Vote for Indietracks in the UK Festival Awards!

Hello everyone, just a little note to let you know that we're nominated in the UK Festival Awards for the Fans' Favourite Festival Award, and it would be great if you could vote for Indietracks!

Voting opened today and will run until 5pm on 10 October, with finalists and winners being announced at the UK Festival Awards on 15 November at The Roundhouse in Camden.

Everyone who votes will automatically have their name entered into a prize draw to win two tickets to every festival next year.

Visit the UK Festival Awards now to cast your vote for Indietracks! You will need to register your e-mail address to enter.

Indietracks interview #10: Love Is All

Here at Indietracks Towers, we’re usually awoken by the sunlight streaming through the curtains, the morning call of bluebirds, squirrels foraging for nuts, the sound of bicycle bells frightening pedestrians off the pavement, the joyful screech of a joyrider’s tyres, cats fighting viciously for territory (well, we think that’s what they’re doing!) or the next door neighbours watching horror movies at 3am in unnecessary surround sound. Mostly the last one. Today, however, it was the brutal knock of the postman. After several attempts, it became clear that the only way to cease this cruel interruption was by actually answering the door, where, lo and behold, we were presented with the first instalment of Indietracks flyers! Beautifully designed by our Emma in this season’s hippest colours (it’s all about yellow and black this year), we think these are going to adorn many a fridge door, scrapbook or those cork boards that you see in student halls of residence for years to come. Keep an eye out for them, they’ll be coming to a gig, record shop or street near you soon!

And, of course, one of the names on the aforementioned flyers is today’s interviewees, Love Is All!

Love Is All have picked up plaudits for their blend of art punk and indie rock since they formed from the ashes of indiepop group Girlfriendo in 2005. Pitchfork included their debut album 'Nine Times That Same Song' among their favourites of 2005, while NME named their song 'Make Out Fall Out Make Up' as a single of the week. The band’s new album ‘Two Thousand and Ten Injuries’ is an unconstrained and celebratory affair, combining punk guitars, saxophones, disco beats and melodic harmonies and is already being hailed as one of the best albums of the year.

Josephine from the band has joined us for today’s interview.

Hi Josephine, tell us a little bit about Love Is All

Hum, we're five people from Gothenburg, Sweden who have been playing together for a small eternity. We are very much in to doing things ourselves and have mixed and recorded all our music in our own space together with Wyatt Cusick. I'm making all the artwork myself and most of the videos. It's not so much a statement as it is us just being bad with trusting outside ideas. I think we can be a pain to work with sometimes.

We haven't toured Europe nearly as much as we've toured the US and therefore we are really excited to play Indietracks this summer.

What music are you enjoying at the moment?

I'm really digging the new Ariel Pink record. Such perfect music for the summer.

Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past

I feel like we haven't played anywhere too exotic or unusual. We did a small tour of Brazil, that must be the most unusual place we've played. We managed to combine the tour with two weeks of vacation, which made the whole trip amazing.

Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year?

Exciting... I don't know. There will probably be plenty more touring and some recordings. Right now I'm mostly excited about summer being around the corner, I can't wait to go swimming and grilling and all those summery things.

Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?

Johan and Markus know pretty much every Beatles song ever recorded and will sing them to you in perfect harmonies if you buy them a couple of glasses of Pastis.

What's going to be on your compilation tapes as you travel down to Indietracks?

Ariel Pink. That's all I can think of right now, sorry.

What attracted you to play at Indietracks?

Last year some of my friends went and they came back talking about what a great festival it was, insisting that we should try to play there. Of course I forgot all about it, but when the Indietracks festival asked us if we wanted to play I got really excited and instantly knew that I wanted to do it.

Thanks Josephine!

xxx

The Primitives join the Indietracks bill

We’re excited to announce that The Primitives have now been added to the Indietracks 2010 line-up.

They will join New York headliners the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Love Is All, Ballboy, The Pooh Sticks, White Town, Allo Darlin’, Veronica Falls and dozens more indiepop bands at this year’s event. The festival takes place on 23-25 July 2010 on a steam railway in Derbyshire.

