We chatted to SKINNY LISTER ahead of their performance at CHAGSTOCK....
When we heard that Skinny Lister were appearing at Chagstock this year, I immediately put pen to paper (okay, fingers to keyboard) and set about dropping them a line to see if they'd be up for doing an interview feature for the website.
Naturally, they jumped at the opportunity!
Read on to find out about their time at Glastonbury Festival this year, their top three tips to surviving a festival and most importantly, who they's pick as next year's headliners at Chagstock!
You're playing at CHAGSTOCK in July, which of the other acts performing are you excited about seeing?
Soul II Soul!! That’ll be great fun. ‘Back To Life’ continues to be an ear worm for me so I’ll have great fun dancing to that set! Also I’ve never seen Dr Feelgood live but really enjoyed the film 'Oil City Confidential' so I think that’ll be a great show too!
Will you be hanging around after your show or do you have other shows to get to?
I think this is one of the rare occasions where we may well be able to hang around for a bit. I’ve heard its set in a beautiful part which will be lovely!
Tell me what the fans can expect from you when you take to the stage at CHAGSTOCK this year?
We’ll be having a good time, which will hopefully show and also be infectious! We’ll be dancing, singing, drinking a fair bit, & of course sharing our flagon of booze with the audience too. Having toured the world with bands such as Frank Turner & Dropkick Murphys we’ve certainly learned a thing or two about what you can get back from a crowd if you give everything. Please feel free to sing along and have a dance. I might just jump out into the crowd to grab a waltzing partner too. One thing is for certain, we’ll give it our all and we like it when the audience gives it back too!
You played the Avalon stage at Glastonbury on Sunday evening, how was it? Which other acts did you see whilst you were there?
We had a crazy weekend! First up we flew to Hamburg for a festival called Hurricane near there. The flight was delayed though,which meant we ended up arriving on site 18 minutes before show time. Fortunately we had a lot of friends playing the festival and working backstage so they were all extremely kind and helped set up. It was crazy, especially when they sent out the police escorts to get us in! The show was fuelled with adrenaline and an amazing buzz! After that we drove 7 hours south to another festival called Southside. Played that (again a fun show) and then left to fly back to the UK. We thought that we were in such good time for our set at Glastonbury. I was relaxing eating a curry when a message came over the phone that the bass had snapped. We had 40 mins until we were due on stage this time and man, I don’t think we’ve ever been so stressed. Anyway, we managed to find a very generous guy with a double bass and the show continued! Blimey though, did we party hard after all that! Needless to say that we didn’t make it in time to see any live acts. I would have liked to see King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Major Lazer, Future Islands, Sleaford Mods & Charlie XCX though if I could have, plus friends Will Varley, Beans on Toast & Dropkick Murphys.
You're no stranger to both UK and overseas festivals, which do you prefer?
I personally joined the band to get into festivals for free and my first ever festival I ever went to is Glastonbury which means it has a special place in my heart. However, there’s a lot to be said for the smaller local festivals that are popping up all over the place. They have a chilled community vibe to them which is really really great. In terms of UK festivals vs overseas ones though I’d say, that whilst on stage we have a great time at both, I think the UK have it down when things like creativity etc are taken into account. There’s usually more to see as you wander around here.
Please tell me your top three tips to surviving a music festival.
I think there’s a difference here between survival and having a good time but I’ll try and put both in:
- Don’t try to stick to a schedule or meet up with people too hard - it’s sometimes the more unexpected bits of a festival that are the highlight.
- Take a large vessel around that you can fill up and share with friends / strangers whatever.
- Wet wipes of course!
You get some weird and wonderful food at music festivals, what's the strangest thing you've ever eaten?
That has to be in Japan at Fuji Rock Festival. None of the band could handle the dish which was apparently fermented straw. It is definitely the most discussing thing I have ever eaten and it was with great amusement that our team watched us try it. I generally eat ANYTHING so this was a real shocker!
Are you working on any new material and will you be showcasing it at Chagstock?
We are indeed working on new material. We have one song up and running that we have been playing at our shows but I’m not sure if we’ll manage to get another one going. Please don’t think that we’re slacking though. There’s always stuff going on behind the scenes!
If you could choose the two headline acts for Chagstock 2018, who would you choose and why?
I did have a particularly fun time watching The Human League at a festival. They put on a great show! But then, I’ve never seen Queen and though despite the fact that Freddie Mercury is no longer with us, Adam Lambert is supposed to do a tremendous job. I like singing rock anthems - LOUDLY!
We'd like to thank the band for taking the time to chat to us and we look forward to seeing them take to the stage at Chagstock and perform their high energy music which is guaranteed to get you up and dancing in no time!
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