Hailing from Southampton, this four-piece indie band have an impressively busy summer of festivals ahead of them, performing at 10 over the season. Their eclectic music taste – from classical music study to folk music, hip hop and indie 80s rock – is what gives them such a distinctive sound. Ahead of their Bestival appearance in September, I talked to them about dream venues, festival season, and just how fantastic Southampton is.
What’s your favourite city to play?
We always love playing hometown shows in Southampton, it’s where we all developed musically. We all played our first shows in Southampton, and there will always be something special about performing in the place that means so much to us.
What would be your dream festival/venue to play?
We would love to do a show at Madison Square Garden one day. Would be a pretty crazy achievement, it’s definitely one that’s high up on the bucket list. Closer to home, I think Brixton Academy is one of those venues that seems to hold a kind of cultural significance in a band’s ‘journey’.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
It would most definitely be Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). We’re all hugely influenced by his music, and he’s such a creative powerhouse. It would be incredible to work alongside him, just to see his creativity in action.
What’s your favourite thing about festival season?
The endless amounts of different street food available. Every festival has something new to try, it’s great. It’s also nice to be able to play in front of so many new faces and get the chance to hang out and meet people. Festivals have such a wonderful sense of community, and it’s always great to be a part of them.
How differently do you see gigs and festivals and prepare for those?
One thing we’ve found is that, when putting our festival setlist together, we tend to think of the set that is going to have the biggest impact, as generally there is a much wider audience range, and most of the time there are bound to be people there who haven’t heard you before. In a gig setting, most people there have come to watch the set, so you can view it in a slightly different light. There is also the fact that you don’t get a soundcheck at festivals, and you have to be fully prepared to rock up and rock out from the word go.
What’s your most extravagant rider request?
We’re all a bit boring in terms of riders, to be fair. As long as we have water we’re all happy. Half of us are vegans, so we do always enjoy some hummus (we fit the stereotype very well).
Check out ‘Physics’ below.