The Primitives emerged from the independent scene of the mid-80s, alongside The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine. With the distinctive singing and blonde bombshell looks of singer Tracy Tracy, they combine 60s melodies, the buzzsaw guitars of the Ramones and the pop sensibilities of Orange Juice. The band became household names across the world for their hit single ‘Crash’, which made the top five in the UK charts.

The band reunited at the end of 2009 and have played some ace UK shows recently. We can’t wait to see them at the festival! 

There are just two weeks left to pick up tickets at early bird discount prices. Weekend tickets are currently available at an early bird discount price of £55, and day tickets are available for £30. These prices are available until Friday 7 May.

Early bird tickets are available by visiting: www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets.html

xxx

Indietracks - fun for all the family!

Young Ted Metcalf prepares for this year's Indietracks...

Sam Metcalf, author of our fave indiepop read  A Layer of Chips fanzine and long-time Indietracks fan, explains why he'll be bringing along his son Ted to the festival this year......

(Us? Jealous of a seven-month-old? Never...)

****************************************************
Last year, in my gushing, over-dramatic review of Indietracks, I wrote that the festival is the sort of place you could take your grandparent, and s/he'd end up chatting someone if you had to go to the bar/loo/llama farm. This is of course true. But what is also true, is that you can take your kids to Indietracks without the being subjected to a three-hour windchime workshop, or have their senses dulled by a million jugglers called Tristan or Balthazar or Moonpip.

Last year my wife attended Indietracks heavily pregnant. But that was fine, because just about everyone you meet at the festival is hardly going to run around with their elbows out, screaming: "Last one to see the Just Joans is a Los Campesinos! fan!". That's partly because if half the audience broke into a canter their arms would fall off in shock, but mainly because everyone at Indietracks seems to be there to have fun with people they know or half-know. They don't want to cart around pretending to be cool or looking for something or someone to hate. Nah, if you want to do that you can "do" Glastonbury, or any one of the number of obnoxious, dull corporate-sponsored festivals that blight the summer these days.

Going to Indietracks is a bit like going into your local pub; you can go and sit on your own and eventually, someone you sort of know will come and sit down with you and have a yarn about how amazing the Hi-Life Companion's impromptu acoustic set was on the platform just now, and whether you saw it or not. Then this person will give you a bag or pork scratchings and a pint of Harvest Pale and ask you for £3.50. Well, maybe not that last bit.

But all this is why I'm so looking forward to taking my little boy to Indietracks this year. Not only will we have a bountiful supply of babysitters that will look after him when we want to go and see The Specific Heats, but because he'll be doused in a friendly atmosphere that will surely mean he'll have a good day, and not scream all the way through Standard Fare. Plus, he will be introduced to the gentle pleasures of indiepop llamas.

So, if anyone prospective parents want to get in some all-terrain nappy-changing practice, just make like a Bisto Kid and follow your nose. We'll be waiting.

Erm....thanks Sam! We (might) see you in the nappy field!

**********************************************************
If you'd like to bring your children along to Indietracks, under 2's are free and  2-13 year olds have free admission to the festival but a railway ticket must be purchased. These can be bought on arrival at the railway, costing £6 day / £10 weekend. For children 14 years and above, a full price ticket is required.

Exciting announcement coming soon!

We’ll be making a very exciting ticket and headliner announcement about this year’s Indietracks next week on Tuesday March 23, so make sure you keep checking the official website for more information!

Alternatively, you can sign up to our mailing list to receive all the latest information by clicking the “sign me up” button on our website! Or follow us on Twitter. You can also check out which bands have already been announced here too, including Ballboy, Allo Darlin’ and Standard Fare.

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!

Reviews of Indietracks 2009

(Photo: tastinclothes)

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."

Drowned in Sound

"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."

Efestivals

"Gigs on steam trains, chilling in a 1950s buffet car and fanzine workshops ... is Indietracks the most eccentric festival ever? "

The Guardian

"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."

Virtual Festivals

"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."

