Thanks to everyone who voted for us in the UK Festival Awards recently. We can now announce that Indietracks has reached the final round in two categories - Best Small Festival and also the Virtual Festivals Critics' Choice Award for La Casa Azul's headline performance - hurray!
Voting is now live in the final round to decide the overall winners. If you have voted already, your votes will be carried over but you can also vote again, for a final time, at www.festivalawards.com
It only takes 20 seconds to vote, and you can also win a pair of VIP tickets to every winning festival next year.
Voting closes on November 4, and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the O2 on November 19.
Thanks again to everyone for all your support!
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Vote for us in the UK Festival Awards!
Indietracks has been nominated in five categories in the 2009 UK Festival Awards, including two special critics’ choice nominations for La Casa Azul's and MJ Hibbett's fantastic performances - hurray!
If you enjoyed Indietracks and fancy helping us out, it would be great if you could cast us a vote or two. If enough of you vote, we may have a fair chance of coming away with Best Small Festival, Best Family Festival or the Grassroots Festival award. And it would be even more wonderful if MJ Hibbett or La Casa Azul picked up awards!
Voting for Indietracks will really help to raise the profile of the Midland Railway charity, who host the festival every year and work tirelessly (and on a voluntary basis) to make sure everything runs smoothly. And boosting the profile of Indietracks will also help us out when we're asking some of the bigger indiepop names to play next year.
It only takes 20 seconds to vote, and you can also win a pair of VIP tickets to every winning festival next year.
If you’d like to vote, please visit the Indietracks nomination page before 14 October. If you are having difficulty using the website, you can also visit www.festivalawards.com and vote there. You'll need to visit the drop-down menus on Best Small Festival, Grassroots Festival, Best Toilets, the Virtual Festivals Critics' Choice Award and Best Family Festival drop-down menus to vote for us.
The final shortlists will then be revealed and people can vote again for the final winners. Thank you!
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
A short film of Indietracks 2009
We've just discoved this fantastic new video / documentary made at the Indietracks festival for Efestivals.
There's some amazing live footage of lots of the bands, some glorious shots of the festival site and the trains, and interviews with lots of the bands, Norman Blake, Stuart Indietracks, Luis from Elefant, staff and loads of festival-goers.
We've tried embedding it below, but if that doesn't work, see it directly here: Efestivals Indietracks film
There's some amazing live footage of lots of the bands, some glorious shots of the festival site and the trains, and interviews with lots of the bands, Norman Blake, Stuart Indietracks, Luis from Elefant, staff and loads of festival-goers.
We've tried embedding it below, but if that doesn't work, see it directly here: Efestivals Indietracks film
Indietracks from eFestivals on Vimeo.
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Reviews of Indietracks 2009
We've been keeping an eye on all you busy bees writing for fanzines, blogs and magazines, and have rounded up a selection of our favourite Indietracks reviews and other coverage for you to check out. We've picked out some of our fave quotes and provided links to the full reviews where possible. And we'll keep updating this as the coverage comes in. Happy reading!
"Although only in its third year, Indietracks has already built up a reputation as the UK’s best festival of its size…. Indietracks is possibly the only festival bar ATP where every other act is something of a new discovery, and this year was no exception."
"There is something magical about this festival and I can't believe it's over for another year. They've done a superb job yet again, the outdoor stage and craft workshops were a great addition and the team always make us feel welcome, and with the help of the staff of Midland Railway who seem to wear smiles 24/7, who wouldn't want to return for more next year."
"Gigs on steam trains, chilling in a 1950s buffet car and fanzine workshops ... is Indietracks the most eccentric festival ever? "
"Now in its third year, Indietracks has sprung up from very modest beginnings to be one of the UK’s most endearing and eccentric festivals. The line-up represents the very best of the indiepop underground."
"What more could a girl want than a tiny little festival on the Midland Railway, a little tram/train hybrid to and from the campsite, talks by Fortuna Pop and a little marquee with an ever-changing timetable of Tatty Devine rarities, band merch, brooches… ? Essentially, it’s heaven."
"Microfestivals have a reputation for being simultaneously more eccentric and meticulously thought-out than some of the majors. July’s Indietracks took place at Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, where visitors could enjoy listening to live performances by Teenage Fanclub and Camera Obscura between taking free rides on a still-operational Fifties steam railway."
