Indietracks interview #19: Haiku Salut

Interview by Sam from A Layer Of Chips.

Haiku Salut are a Derbyshire-based trio that use accordions, ukeleles, glockenspiels, pianos, loopery and laptopery to create sounds that have been likened to early múm, Detektivbyrån and the soundtrack to Amélie. Their debut album Tricolore was released earlier this year on How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, picking up glowing reviews from The Guardian, Uncut, Drowned in Sound and loads more. Sam interviewed Louise from the band ahead of their Indietracks appearance.


You've had quite an exciting year so far, haven't you? What's been the highlight?

We bloody have! We’ve done so much this year; our album release, going on tour, playing numerous weddings. Touring France was up there though, playing with Gang Clouds, a new favourite band of ours! We were constantly lavished with plentiful amounts of quiche. We did try our best at speaking conversational French to the locals, but ended up calling them an ‘old goat’ and proclaiming ‘I want to do some ironing’. I also need to mention our Derby Album Launch, which was where we premiered our lamp show – it was probably the most exciting night we’ve ever had as Haiku Salut! Oh, and lastly, being played on the radio by Jarvis Cocker!

Are you at all surprised about the reception your ace album has received?

We never imagined it would be as well received as it is - it’s a huge compliment. Our label ‘How Does it Feel to be Loved?’ has had a huge part in spreading the Haiku love. They’ve spread it over Europe and America now too! We’re glad to see it doing so well, and hope that we can match it with a second album soon.

Your stage shows are quite complex. Do they ever go horribly, horribly wrong and you end up playing each other's instruments by mistake?

Oh yes! Sometimes we’ll start a song and realise we’re all on the wrong instruments. Sometimes something will just start beeping for no reason. With so many instruments and a fairly complicated stage set-up, things are bound to go wrong, some of which we can just about get away with, others you will know about! Our set-lists often involve individual instructions for each song, e.g. SET THE LOOP! MOVE THE ACCORDION MICS! FOR GODS SAKE, DON’T FORGET TO TRANSPOSE THE KEYBOARD!

What's that weird Simon Says-alike thing you play? I'm deeply drawn to it...

You can only mean the Launch Pad! This was a fairly recent addition to Wheezy and the Gang (our family of instruments). Our music tastes were changing and electronic music was becoming more of an influence, so that’s how our sound ended up progressing in that direction. Plus, the Launch Pad looks awesome, with it’s flashing lights, oooooh!

Remember the time you played Indietracks as part of The Deirdres? I think that's my favourite ever Indietracks memory. What did you make of it?

Those were some very fun times! We have the fondest of memories of jumping and dancing around on stage like a bunch of idiots, with, if I remember correctly, pound-shop medals round our faces. Those were the days! We still enjoy performing now, just in a totally different way.

What are you looking forward to this time around?

The amazing atmosphere of Indietracks and the lovely, lovely people are what make it so special for us! It’s such a great festival to be involved with and we’re lucky to be performing in the church again… this time with our lamp show! Also looking forward to making shapes at the legendary indie-pop discos. Top bands for us this year are The Middle Ones, Lardpony and Cars Can Be Blue.

Three dream Indietracks headline acts, please.

If you could arrange for Detektivbyran to reform for one night only, that would be great, thanks. Dan Deacon, as he is epic live. Oh, and Madonna of course.

Indietracks interview #18: The Fireworks

Interview by Claire Walker. 

The Fireworks began in secret in 2011 when Matthew would sing some of his songs over the phone lines to his friends. Over time they convinced him to start a real group so everyone could hear them. Close friends Emma, Isabel, and Carys were finally drafted in and the band began in a burst of noise, snap, crackle and P!O!P!.

They immediately started playing gigs, including Indietracks, Indiepop Days Berlin and the Nottingham Indiepop Alldayer, and recorded a session for Dandelion Radio. Their recent EP was released on Shelflife earlier this year. Sadly, Carys left after the single was recorded, but the band have recently recorded a second session for Dandelion Radio with new drummer Shaun (ex-Wedding Present/ Popguns).