Muso’s Guide

"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."

Click Music

"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."

Sweeping The Nation

"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."

Derby Telegraph

"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."

Nottingham Evening Post

"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. "

Morning Star

"Indietracks festival in Derbyshire has found a particular niche: indiepop fans with a yearning for the golden age of steam."

The Guardian

"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."

WhisperMag

"It’s hard to see how Indietracks will be anything other than the most enjoyable event of the year."

Another Form Of Relief

"I loved it."

Eddie Argos, Art Brut

"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. "

Discobloguons

"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."

A layer of chips

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!

Download the podcast (mp3)

We'll be adding to this list over the next few weeks, so pleased drop us a line if we've missed anything interesting.

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!

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!

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.

Indietracks interview #26: Downdime

Downdime are a noisy, psychedelic indiepop band formed in Leeds in 2004. Taking inspiration from the C86/indiepop bands of the 1980s and 90s such as Rocketship, My Bloody Valentine and The Wedding Present. They have so far released two 7" singles: Seeds of Hopelessness (Squirrel Records, 2005) and Hate the Morning/Joanne (Squirrel Records, 2006), and their debut album Knowing Too Much is out now, also on Squirrel Records.

Interesting pop fact: singer/guitarist Ged played drums with indie stalwarts Boyracer for several years in the 1990s.

Hiya, tell us a little bit about yourselves

We are an indie pop band from Leeds that likes to play joyous full-on noise with occasional quieter interludes. We’re into bands like The Wedding Present and Action Painting! Ged sings while he fights his guitar into submission. Ste apparently plays bass like he’s being electrocuted. Liz was once described as aloof but has since figured out how to rock it without getting her hair tangled in the keys. Eddy is our dependable metronome as long as no-one feeds him nuts right before a gig (this happened once. Not fun, but he lived to tell the tale). Having released a couple of singles (Seeds of Hopelessness; Hate The Morning/Joanne), we recorded our debut album ‘Knowing Too Much’ in the Brudenell Social Club, which is practically our living room and one of our favourite gig venues. The album was released on Squirrel Records earlier this year. Onstage we’re upbeat, loud and occasionally a little ramshackle so expect some feedback and maybe some falling over.

Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past

We just played a gig with Jeffrey Lewis and The Junkyard at The Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds, the only gas lit cinema still in use in the UK. The four of us were balanced in a row on a narrow strip between the footlights and the screen. The crowd had to sit and listen quietly; it was great to have a captive audience where the only thing distracting them from watching us was their huge buckets of pop corn. It was a really memorable experience, with the added bonus of then watching Jeff perform with his homemade videos projected onto the big screen.

Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?

Ged: I am a trained tight rope walker, my dad has worked in the circus for many years and he taught me this very useful skill. Thanks Dad.Liz: I once performed in The Royal Albert Hall. I was seven years old, and I was dressed as a parrot.Ste: I swore onboard the pope mobile.Eddy: My dad runs a religious cult with Blondie's Gary Valentine and Jah Wobble.

What attracted you to play the Indietracks festival?

Indie pop and steam trains, what’s not to love about that? We haven’t been along before, but friends who have say we will fit in well, and lots of them are going again this year so we’re looking forward to having a really good time together. We love indie pop and the people involved; more and more great bands have been added to the bill, so it just keeps getting better. We’re going to fit in as much free train travel as humanly possible. It’d be rude not to...

Exactly! And here's a free Downdime MP3 to download: Knowing Too Much

Indietracks interview #25: Nick Garrie

Three days to go until the festival: three interviews left to bring you! Nick Garrie-Hamilton, better known as Nick Garrie, is a British singer-songwriter best known for his extremely rare 1969 debut album, 'The Nightmare of JB Stanislas', which is considered by many to be an exemplary piece of psychedelic baroque pop. Original copies of the album, which was reportedly only available in France, are known to have been very expensive, and it wasn’t until 2005, when Rev-ola Records issued it, that it was available on CD.