The Daily Telegraph
"It's an occasion when artists and the paying public mix together as one, with no pretence, no egos and nothing of the corporate juggernaut. It's merely about the music…. If you want the continual musical sugar rush offered up here, then there can be no better event on the calendar."
"Whether it's the location, the populace or the sheer joy of pretty much all those who play, no matter what their prior experience, Indietracks does something to people that leaves them grinning."
"What made the event extra special was the cosmopolitan element. The seminal independent record label, Elefant Records, which is based in Spain, celebrated its 20th anniversary by hosting the artists who took to the main stage. These included home-grown wonders such as Camera Obscura and Teenage Fanclub, who headlined the event on Saturday and Sunday respectively, as well as a plethora of international talent."
"From its inauguration in 2007 to its blossoming existence today, Indietracks might be one of the smallest festivals in Europe, but that's its beauty. It cares not for corporate sloganeering and strives to create a diverse spectrum of music from all over the globe."
"Indietracks has mixtape exchanges, DIY fanzine and bunting activities and is put together and policed by those doing it for love - for music, for old trains or even for both. Long may it continue. "
"Indietracks festival in Derbyshire has found a particular niche: indiepop fans with a yearning for the golden age of steam."
"The atmosphere was as friendly as a Fat Controller after three Melton Mowbray pork pies, and extremely well organised with awesome, inspired music and toilets that never ran out of loo roll. Perfect."
"It’s hard to see how Indietracks will be anything other than the most enjoyable event of the year."
"I loved it."
"Près de 50 groupes ont joué avec ferveur, sans égo, constamment mélangés aux fans (jusqu'à dormir dans le même camping pour la plupart, ce n'est pas tous les jours qu'on croise Emmy The Great allant prendre sa douche) et partageant un amour sans failles de la musique. "
"Indietracks 2009 was, in these eyes, an utter triumph…. You could probably leave your Nan on her own at Indietracks whilst you went to buy a pint, and you'd come back and not only would she be chatting to her new best friends; she'd have a Smittens t-shirt on, too. And the best thing is - no-one's got a clue where this atmosphere comes from."
RadioNowhere Indietracks podcast
RadioNowhere aired an Indietracks 2009 Special on Monday August 10th. You can now download the show as a podcast, which includes music and conversation from Camera Obscura, Teenage Fanclub, Au Revoir Simone, The School, Emmy The Great plus much much more!
We'll be adding to this list over the next few weeks, so pleased drop us a line if we've missed anything interesting.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Thank you card/photobook for the railway staff
(Photo: The Midland Railway Centre)We're pulling together a card and/or photobook for all the Midland Railway Centre staff, to say a big, big "thank you" for all their efforts this year.
If you'd like to add a comment, please can you send your contributions to indietrackspress@gmail.com before the end of this Sunday? (August 2)
The railway is staffed by volunteers who maintain the railway, drive the locomotives, work in the shops and bars and do hundreds of other activities that provide such a wonderful location for the festival. You'll have seen lots of them around the site over the weekend wearing claret polo-shirts and lovely smiles!
It would be particularly good to hear of any fond memories you have of the staff. Ooh, and if anyone's got any good photos of the railway staff going about their business around the site, they would be most appreciated too. Thank you!
If you'd like to add a comment, please can you send your contributions to indietrackspress@gmail.com before the end of this Sunday? (August 2)
The railway is staffed by volunteers who maintain the railway, drive the locomotives, work in the shops and bars and do hundreds of other activities that provide such a wonderful location for the festival. You'll have seen lots of them around the site over the weekend wearing claret polo-shirts and lovely smiles!
It would be particularly good to hear of any fond memories you have of the staff. Ooh, and if anyone's got any good photos of the railway staff going about their business around the site, they would be most appreciated too. Thank you!
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Indietracks on film...
Wow! Haven't you lot been busy? We can't believe how many wonderful photos, blogs and videos you've already posted online! We're back in real life now, but reading and seeing everyone's favourite memories has certainly warmed our little cockles!
We're still gathering in reviews, but in the meantime here's a selection of some of our favourite videos:
Chris Gilmour's annual film digest of Indietracks (becoming a firm festival fave at Indietracks Towers)
Everyone singing along in the HDIF tent when the power cut out:
And, of course, the mass danceathon that was La Casa Azul's cover of "Love is in the Air":
More to come over the next few days - so do keep visiting!