Could you tell us how The Fireworks began? 
The Fireworks was started by Matthew in Bristol as an on off, on off thing. In the first rehearsal he was the drummer! After time, people convinced him to just finally DO IT, so he drafted in some of his friends from around South East London including original members Carys (The Give It Ups) and Matt (A Fine Day for Sailing) and they started playing gigs. I (Emma, Pocketbooks) was originally a guest singer on one song, but eventually became a full-time member. Isabel (Things In Herds) replaced Matt when he departed to focus on his other bands, and then when Carys left to concentrate on her studies, Isabel asked her old friend Shaun (The Wedding Present/Popguns) to join. But is he any good? Well, we decided to give him a go. There are also others who may have stood in, or rehearsed with us once, who can say ‘I was a Firework’!

What are your roles within the band?
Matthew sings, plays guitar and blows things up; Isabel plays bass and brings savoury snacks; Shaun plays the drums and brings the beers; and I sing and bring the jaffa cakes.

What’s been the reaction to your recently released EP?
It’s been great! We were absolutely thrilled to be picked up by Shelflife, which is a label we’ve admired for some time. We’ve had some lovely things written about the EP and it feels like we’ve got a lot of support both in the US and UK. To us it just feels like four mates having a laugh and making some noises we like, so the fact that people like the result of that is brilliant!

How do you feel about playing Indietracks again?
We’re pretty excited! Actually only Matthew has played Indietracks with The Fireworks before, as the band was still in its formation the first time round, but apart from Shaun we’ve all been at Indietracks from the beginning (Matthew has DJed in the past, Isabel is DJing this year, and I’m involved in the organising). We’re looking forward to seeing Shaun’s reaction to it as it’s his first time. It’s always difficult to paint someone a picture of Indietracks - they just have to see it for themselves.

Is there anyone you are looking forward to seeing?
Personally I’m looking forward to Still Corners and Fever Dream as I’m a massive fan of both. Matthew loves The Brilliant Corners, and Shaun’s looking forward to seeing Tunabunny again. Isabel was away at the time I was writing this, but you should go and listen to her DJ set for some indication of her preferences, she has a brilliant record collection!

What else can we expect from The Fireworks this year?
Just after Indietracks we’re going back into the studio to record our next single for Shelflife. We’re rehearsing those songs right now, and we’ll also be doing an album at some point in the near future. We’re playing with The Wedding Present in August and the Nottingham all-dayer in September, both of which we’re really chuffed about. Apart from that, we’ll probably keep blowing things up and eating snacks.

Indietracks interview #17: The Tuts

Interview by Niall from The Spook School 

The Tuts are a three-piece all girl punk band from west London. In 2012 they released a self titled EP with heart-wrenching lyrics by front-woman Nadia Javed paired with overdriven punchy guitar riffs. The sound is propelled by Beverley Ishmael's drumming, who co-founded the band at high school with Nadia. They were joined in 2011 by Harriet Doveton (of Colour Me Wednesday) who brought melodic bass lines and backing vocals to complete their feisty and distinctive sound. Although the band's live performance is packed with punk and attitude, their lyrical content suggests vulnerability and playfulness, the pains of growing up, friendships and first loves.

In 2013 they released their long awaited single 'Tut Tut Tut', which shares the issues and experiences of being a female musician. They were also recently championed by Kate Nash and supported her in London, which then led to being chosen as the main support on her UK tour.

