Glastonbury According To The Stars

From any festival-goers perspective the three to five days spent on Worthy Farm, Pilton during the last weekend of June is sheer seventh heaven - comparable to none. A unique atmosphere, a seemingly boundless choice of top bands, crazy people, weird hallucinogenics, hedonism, mud, chemicals, hot cider, wellies, herbal highs, randoms, 24 hour binges… really, we could go on. Well that’s Glastonbury according to us, but what do the stars make of it?

Gigwise duly caught up with some of the bands backstage to get their verdict - including Athlete, The Departure, Maximo Park, The Longcut, Morning Runner and The Deadbeats…

Gigwise: So what’s so ace about Glastonbury, then?
Stuart Ogilvie (vocals/drums The Longcut): “The best thing is you can take your own stuff onto the site and they don’t search your bags for drugs or anything, you can also have fires and stuff.”
Stephen Roberts (drums, Athlete): “It’s just unique compared to any other festival. It’s just got its own vibe, everyone’s doing their own thing, you know, you can go anywhere and stumble over a trapeze act at 5 am. There’s just something different at every corner of the site.”
Paul Smith (vocals, Maximo Park): “It’s bizarre there’s just a different mentality to other festivals.”
Fields (guitar, Morning Runner): “It’s all singing, all dancing, it’s not just music here. It’s incredible and unbelievably massive, it’s the whole atmosphere and everything.” (Calm down son!)

Gigwise: What’s it like to step up on the Glasto stage in front of a sea of people, did you shit yourself?
Paul, Maximo Park: “It’s an amazing experience, when you look out and see that amount of people who’ve come to listen to you, it’s brilliant.
Fields, Morning Runner: “It was incredible, a real honour to play there also to see a good amount of people in the tent and people getting into it. We’d never played at a festival before and never experienced that kind of atmosphere. It was all a bit of a blur, really.” 
Ali (drums, Morning Runner): There was nerves there, but it’s hard to be too nervous when there’s that many people there and you’re taken a-back.
Joe Dudderidge (keyboards, The Deadbeats): “It just feels like we’ve just opened all our presents on Christmas day. We have a lot to thank Glastonbury and Michael Eavis for. We’re just a bunch of guys who formed a band for a laugh and we’re here and it’s the most surreal thing in the world. It’s crazy!”

Gigwise: What’s better, playing here or your own shows?
Tim (keyboards, Athlete): “It’s so different at fests, there’s people who’ve come to see you, other who are just hanging around and those who are walking past, so like it’s completely different but just as exciting for those reasons.”
Paul, Maximo: “It’s on a par really. Here people have come from all round the country and they’re all there to see you. There’s loads of people eager to see the band, so it’s very gratifying.”
Luke Daniel (guitars The Deadbeats): “Festival crowds are a lot more open to new stuff. They don’t have to be told it’s cool to enjoy it.”

Gigwise: How are you coping with the mud?
Sam Harvey (guitars The Departure): “It’s been alright, I brought some wellies so I’m coping.”
Paul, Maximo: “It’s doo-able in wellies. If I hadn’t of brought them I’d probably be crying into a puddle of water somewhere!”
Stephen, Athlete: “As long as you’ve got wellies you’re alright. It’s just a shame not being able to sit down. Sitting in the sun having a beer would but great, but it’s alright.”
Joe, Deadbeats: “Now it’s muddy, there’s loads of people literally looking for dryness and good music. So they just mince about and catch something, y’know. There were loads of people there (The Acoustic Tent) just because it was the nearest dry place and now we get to play to them.”
Lee Gale (guitars The Longcut): “I think we’d all be really disappointed if there wasn’t some level of mud.”
Ali, Morning Runner: “It’s good, all the mud it makes everyone chill out and losen up. No one can look cool anymore and wear the cool shoes, everyone’s in wellies or wearing mud.”
Stuart, Longcut: “It’s quite fun though, when you walk through mud with your wellies on you just think you’re invincible.”

Gigwise: Isn’t being caked up to your knees in shite all day, getting you down a bit?
Fields, Morning Runner: “Do you know what, I’m not really liking it, why can’t we have a balmy summer day? It’s cool though, Glastonbury always copes with the weather.”
Stuart, Longcut: “I want to go up to the Green Fields and have an explore, but with the mud you can walk for an hour and just get sick of it, you can’t be arsed.”

Gigwise: Where are you going to be on the bill come 2007, headlining The Pyramid Stage?
Sam, Departure “If we aren’t further up the bill, we’ve obviously done something wrong! Yeah, it would just be great to go further up the bill.”
Ali, Morning Runner: “Yeah, we’ll be at the top! No, I’d be happy to be on a bigger stage.”
Fields, Morning Runner:  “It would be good to progress in kind of a gradual style and when you play festivals people just want to come and see you. Our debut album is out next year, so they can come along and say I’ve got that record.”
Tim, Athlete: “As a band you’re always trying to better yourselves and make better records each time. If we come back in two year’s time and play on another stage, yeah that would be great.”