Forty years after this debut, Nick Garrie is back with '49 Arlington Gardens', his long-awaited new album, released on Elefant Records. Nick will play on the outdoor stage on the Sunday afternoon of the festival.

Hi Nick, Indietracks is a pretty unique location - tell us about an unusual place you've played a show in the past
I seem to have played in unusual places most of my life, on mountain tops in the cold setting sun, in little portugese cafes lapped by the sea and last night in a solitary petrol station to a homesick Sri lankan.

Tell us about your plans for this year

September will be 40 years since I recorded Stanislas and Elefant are re-releasing it along with "the cuts" - six songs which never made it onto the album. I've also been recording with Duglas and the BMX Bandits; one session was finished in a little studio up in the hills in northern Portugal and the rest was done in Glasgow over the recent half-term week. It will also include a short memoir I've written called 'I'll read the book'

Do you have any surprises planned for the festival?
If enough kids turn up I'm going to bring them on stage to sing The Clockmaker. And if my lovely daughter is brave enough (from the Twilight video) she'll sing When Evening Comes with me.. a lot of ifs!

What are you looking forward to at the festival?
I'm really looking forward to it and grateful to Luis for asking me. I've played everywhere except festivals and I hope my little songs don't get blown away. I went to boarding school on steam trains and wrote 'Twilight' and 'Nook and Cranny' on trains. I'm looking forward to hearing every band at Indietracks and I wish us all well.

Indietracks interview #24: Le Man Avec Les Lunettes

Le Man Avec Les Lunettes is an Italian project, born in the winter of 2004, arranged as a six-piece band that plays sweet POP with awesome melodies! They have toured Italy and Europe extensively, including trips to France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

In 2008, after some EPs, split singles, and compilations in different formats, Le Man Avec Les Lunettes released their debut album Plaskaplaskabombelibom in Italy on My Honey records and Zahr records, and in Germany by Cake and Coffee records. We're joined by Alessandro for a quick interview.

Hi, tell us a little bit about yourselves
We started four years ago. In the beginning there was only two people, Ale and Fab. They met during a boring universitylesson and they found they had the same musical taste. Actually we're six in total... with a cello, synths, accordions and so on. So we're happy because now it's much easier to reproduce live the layers of sounds that you can hear in our records !

Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past
We played at "Tjuren - camp" at the Emmaboda festival 2007 with Utah Rangers/Salty Pirates, g.o.o.f, Emil from Scaredycat, Lätt som en plätt, Milkman, Klas, The Young Untold, The Besties, Rough Bunnies, Kin and The Faintest Ideas (we found the list on Nils Folke Valdemar's website). It was so nice cause we played among tents and all theartists were almost also the audience. During this "handmade" festival there was sun interrupted by rain and then sun again, so artists were in a tent during the rain and outside during the sun - it was really funny!

What exciting things have you been up to so far this year?
Well... in April we toured the UK for the first time (thanks to Liz from the amazing band The School). Also there was a Japanese release of our album "Plaskaplaskabombelibom" in April by Friend of Mine Records. So our plan for the autumn is to organize a tour in Japan... awesome!!!

Who are you most looking forward to seeing at the Indietracks festival?
La Casa Azul, Speedmarket Avenue, Pocketbooks, Camera Obscura, Emmy the Great, Fitness Forever, One Happy Island, Lucky Soul, Little My, and lots more!

Great - see you next weekend!

Indietracks interview #23: Bonne Idée

Formed in a Gothenburg basement in 2006, Bonne Idée are an unsigned band with a modest but promising output. They haven’t released an EP or album yet, and there are only a few songs on their MySpace page which are sung in Swedish and English. ‘Glassbåten’, which can be found on the Birdsongs, Beesongs... Volume A compilation, has an intro that sounds like it could have been lifted straight from Nico’s Chelsea Girl LP as the song has a wonderful melody and delightful accordion. ‘It Will Be Back’, soars with a delightful chorus sung in French complete with ‘ba-ba-ba-ba’s’ bouncing along until the songs end. They are playing a handful of London dates before Indietracks at the Goonite Club, Fortuna Pop and Twee as F....