Hi, The Tuts, who are you and what do you want from me?
Nadia: We don't want anything from you, wait, what have you got to offer...?
Beverley: I want Krispy Kremes
Nadia: ...not your facebook photos we've just had a look at them. We are the Tuts, Nadia, Beverley, Harriet

Your songs are refreshingly biting in the lyrics department about being a 'girl-band' with 'Tut, Tut, Tut' being a prime example "all I ever hear is / ladies you're on first." Is this something you have come up against a lot?
Beverley: Yeah, loads of guys they assume that we're the first band on, most of the time we were the first band on but after doing a lot of shows and getting recognition for our talents we're getting better slots which is great...
Harriet: Yeah its obv more than that, we don't actually mind going on first...
Nadia: As long as the bands on after us are decent. A lot of the time the bands on after us are Oasis rip-offs with no interaction on their facebook or twitter, with pointy shoes and skinny jeans and if you're lucky a fedora.
Harriet: Yeah we noticed a pattern forming at our early gigs, we were always put on first, the bands on after us wouldn't even have a crowd, people would be more interested in us, but they'd be taken more seriously by the promoters just because they were male.

What obstacles do you think you face that boy-bands don't? 
Harriet: Again its just the attitude we get from a lot of promoters or sound men. We’re often taken less seriously or patronized.  But then we do get annoying backhanded compliments from audience members too like ‘I thought you’d be rubbish but you surprised me’ or ‘you were pretty good actually’
Nadia: Basically people look down on you, they see you as lower class, they don't think you're capable of playing guitar. I think men are intimidated by the fact we don't need a man in our group. I think it's male-bonding, boys in the crowd take male musicians more seriously.
Beverley: Boys always push to the front as well, all they see is these bros at the front appreciating bros on the stage.

What was it like touring with Kate Nash? Any shenanigans behind-the-scenes?
Nadia: Too crazy to put into words but mental, backstage belly rubbing, dancing to old-school garage, sharing vodka, stealing Kate's toaster, meeting all of her girl fans and taking some of them on board.
Beverley: Stage invasions.
Harriet: Beating up boys who pinched her bum.
Nadia: We got the fans out of their shell and made them get onstage.
Beverley: They were coming onstage and going crazy, cos we know how important it is at age 14/15 going to their first gig, experiences like that can change your life, your perception. I know they do because that's what it was like when I went to see the Libertines when I was 15.
Nadia: Imagine you're just playing low-key gigs, two people come... then you're playing to 500 people, little girls are asking you to sign their cds and t-shirts, lapping up your merch. Then they're tweeting at you...
Harriet: Girls are wanting to start bands cos of us and even cover our songs. This is exactly the type of reaction we've always wanted.
Nadia: I remember being that young girl walking to school with my discman, listening to my favourite tunes and wanting to start a band...
Beverley: And now young girls are listening to us...

Have you any plans for when you play Indietracks? Will you ride the train? Late-night dancing?
Nadia: Mate, I'm causing havoc. We're gonna sell all these tote bags that no one else wanted to buy, I've heard indiepoppers love tote bags.
Harriet: Haha we’re really excited and it's gonna be the best Indietracks ever, a year to remember!
Beverley : Might be learning an indiepop classic to cover on the night... who knows...
Nadia: We're gonna go to the disco (on the campsite) where we didn't know any of the songs but everyone else was going mental like it was 90s classics. Just play some Spice Girls.

SCENARIO
The Tuts are on stage when you discover there is a meteor about to strike Indietracks. You are the only people holding instruments, how will you save the day? 
Nadia: Grab the tote bags, sell as much merch as you can.
Beverley : We're all secretly superheroes so we'll all save the day. We can't tell you our superpowers in case our enemies find out.
Nadia: You can save us with your sexy body, Niall.
Harriet: Human shield.

How would you rate my questions?
Beverley: I'd give you 2/10
Nadia: I thought this was an interview about us?! Must be a Leo, what star sign are you? Must be a Leo or an Aries.
Harriet: We prefer interviews in person.
Nadia: Come and meet us in real life.

How could I have been a better interviewer?

Nadia: I hate questions.

Indietracks 2013 schedule revealed!

Today we’re delighted to announce which bands will be playing on which days and on which stages at Indietracks this year. In total over 50 bands will be playing at the festival, as well as a host of DJs, and craft workshops.