We're still gathering in reviews, but in the meantime here's a selection of some of our favourite videos:
Chris Gilmour's annual film digest of Indietracks (becoming a firm festival fave at Indietracks Towers)
Everyone singing along in the HDIF tent when the power cut out:
And, of course, the mass danceathon that was La Casa Azul's cover of "Love is in the Air":
More to come over the next few days - so do keep visiting!
Monday, 27 July 2009
Thanks for coming - see you next year!
Camera Obscura playing the Outdoor Stage (photo: acb)Whew! What a weekend! Can you believe it's over? It seems like just a few minutes ago that we were packing our sunglasses and pac-a-macs, readying ourselves to enjoy all our favourite indiepop amongst the beautiful, rolling hills of Derbyshire.
Like you, we're totally overcome with that magical combination of exhaustion and happiness, but we've already been looking through the photographs, reviews and videos that you've all been kindly posting up!
We'll be publishing a selection of reviews over the forthcoming week, so do keep checking out the blog! In the meantime, if you'd like to share your thoughts and memories, why not visit the Anorak forum and tell everyone about your personal highlights? We'll also be posting up some of our favourite Indietracks photos, so do please upload them to our Indietracks Flickr group if you can!
Before we go, we just wanted to say a massive "thank you" again to Stuart for organising such an amazing event, all the bands, DJs and workshop leaders, the Midland Railway staff, the volunteer stewards and, most of all, YOU for helping to make it such a fantastic weekend.
Roll on next July - we already can't wait to do it all again next year!
Friday, 24 July 2009
Greetings from Indietracks!
Well, by the time you read this, Team Indietracks will be travelling to the festival site. The stages have been built, the programmes are printed, the refreshments have arrived and people are travelling from literally all corners of the globe to descend on the Midland Railway Centre.
Here's a few last-minute pieces of information:
Here's a few last-minute pieces of information:
Tickets: weekend and day tickets will be available on the gates.
Cancelled train strike: the latest information we have at the time of posting this is that the East Midlands train strike - scheduled for Friday and Monday - has been cancelled. Please visit the East Midlands Trains website for the latest information.
Schedule: the timeslots for the bands and workshops will be printed in the festival programme and are also listed on the Indietracks website.
Follow the festival on Twitter: we'll be tweeting during the festival @ indietracksfest, and guardianmusic will be doing so too. If you're also tweeting from the festival, apparently if you put '#indietracks' at the end of your tweet it'll make all the festival tweets easier to find. Or something.
Weather: the BBC says 'sunny' on the Saturday and 'light rain' on the Sunday, so please come prepared for both!
See you at the festival! Choo Choo!
Thursday, 23 July 2009
East Midlands Trains – strike action cancelled
We understand that ASLEF, the Train Drivers Union, have now suspended planned strike action for Friday 24 and Monday 27 July 2009. East Midlands Trains will now operate normal train services on both days on all routes. For further information visit the East Midlands trains website.
See below for previous information about the strike.
________________________________________________________________
Preparations are being made to provide special train services on the following routes:
A revised timetable for these services can be viewed here: http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/99BD5A11-CA47-48EF-AAA7-42DA45FC17C4/0/MainlinebusttAslefv2.pdf
Replacement bus services will be provided on the following routes:
http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_ASLEFstrikeaction–Friday24JulyandMonday27July2009_.htm
Other train operators will be running on the following routes:
More information
For more information on services, please call 08457 125 678.
Up to date information can also be found at the East Midlands Trains website: http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_ASLEFstrikeaction–Friday24JulyandMonday27July2009_.htm
You can download and print the above information, which may be useful to you when travelling, from here.
See below for previous information about the strike.
________________________________________________________________
Preparations are being made to provide special train services on the following routes:
- Sheffield – Derby – Leicester – Kettering – Wellingborough – London
- Nottingham – London
A revised timetable for these services can be viewed here: http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/99BD5A11-CA47-48EF-AAA7-42DA45FC17C4/0/MainlinebusttAslefv2.pdf
Replacement bus services will be provided on the following routes:
- Worksop – Mansfield – Nottingham
- Matlock – Derby
- Loughborough – Leicester
- Derby – Stoke-on-Trent
- Nottingham – Newark – Lincoln
- Nottingham – Grantham
- Peterborough – Lincoln
- Lincoln – Grimsby
http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_ASLEFstrikeaction–Friday24JulyandMonday27July2009_.htm
Other train operators will be running on the following routes:
- Nottingham – Sheffield – Liverpool
- Grantham – Peterborough – Norwich
- Stoke-on-Trent – Crewe
- Lincoln – Doncaster
More information
For more information on services, please call 08457 125 678.