Hi guys, tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past
At the beginning of the year we played our song Glassbåten in a tram. Trams a bit of a symbol for Gothenburg, where we all live. For us it is the most common way to transport ourself. Here is the video:



Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?
Olle, the bass player, works as a tramdriver.

What's going to be on your compilation tapes as you travel down to Indietracks?
Abba - Dancing queen, Ted Gärdestad - Fånga en ängel, Håkan Hellström - Himmel blå, himmel blå, Steely Dan - Peg, Studio total - Oh no, El perro del mar - Coming down the hill, The Velvet Underground - There she goes again, Orange juice - Rip it up,

Thanks - look forward to seeing you at the festival!

Indietracks interview #22: Alaska

Alaksa are Torben, Christoph, Patrick, Björn and Carsten, and are based in Hamburg, Germany. They released their debut album 'Nouveau Liberty' on the influential Marsh-Marigold record label in 2005, and also released an EP 'Kings of the Class' on the same label in 1999. The band have dedicated themselves to the fine popsong as a sensitive carrier of beauty and memories. Having said that, Torben's singing is perhaps reminiscent more of the young Billy Corgan than of Stuart Murdoch or even Nick Drake. Torben has joined us today for a quick interview.

Hi, tell us a little bit about yourselves

We are the band Alaska from Hamburg (as there are several bands with the same name all over the world). We started in 1994 (under the name Mrs. Wallace). In 1999 we signed to Marsh-Marigold Records (Hamburg´s eldest indie-pop label). On stage we present a classical line-up (including drums, bass, two guitars, organs). We were influenced by bands such as The Beatles, all bands from Sarah records, The Cure, Belle & Sebastian, The BMX Bandits, Cinerama, The Delgados etc...

What music are you enjoying at the moment?

At the moment we love to listen to: The Draytones, MGMT, The Morning Benders, Friska Viljor, Guillemots, The Divine Comedy, Cinerama, Get Well Soon, Camera Obscura, Pelle Carlberg, Belle & Sebastian, Eugene McGuiness, The Bishops, Benjamin Gibbard, The Deadly Syndrome, The Delgados, Catatonia etc.

Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past
We once played in the engine's area of an old fire brigade ship at the Hamburg harbour!

Who are you most looking forward to seeing at the Indietracks festival, and why?

We are really looking forward to seeing The BMX Bandits and Camera Obscura, because we love their music and we are big fans. And of course "Nick Garrie" - no explanation needed ;)

Thanks Torben. And here's a free MP3 from the band's 1999 Marsh-Marigold EP: Kings of the Class

Indietracks interview #21: Pocketbooks

You might have spotted that we recently published a full schedule for the festival, so you can see when each band is playing and plan your weekends. The festival will have four stages (including the trains), workshops, a selection of discos after the bands, stalls, and 50+ bands ranging from bright new indiepop bands like Northern Portrait and Bonne Idee to household names like Teenage Fanclub and Camera Obscura. Phew! All things considered, it’s been quite a journey since the first Indietracks event in April 2007, when Slow Down Tallahassee, Tottie and today’s interviewees Pocketbooks played to a hundred or so people on the Ripley station platform.

Pocketbooks will be returning to the festival to play on the indoor stage this year. They’re a pop band from London who recall the melodic sounds of bands like the Housemartins and The Sundays. The band has just released their debut album, Flight Paths (How Does It Feel To Be Loved?), as well as a recent single ‘Footsteps’, which they’re giving away as a free MP3 below.

Hi Emma and Dan, tell us a little bit about the band

Emma: We’re two parts Geordie, one part Haddock, one part typical 1930s suburbia and one part wherever Jonny appeared from. We've been playing as a band for a few years now and even managed to get an album together which is coming out this week just in time for Indietracks (massive plug!).

What music are you enjoying at the moment?

Emma: I can’t stop listening to the new Liechtenstein album - it’s brilliant! But apart from that, a lot of rockabilly stuff.

