limp Bizkit or Machine Head.

Tom: Or maybe all three!