We’ve provided a quick summary of the day line-ups below, and there’s a full line-up with stage details and times available at: www.indietracks.co.uk/schedule.html

Friday 26 July:
Bis + The Tuts + Big Wave + DJs

Saturday 27 July:
Camera Obscura + The Pastels + The Wave Pictures + The Brilliant Corners + Haiku Salut + The Secret History + Milky Wimpshake + The Magic Theatre + Emma Kupa + Cars Can Be Blue + The McTells + The Understudies plus 15 other artists, DJs and craft workshops.

Sunday 28 July:
Still Corners + Helen Love + The Wake + The Lovely Eggs + The Ballet + Kid Canaveral + Monnone Alone + Without Feathers+ Martha + Another Sunny Day + Fear Of Men + Flowers + Making Marks plus 15 other artists, DJs and craft workshops.

Weekend and day tickets
Tickets are £72 (weekend) and £38 (day – Saturday or Sunday) for adults. Children's tickets are just £10 (weekend) and £6 (day). Under 5s can come for free! Tickets are available by phoning the Midland Railway on 01773 747674 or by visiting: www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets.html

Hope to see you in July!

Indietracks interview #16: Without Feathers

Interview by Claire Walker

Without Feathers are a wonderful trio comprising of, Emma Kupa from Standard Fare, Nat Johnson from Monkey Swallows the Universe and singer/songwriter Rory McVicar. The music is beautifully gentle and charming but is really only best explained by listening (and purchasing?) the ‘Three Songs’ EP on their Bandcamp page. This is definitely one band to watch.


Hello Without Feathers, thank you for taking the time to take part in this interview. How did you three of you meet and decide to form a band?

Emma: I met Rory through Nat and loved both their music as soon as I heard it.

Nat: I've known Rory since my Monkey Swallows the Universe days when I invited him up to Sheffield to play with us and we've been friends ever since. And Emma and I were introduced through a mutual label - Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation (RIP). When Rory got in touch about organising a gig in Sheffield earlier this year, I suggested Emma get involved too, and then instead of the three of us sharing a bill, I had the not-so-crazy-after-all idea that we could actually form a band. And they said yes.

Rory: Yeh, Nat's definitely the glue that holds us together! I've known her for years, and we've played in each others solo records in the past, too. She put me on at the Grapes in Sheffield a few years back. Standard Fare played an acoustic set that evening and I thought they were fantastic. I was surprised when I took the record home and discovered they were usually an electric band! Since then we've all played gigs together and become good friends.

You named the band after a Woody Allen book, what is the reasoning behind this?

Emma: Nat? I was recently bought the book and it’s a good read! Much more off the wall than we are.

Nat: Aye, I'm a fan, and when I first read that one I remember thinking it would be a great name for a band. And we didn't have any better ideas!

Rory: I think at the time we had a working title of ERN. Just imagine the kind of music we would have made under that name. It would have been awful!

The 'three songs' album is beautiful was it intentional for each of you to take turns in being lead vocalist?

Emma: Thanks! It probably makes sense to split things equally as we all have massive egos! ;)

Nat: We do have songs where the vocals are shared too, and are working on more, but I think this was a nice way to introduce the band to people who know us from our previous ones. Also, because we all live in different parts of the country, we're emailing each other songs and then putting our own mark on them. It's more difficult to write fully collaboratively when you're rarely in the same room.

Rory: Emma's right - it's definitely the egos.

What can we expect from your Indietracks performance?

Emma: Smiles and songs played with heart by friends.

Nat: What she said :)

Rory: Bone-crunching riffs.

What solo surprises do have in store for us Emma?

Emma: No idea yet. I'm playing on the train so I want to be loud enough. My instinct is to play requests so a bit of solo/bit of SF, and some new stuff.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Emma: We're playing some gigs over the summer and writing more. Seeing where the tide takes us.

Rory: more gigs / more songs and also the potential of a DIY release later in the summer.

Many thanks for taking part, looking forward to seeing you at Indietracks!

Final bands announced and compilation released!