Dan: I have been listening to "the poor man's Captain Beefheart" Tom Waits, getting my ear bent for not listening to Liechtenstein enough and fixating on 60s pop (again...).

Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past

Dan: We recently played at the Big Pink Cake indiepop weekender, which was in a cinema. We had the film "Bicyclettes de Belsize" showing on a big screen behind us as we played. It was really exciting to have them allow us to do that, the film felt as though it was made just for us to play along to!

Emma: Except we all had our backs to the audience at certain points because we wanted to watch the film! We also played out the front of Hornsey Town Hall once, to an assortment of bemused Saturday shoppers and confused kids. Oh, and Jonny has played a rendition of the Bob The Builder song to primary school kids!

Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year?

Dan: Well there’s the aforementioned album coming out. Then we’re recording a Jonathan Richman cover, and off to do some shows in Berlin, Glasgow and Nottingham. Then maybe we’ll have a bit of a rest to watch some telly.

Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?

Dan: Emma can mimic any TV advert jingle you should choose. My favourite is Calgon.

Emma: Dan has an ability to make ageing rock stars laugh, most recently Robert Plant.

What's going to be on your compilation tapes as you travel down to Indietracks?

Emma: Hmm, probably the Indietracks compilation, so I can sing along to the bands and look all knowledgeable at the festival!

Dan: I'll be revisiting some old favourites from the nuggets set, maybe a bit of Slade and some old ska records.

Do you have any surprises planned for the Indietracks festival?

Emma: We have a special guest joining us on tambourine this year. If you knew who it was, you might understand how this could potentially steal the show!

Who are you most looking forward to seeing at the Indietracks festival, and why?

Emma: Art Brut, Mighty Mighty, Teenage Fanclub, Northern Portrait, The Specific Heats, Friends, The Smittens, and the lovely Elefant bands of course. Just about everyone really! Oh, and my entire family, who have all decided to come along this year and pull faces at me from the audience.

Thanks! And here’s a free MP3 of their recent single: Footsteps

Indietracks interview #20: The Understudies

It's now just over a week the festival opens its gates! Hopefully you've now booked those travel tickets, blagged the Friday off work, and found somewhere to sleep (not forgetting our handy accommodation quiz of course). So you can now sit back and relax as we continue to get you better acquainted with some of this year’s line-up.

The Understudies are Brian, Bree, Graeme and Kris; a London collective, by way of Scotland, who make the kind of dreamy indiepop that Felt peddled in their prime, tinged with a caustic wit last seen dribbling from Luke Haines’ mouth. The band released a single, Flicknives, on Cloudberry Records which was described by Indie MP3 as follows: “"If you have ever fallen for bands like The Magnetic Fields, Camera Obscura and Butcher Boy - you'll be right at home with The Understudies and their beautifully presented indiepop. 'Flicknives' is one of those pop songs that manages to drill itself into your brain - making itself comfortable and refusing to leave - it's fabulous little song and one I can't stop listening to. They're a cracking little band"

Graeme and Bree have kindly popped by to answer a few questions:

Hi, tell us a bit about yourselves...

Graeme: The Understudies are Anglo-Scottish melodic indie pop, we're still unsure if twee is an insult. Bree does have a stuffed fox but the rest of us fantasise about being in Grinderman, we have a glock but Brian has a big muff. Our influences go from Arab Strap to Sixties girl groups to Scott Walker, and Brian likes Guns and Roses but we don't talk about that.

Bree: Graeme and I met working in a bookshop, actually that's a bit of a Rock Family Tree story as there are three other people playing this year's Indietracks who have worked there too, bizarre! A railway-related Understudies fact is that singer Brian works on South-West trains when he's not being a quiffed rock god, so if any of the steam train drivers need a hand.....maybe not a good idea after too much fizzy pop though. To sum up, I think that if The Understudies were a song we'd probably be The Rubettes by The Auteurs.

What music are you enjoying at the moment?

