HOPE & GLORY FESTIVAL is a weekend of incredible live music, art and outrageous silliness
in the heart of Liverpool. This brand new festival for Liverpool, taking place on 5 & 6 August, is set against the stunning Victorian backdrop of the World Museum, City Library and St. George’s Hall and Gardens.

Amongst the bands performing (JAMES, RAZORLIGHT, OCEAN COLOUR SCENE) is an incredible post-punk band called THE MEMBRANES. If that wasn't enough, they'll have with them a 25 piece choir to provide a spellbindingly incredible live experience.

We caught up with JOHN ROBB from the band to chat about the festival....

How does it feel to be playing the inaugural Hope & Glory Festival, in Liverpool this August? Have you been to Liverpool before? And do you have any fond memories of Liverpool? 

I live in Manchester so I go to Liverpool all the time. It’s a great city. In fact, I spent the first three months of my life there as my granny lived there at the time! The Liverpool music scene is one of the best in the world - from the Beatles to the post punk period and beyond and to the present day it’s seen a flow of idiosyncratic and thrilling bands who operate under their own rules and make great music.

The line-up for Hope & Glory is really exciting and fans are in for ‘A Festival of Anthems’. What do you think makes the perfect festival anthem? and what is your favourite? 

A festival anthem could either be a song that everyone sings along to but even better a moment when people really connect with something or discover something new for the first time. We will be playing Hope and Glory with a thirty-piece choir and trying to do something really different. We play lots of festivals and our anthem moment is getting people to connect with our music.

Are there any other bands on the bill you are hoping to see?

It’s a great bill so happy to watch everything really. Also a great location - Liverpool is one of the world’s most beautiful looking cities so it’s an incredible backdrop.

It's 50 years since the release of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s. What do The Beatles mean to you? Do they influence your music? 

The Beatles were a great band and Sgt Pepper’s still sounds fresh to this day - they are not a direct influence on us but one of the great bands from Liverpool or the UK and onwards that is part of our DNA. I still love their records as much as I love records by thousands of other great groups.

Do you have a favourite Sgt. Pepper’s track?

‘Day In the Life’ - it would have been ‘Strawberry Fields’ which was meant to have gone on the album but was pulled off for the single instead…

What are your plans for the rest of the year after you play Hope & Glory?

Non-stop festivals for us and then the whole of September we will be touring Europe with The Sisters Of Mercy playing big venues and then we record the follow up to our acclaimed Dark Matter/Dark Energy album - with our choir!

We'd like to thank John for chatting to us and wish them the very best for the show and the rest of their summer engagements.

Tickets for HOPE & GLORY FESTIVAL can be purchased HERE

http://www.themembranes.co.uk/