The final bands have today been announced for Indietracks! Ten bands have been added to the festival line-up – The Wake, Kid Canaveral, Another Sunny Day, Emma Kupa of Standard Fare, The Art Club, Bloomer, Pete Green, Enderby’s Room,  Owl and Mouse, and The Choo Choo Trains. There will also be an indiepop singalong on a steam train, led by Kevin, tonieee and Markie.

The Wake are a legendary Scottish post punk and indie pop band, founded in Glasgow in 1981 by Gerard “Caesar” McInulty (formerly of Altered Images), Steven Allen and Joe Donnelly, who was later replaced for a period by Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. They released records on Factory Records and Sarah Records, toured with New Order and recorded for John Peel. In autumn 2009, McInulty and Allen came together once again to record a new album, "A Light Far Out", released in April 2012.

Kid Canaveral are a two-boy/two-girl group from Edinburgh, who are part of the acclaimed Fence Record collective. Their debut album Shouting At Wildlife was released to rave reviews in 2010 and they’ve played festivals across the UK and overseas, including T in the Park , South By Southwest and Fence’s Homegame.

Today also sees the release of the annual Indietracks compilation album, featuring more than 40 songs from a wide selection of bands playing this year’s festival and including some exclusive tracks. All proceeds from the compilation go to the Midland Railway charity, and there is a minimum donation fee of £2, although we'd encourage you to donate what you can please. It's available now from:
http://indietracks.bandcamp.com

More than 50 bands are due to play this year’s Indietracks, held at the Midland Railway in Derbyshire, including Bis on Friday 26 July, Camera Obscura and The Pastels on Saturday 27 July, and Still Corners and Helen Love on Sunday 28 July.

Tickets for Indietracks are available at £72 (weekend) and £38 (day). Weekend tickets for children aged 5-15 are £10, or £6 for a day ticket. Children under 5 get in free. Tickets are available by calling the railway direct on 01773 747 674 or visiting:
www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets.html 

Hope to see you in July!

Indietracks interview #15: The Lovely Eggs

Interview by Claire Walker.

The Lovely Eggs are a punk rock married duo from Lancaster, England. They have released three albums as well as playing hundred of gigs in Europe and USA. They have played at the Indietracks festival twice before and this year they will be joined by a special new addition to the family, baby Arlo.

Hello Holly and David, how does being a married couple and making music together work?

Well it means we get to go on tour together and drink Strongbow and have a laugh and meet new people which is pretty great really. For some reason people often think it might be difficult being married and being in a band together but it's not like that at all. In fact it makes it easy. And we've just had a baby, so we've got a whole family going on tour this summer. It works for us anyway, even though we know most people might think our workings are strange.

Where did your 'do what we like' ethos come from?

Punk Rock. It's the best and the only agenda to form a band.

How do you feel about playing Indietracks again this year? It must almost feel like a second home?

Looking forward to it. We played it the very first year on the steam train to three people watching and then again in the church a couple of years later where we ended up queuing to get into our own gig, so who knows what it will be like this time! If the Strongbow-ometer is anything to go by from last time, it should be a good un. Last time we ended up sleeping on the floor of Cherryade Records hotel room and woke up with pounding hangovers to the sound of the door bursting open and a high pitched scream announcing "house keeping" which is Cherryade Records' idea of a practical joke. Nothing is funny when you have a hangover that bad.

Is there anyone you are particularly keen to see at this year's festival?

It looks like a really good line up this year. Helen Love will be top of our list to see. Also Cars Can Be Blue (who we toured America with and are insane in a good way), The Wave Pictures of course, The Pastels, but loads really.

Can we expect anything new from the band this year?

Well we've just had a baby so that's our latest release and he will be coming on tour with us this summer. We've been writing some new songs but not sure when they'll be out yet. We've not really toured our new album Wildlife that much because Holly was 6 months pregnant when it came out so we're looking forward to playing some of the songs off that album live.

Thank you The Lovely Eggs looking forward to seeing you at Indietracks.    

 

Art and craft workshops revealed!

