Ahead of the Mucky Weekender Festival which takes place over the weekend of 9/10th September, we caught up with Dave & Tim from DOGHOUSE DERELICTS and chatted about mushroom related alien encounters, songwriting and wing-walking. For all of this and more, read on….

Gentlemen, you’re playing at Mucky Weekender in September, I’m guessing that Barry Ashworth may have been involved in booking you?

Dave: yes he was, for which we are very grateful. 

Tim: Barry remains a great friend and ally of the band - indeed I’m still doing brass arrangements and other studio based stuff for ongoing Dub Pistols output. He’s always happy to help us out.

Do you know yet which stage, time and day you’re playing?

I believe it’s Saturday afternoon sometime, on the main stage... 

What is the STRANGEST/FUNNIEST/WEIRDEST thing you have ever seen at a music festival?

Tim: Being a veteran of festivals from the early 80s when I started going to Stonehenge every year for the month of June, until now, I’ve got a load of memories to sift through...I guess the weirdest would be

when I ate 150 mushrooms, sat hysterically laughing for a couple of hours and then time stopped, an alien entered the tent I was in and implanted something in my jaw, left and then time started again. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it...

Tell me how Doghouse Derelicts formed

Tim: After I moved up to Leeds from London and Dave also moved back up this way, as the northern-dwelling contingent of the band we were driving to all the gigs together and it only seemed natural that we start some sort of musical venture together. And this is that!

Dave : We’ve been writing together as Doghouse Derelicts for sometime now but the actual functioning band was formed 4 years ago, 2 years of which were somewhat scuppered by you know what…..

I’ll admit that this is the first time I’ve ever seen Dave with a guitar around his neck, how does it feel to not be playing bass for a change?

Dave : It’s fine, I’m not fussed either way TBH

You’ve already played some great festivals this year including BeatHerder, how was that? And which others are in the pipeline?

Dave: We have one, that’s gonna be epic, which for some reason none of the artists are allowed to announce just yet - but it’s in Winchester next weekend if you want a clue. We’re playing Methley Fields festival which raises money for the Give a Duck Foundation that cares for children with cancer. Then we have Camp Bestival in Shropshire. And of course, Mucky Weekender in September 

Tim: Beatherder was great, we feel like part of the family there and a good time is always guaranteed! Such a great festival.

Are you both playing a more active role in song writing since forming the new band? If so, how have you found it?

Tim: I’ve always been fairly prolifically involved in songwriting, whether it be with my own projects over the years or co-writing with various artists such as the Prodigy, Groove Armada, Ian Brown etc. - and I’ve also co-written a fair few Dub Pistols tunes over the years, so it’s just business as usual for me. 

Dave: Tim and myself do all the writing, It’s not really anything new to us. I do find writing with Tim an absolute joy as there seems to be a certain level of intuition at play that’s really hard to find with other songwriters. 

Dave, tell me more about your wing-walking escapades where you raised money for the mental health charity TONIC….

Yeah, it’s been fantastic to be involved in such a great charity. We just completed the last one in July and we raised around £20,000. This year myself and my brother in law Chris Johnson performed a duel display with loops and all that carry on which was great fun!! 

Finally, music festivals can be ‘mucky’ affairs, please tell me your top 3 festival survival tips

Tim:

1. Either sort out somewhere to kip or enough “stimulation” to keep you going regardless.

2. Eat something at some point.

3. Be nice, look out for other people.

Dave:

1. Make sure you know what you’re taking. 

2. Drink plenty of water (you’ll last longer). 

3. Bananas for breakfast to get those serotonin levels back up. 

Catch Doghouse Derelicts at Mucky Weekender on Saturday 10th September - festival tickets are available HERE

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