Bree: Some of the bands I'm enjoying at the moment have ended up playing Indietracks, which is really exciting for me, like Cats on Fire and Wake the President. I've also just bought The Leisure Society, Grizzly Bear and Jarvis' new album. I have to have a physical copy, I've never downloaded anything in my life, I can't bear not having an inlay card to obsess over.

Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?

Bree:

I ended up joining Aberfeldy a few years ago when the girls in the band left. I helped them out with some summer festivals in Scotland but, what with me living in London, logistics meant that it wasn't to be. I was a massive fan so it felt very odd but I had an amazing time. It's always funny when I hear Summer's Gone on that bingo advert now....

Graeme: Many years ago I once went on holiday to France with a group of people including Eddie Izzard. I chronically name dropped him for years afterwards until one day I saw him walking towards me down the street, I ran into a nearby hat shop because I was scared he would or maybe wouldn't recognise me. He followed me in and started looking at trilbys. I bravely looked at some bowlers for ten minutes. Moral: never go on holiday with your heroes.

What attracted you to play the Indietracks festival?

Bree: Indie pop and steam trains, are you kidding?! We love the sentiment behind the whole thing as well, it just seems really down-to-earth. There are so many great bands out there who don't get the exposure they deserve and not everyone wants to go and not-quite-see The Killers whilst being crushed and sodden. Brian got in contact last year and we nearly ended up playing but missed out. I was having kittens when we were asked to play this year, I still can't believe it. It's going to be an amazing weekend!

Jonathan Rocky Nest reminisces about last year's festival...

(Jonathan from The Rocky Nest outside the tea tent last year! Sigh....remember the sunshine?)

Can you believe Indietracks is only TWO weeks away? Nope? Neither can we! If you're anything like us, you'll be deciding whether or not to make that all-important welly purchase, checking that you're stocked up on waterproofs AND suntan lotion and making those all-important compilations for the journey there.

We know you need something to get you in the mood so - with that mind - we roped in the very lovely Jonathan from The Rocky Nest to share his memories of last year's festival - his first ever Indietracks. Now due to play this year with t'Nest, he remembers the high points of last summer and looks forward this year's fun - from both sides of the stage!


Take it away Jonathan......

I never made it to Indietracks 2007 and when I heard about the sort of weekend it had been, I knew I'd made the gravest of tactical errors. Twelve months later, after the glorious Indietracks of 2008, I went home with a new list of bands I was in love with, a healthy pile of CDs to rule my stereo, and enough fond musical memories to help me through the long winter months.

But if a mysterious stranger had sat down next to me in the tea tent and suggested that just one year later I'd be back at Butterley, on stage, and plugging in my long-neglected bass - I would have laughed, set down my masala chai and taken a sip of whatever they were drinking.

As it turns out, the correct response would have been to ask this modern-day oracle to help me secure the winning raffle ticket for that beautiful Dansette turntable. I still can't believe I missed out by a mere 200 tickets.

Months after Los Campesinos played out the festival and the last train set off back to the real world, I had somehow joined my favourite band from my current home-town. When I first saw The Rocky Nest, by happy accident, they gave me that Indietracks feeling right away. You know the one - you've just discovered a new musical gem and you are not going to let it out of your sight. They hit upon the idea of asking me to join them when they needed a new bassist.

Now, after six-months of gigs, my bass has new strings, the dust is long gone, and The Rocky Nest are on the bill for this fantastic festival. I still can't believe it. When I arrive in Alfreton this year it won't be as a punter, I'm actually going to be playing - as well as trying to get around as much of my, already extensive, must-see list as I possibly can. It is a challenge I am delighted to be facing.

I have to ask myself - am I living in some sort of feel good movie? If I am, the soundtrack is well and truly sorted.

Thanks Jonathan! We'll look forward to coming to watch the set - and good luck! Our must-see list is getting bigger every day too.....

Indietracks interview #18: Countryside

Today we welcome Stephen from Countryside, melodic shoegazers who have been described as producing “epic and dreamy synth-tinged rock” with “hints of Grandaddy and Guided by Voices topped with heavenly laconic vocals and a heady psychedelic sensibility.”