(Bunting workshop. Photo: Fabric Nation)  

As well as steam trains and lots of fantastic bands, this year's Indietracks festival will once again feature a wide range of art and craft workshops for all the family! Today we can reveal the full schedule.

Saturday 27 July

2pm: Rock and Roll Sock Puppets!
Create a rock and roll sock puppet based on your favourite popstar. Channel the punk spirit of Helen Love or the joyful duo of The Lovely Eggs, get creative and let your inner indie kid run free with this fun, hands on workshop.

3pm: Nosing with Norris
Spot as many Norris Cole (from Coronation Street) faces and pithy put-downs as you can dotted around the Indietracks site and win prizes.

4pm: Decorating Canvas Bags
Get creative and impress festival-goers with your own custom-designed canvas bags – a must-have Indietracks fashion accessory and perfect for record shopping!

5pm: Three Cheers for Indietracks
Learn cheerleading moves with the Radical Cheerleaders of the Nort, including creating a cheer for Indietracks with some hot moves to go along with it.

Sunday 28 July

1pm: Tip Top Indiepop Pop Quiz
Gordon and Katey present the ultimate indiepop nerd challenge. Get a team togethers and start brushing up on your pop facts!

2pm: PomPom Pets
Missing your favourite pet at Indietracks? Make a pompom and then craft it into a small animal, which you can take away to keep you company after the workshop.

3pm: How to create iconic indiepop album covers in Lego
Work as a team to build Lego versions of a couple of classic album covers of bands playing Indietracks.

4pm: Wet Felt Making
Come and try your hand at traditional wet felt making - make a piece of your own felt, and create a badge, necklace hair bobble or wristband.

5pm: Make your own bow-tie!
Make your own bow-ties and collars, using a selection of weird and wonderful fabrics, jewels, bit and bobs and really stand out with these exciting custom fashion accessories.

We’ll be finding out a bit more about each of these workshops in the coming weeks on the blog, so stay tuned!

Indietracks interview #14: Frozy

Interview by Salle Pierre Lamy. Introductory band description by Michal William, Cafe Kino, Bristol.  

Frozy are Irina, Nicol and Rhiannon from London and south east England, sometimes joined by friends from other lands. They ask for little, and give plenty! Theirs is a dream-pop slumber-party that twangs with twin guitars entwined, and dips the chips in a bittersweet treat! Love songs played for sheer joy; a minimal twist of pounding hearts; a record player spilled over with Beat Happening and Wandering Lucy singles; a colossal rush of impulse, channeled as DIY enthusiasm!

Their lo-fi approach is unfussed and effortless; an authentic promise of summer-spun rain, and disarming honesty. When they sing, it is as though they are singing to each other, and you’re accomplice to the conspiracy - but you already wanted in on their gang, to get into reckless pangs and tangles! Frozy also co-run the trans-atlantic-based Trilingual Records label, which has released their Pulling Daisies album.

Today, Edgar and Bryce from Salle Pierre Lamy are making their debut as guest interviewers. You may remember them from this puppet-based video from last year's Indietracks, featuring Allo Darlin', Tigercats, Tender Trap and more! They spoke to Nicol & Irina from the band...

It seems a bit of a cliché to compare your music to other musicians' tunes (especially when you can listen to it right here http://frozy.bandcamp.com/) so please describe what you sound like using all senses other than hearing.

Sight - Twenty somethings awkwardly dancing, sometimes becoming children, who are great at dancing.
Smell - Fragrant soapy, but not perfumey
Touch: when you stick your finger in a (big or small) body of water and briefly and barely touch a fish
Taste: eating your favourite candy then going swimming in the sea then choking on salt water and the candy flavour may come out your nose a little too

So we are going to cage you in our own private thunderdome and force you to fight another band barehanded. Who would you be evenly matched with? We want a fair fight.

We would fight The Tinklers. We're not too good at fighting, and I don't think they'd be so into it either. They'd probably just want to talk it over and figure something else out.

The Tinklers are the best.

Halfway through the battle we want to spice things up and introduce some weapons. Which musical instruments do you pick to arm yourselves with?