Up to date information can also be found at the East Midlands Trains website: http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_ASLEFstrikeaction–Friday24JulyandMonday27July2009_.htm
You can download and print the above information, which may be useful to you when travelling, from here.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Indietracks interview #27: The Smittens
The Smittens are a six-piece indiepop band from Burlington, Vermont and a DIY twee pop explosion. Formed in 2002, The Smittens have been winning the hearts and minds of indiepop fans and discerning critics in the U.S. and abroad with an impressive and rapidly expanding catalog of fresh and fancy bubblegum-inspired revolutionary twee pop.
Accomplished songsmiths all, the six Smittens Max Andrucki, Colin Clary, Dana Kaplan, Holly Chagnon, David Zacharis and their newest member Emily Hilliard - switch instruments and songwriting to create brilliantly lyrical and hyper-catchy pop songs of all colours, shapes and sizes. The band's third album, 'The Coolest Thing About Love', is out now on Athens, Georgia’s indie institution Happy Happy Birthday To Me.
Today we're joined by Max from the band, and be warned, there's a surprising amount of swearing in this (ie, some swearing).
Hi Max, tell us a little bit about The Smittens
We're all white. Except that Dana is Jewish. And David is Greek.
What music are you enjoying at the moment?
Swedish dance pop, anything WeePop puts out, The Chiffons, The Free Design, M.I.A., The Just Joans, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, and along with all the other "Brooklyn" hipsters, we kinda like The Drums.
Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past?
On a mother-f__kin' BOAT. In Bristol, UK. And at a kickball game.
Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year?
Sweden. and two inter-band weddings. and Max is gonna finish his PhD. And have lots of crazy sex. And as a band, we are doing some recording soon - a Tullycraft cover for a tribute comp, and some songs of our own... yet to be written. We are playing with the following song titles: 'F__ you and your crafts', 'Drama queen', and 'Whack it 'til the candy comes out'.
Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?
We are really good at impromptu kitchen dance parties, and nonviolent interpersonal communication.
What's going to be on your compilation tapes as you travel down to Indietracks?
Half a bottle of franks red hot.
And finally, do you have any surprises planned for the Indietracks festival?
No. In a good way!
Great - thanks Max.
Accomplished songsmiths all, the six Smittens Max Andrucki, Colin Clary, Dana Kaplan, Holly Chagnon, David Zacharis and their newest member Emily Hilliard - switch instruments and songwriting to create brilliantly lyrical and hyper-catchy pop songs of all colours, shapes and sizes. The band's third album, 'The Coolest Thing About Love', is out now on Athens, Georgia’s indie institution Happy Happy Birthday To Me.
Today we're joined by Max from the band, and be warned, there's a surprising amount of swearing in this (ie, some swearing).
Hi Max, tell us a little bit about The Smittens
We're all white. Except that Dana is Jewish. And David is Greek.
What music are you enjoying at the moment?
Swedish dance pop, anything WeePop puts out, The Chiffons, The Free Design, M.I.A., The Just Joans, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, and along with all the other "Brooklyn" hipsters, we kinda like The Drums.
Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past?
On a mother-f__kin' BOAT. In Bristol, UK. And at a kickball game.
Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year?
Sweden. and two inter-band weddings. and Max is gonna finish his PhD. And have lots of crazy sex. And as a band, we are doing some recording soon - a Tullycraft cover for a tribute comp, and some songs of our own... yet to be written. We are playing with the following song titles: 'F__ you and your crafts', 'Drama queen', and 'Whack it 'til the candy comes out'.
Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?
We are really good at impromptu kitchen dance parties, and nonviolent interpersonal communication.
What's going to be on your compilation tapes as you travel down to Indietracks?
Half a bottle of franks red hot.
And finally, do you have any surprises planned for the Indietracks festival?
No. In a good way!
Great - thanks Max.
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