This is the blog that celebrates the fact that if you’re good at playing instruments, then people throw clothes at you in the hope that you’ll wear it in NME, and Topshop will buy the collection after seeing it.

“Drunk wizard metal” band Invasion are great. Vice staffer Ben UFO designs their record sleeves and merch, and their videos rule. We had a chat to their guitarist, Marek, about his clothes.

Vice: Who would you say influences the way you dress?
Marek Steven: Pretty much everything about me was formed by taking acid when I was seventeen and listening to rock and metal. Most of the music that works when you’re on acid is from the seventies so I’m into the seventies a lot. Cliff Burton is my main influence, wearing flares in the eighties when no one else was. Everyone would give him shit, it wasn’t even in anyway cool, no one else did it because it had just gone out of fashion, but he didn’t care – it was what he wanted to do and what he was into.

Tell me about your dream catcher.
I think I got it in Brighton; the feathers have come off it now. I don’t really like wearing necklaces very much, but I feel pretty okay going around wearing this. I guess it just goes with the whole wizardy/seventies thing that I’ve always been into.

What bands, if any, influence your style?
Most of the good bands from the early seventies; a lot of the seventies stuff is probably okay to wear again now… maybe not the big collars. Black Sabbath and Zeppelin, as well as Cliff Burton. Increasingly, the more you look at those photos now, it looks cooler and cooler.

What’s the weirdest or best thing you’ve ever been given?
This pretty insane Baphomet towel set; my girlfriend got them on eBay or something. I guess there’s not much demand for them. It’s pretty funny putting the towels out in the bathroom when the bands playing Skill Wizard stay here.

Making them feel at home. What’s your favourite stage outfit?
Our singer wears a wizardy thing and our drummer tends to take her top off so I’m pretty much the straight one. I wear a good t-shirt normally. I used to wear wizardy cloaks sometimes, when we were starting out. Smoke machines and wizard outfits are pretty funny.

Where did the whole wizard influence come from?
I’ve been reading Lord of the Rings since I was twelve and I think Gandalf is one of the best characters in fiction ever. Every wizard after that is based on him. He’s got a good look with the cloak, the pentagram, the beard and magic, and he’s kind of grumpy. He’s a good role model for the older man; what’s cooler than being a wizard? Several of Led Zeppelin songs were about Lord of the Rings, and Black Sabbath had the wizard, which was about Gandolf. They sing about fantasy in a non-ironic way, ‘cos it fits really well with escapism and the power.

Where do you get most of your clothes from?
Generally, I only wear vintage metal t-shirts, which are hard to find. I hate eBay so I don’t even bother, so I just cycle between my Sleep, Iron Maiden, Zeppelin and Metallica tees. Getting the flares is more difficult, but girls’ ones work. Wrangler do some good stuff. Car boot sales are really good for denim jackets and jumpers.

How would you describe your look in three words?
Heavy metal wizard.

What’s been your biggest fashion mistake?
Probably just not wearing what I’m into. You have to go with trends a bit and you end up wearing stuff that you’re not really into. That’s why Cliff Burton’s such a good role model, even though everyone took the piss out of him, he didn’t care ‘cos he knew what he was into. I think we’d all like to think we’re like that.