If we had to use a musical instrument for violence it would be the glockenspiel. It's piercing.

Bryce Dilemma: With the ‘amazing’ success of The Hobbit just recently, Peter Jackson is gearing up for The Hobbit 2! It’s set in winter and Frodo makes an appearance in this film and he wants to promote that. He’s asking you to tweak your band name just a bit so it rhymes with Frodo, so, Frozo (it’s just one little letter!) Working directly with PJ and McDonald’s, you’ll create an exclusive McHobbit track and video for the promotion of McFrozo pops and the movie.

You and your music will be used for all global promotional material. You’ll be dressed as Hobbits! You will each receive exclusive Golden Arches membership meal cards for life! Pete and Ronald are waiting for your answer, so hurry up!

We are sorry Peter Jackson, but Frozy don't feel comfortable working with McDonalds, and neither should you. Although, back in 2010, after a show in Belgium, a drunk person called Nicol, Rhiannon and our friend Morgan Orion, Hobbits, in an aggressive, derogatory way. The day after that, all our clothes were stolen.

Indietracks interview #13: Lardpony

Straight outta Derby, Lardpony are making a return to the first team squad after a few seasons out with babies, solo projects, and beards. They write pop songs that are so clever they could teach A-Level biology in a secondary school. Sam from A Layer Of Chips kindly interviewed them for our blog.

You're finally playing Indietracks again; about time isn't it?
It has been many years since our last appearance! BUT - since we were disbanded for the 2009 - 2012 events, somewhat inevitable. We're delighted that we've managed to sneak back onto the bill though as it was a driving force behind our reunion, that we might be able to play at Indietracks again!

Lardpony have recently got back together. Why, and why the hiatus?
Well, we were torn apart by adult responsibilities. The Lardpony Classic(TM) "couple unit" of Nathan (bass) and Mandy (keyboard) had a couple of babies and the logistics of organising childcare for every practice, gig and recording session were too much hassle. Eventually though, the desire to play live with a band began to nag at me again and I reasoned that starting a new band from scratch would be an odd thing to do since I'd already found the people I wanted to share my life with (pause for retching). We stole our new keyboard player, Swap, from Nathan's other band TheMakingOf (who played Indietracks in 2012) and lurched back into action with a satisfying crunching sound.

Have the band played festivals before?
Only Indietracks 2008, but I feel like it would have been a struggle for any other festival to live up to that experience. It was "the sunny year" - anyone else who was there might still have a bit of a residual tan. We played in the church, which was relentlessly hot. It was excellent.

You've been to Indietracks as punters before - how does it compare to other festivals?
My experience of other festivals has been at the other end of the scale, somewhat - I went to Reading festival five times between 1998 and 2002 and watched it slowly become more and more swamped with Limp Bizkit fans who were only there to set things on fire. That hasn't happened at Indietracks yet.

Who are you looking forward to seeing at Indietracks?
Bis! I've been a big fan since their early singles and we played with their (brilliant) other band Data Panik a few years ago. Helen Love, too! Of the newer bands, I've been looking forward to seeing Good Grief for ages.

What should we expect from Lardpony at Indietracks?
We've got a lot of new stuff! What with having a new band member, we found it was more fun working on new stuff together rather than going over too many old songs. That's not to say there won't be a couple of familiar tunes, though. All of our new songs seem to be quite fast.

What's coming up for the band? New record?
We've recorded seven new songs that we're hopefully going to finish mixing very soon, and then we'll attempt to work out what to do with them. We're quietly hopeful that maybe somebody will want to put them out. Or some of them, at least. We've never actually released a single, so it would be quite entertaining to have a debut single out 10 years (and one lengthy hiatus) after our first gig. The first of the new songs will be on the Indietracks compilation! I've also got a new Vom Vorton album recorded that I'll be releasing soon, hopefully in time to drag a few copies over to Indietracks and thrust them upon people...

Will you play Noxious Gas for me, please?
THAT CAN BE ARRANGED.