The band recently performed at the Big Pink Cake weekender in Bristol, and we can’t wait to see them in the Derbyshire countryside –surely their natural setting!

Hi Stephen, tell us a little bit about yourselves..

We're an indie rock band from Somerset, currently based in Bristol. We've recently supported Athlete and Secret Machines and are currently finishing off some recordings for a double EP. We're trying to find our way, a bit like a mountaineer without a map or GPS, using the landscape as a guide…

Ooh, and what music are you enjoying at the moment?

Err loads! Chad van Gaalen, Flaming Lips, Earlimart, Built to spill, Super Furry Animals, Metric, Elliott Smith stuff, Built like Alaska...

Sounds like a good line-up to us! Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past.

We played indietracks a couple of years ago in the little church, which was quite weird... we've also played in bowling alleys, tents, fields, bedrooms, strip club, boats and cow shed, so its almost unusual for us to play in a normal venue!

Do you have any surprises planned for the Indietracks festival?

Yes! Nasa have been kind enough to...

OK Stephen – we’ll leave it there! We've got lots more band interviews coming up, so do keep on reading!

Indietracks interview #17: The Pete Green Corporate Juggernaut

Maybe it’s just us, but it’s been an unusual old week, with the bizarre spectacle that was Michael Jackson’s funeral, weather of freakish proportions, people posing for hours as Trafalgar Square “statues” and……Indietracks getting a mention in Urban Garden magazine! The lovely mag, which gives lots of great tips about saving the planet, decided to feature us in their festival guide in amongst all the articles about gardens, solar panels and the like. Woo! Our own Stuart was also interviewed by BBC Radio Nottingham’s (and Mercury Music Prize judge) Dean Jackson, a massive indiepop fan who’s planning to bring you lots of exciting live broadcasts from the festival this year.

Phew – we can’t stand all this excitement! And it’s still only TWO weeks away – how will we contain ourselves until then? A man who knows all about the magic combination of excitement and steam trains is Sheffield’s Pete Green – who has put in two cracking performances at Indietracks previously and is returning this year with his band The Pete Green Corporate Juggernaut – yay! Inspired by Indietracks back in the early days, Pete wrote the fantastic, poignant song Hey Dr Beeching, which talks about the man who originally closed down all of the railways, and which is now available to download. It’s completely free (see details of the mp3 below) but steam train fanatic Pete is asking if fans might like to make a small donation to the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway.

We caught up with Mr Green himself to find out a bit more about his and t’Juggernaut’s plans for the festival…

Hello there Pete Green and your Corporate Juggernaut!! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

The Pete Green Corporate Juggernaut do sparkly pop songs about love, trains, pubs, patience, optimism, lower-division football and the NME being rubbish.

I write and sing the songs and play the guitar and I like trains and cats and Stephen Fry and stripy tops and lots of predictable things like that. People call me twee but I have an inner emo, so all my happy-sounding pop tunes are secretly about decay and death. Dan plays the bass (he plays it very well, in fact), comes from Rotherham, has an extensive wardrobe of excellent T-shirts and is always getting poorly and nearly fainting at band practice. Rob doesn't really like indiepop but he used to be in Monkey Swallows the Universe and I really liked them, plus you have to make allowances for drummers really, don't you? He can play the drum beat from 'Walk This Way' as well, which is frankly amazing.

The three football teams supported by the three members of the band – Grimsby Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton & Hove Albion – were all relegated together from the same division in the same season a few years ago. This means we're like football and music blood brothers. Our fates must remain entangled until doomsday, or until Rob's job means he has to go and live in bloody Middlesbrough, whichever comes sooner.

Our first gig was in May 2008 (although I was playing solo for a little while before that) and we've done 22 altogether now – I just counted. Every single one of them has been fun but the Juggernaut loves playing in Nottingham and Hull the best, I think. None of us has got a car so we go to all our gigs by public transport. Last autumn we did a tour and I spent about a week on the National Rail website working out how to get the cheapest advance tickets. It's a bit of a clat but it means we can spend quality bonding time on the journey talking about our favourite bridges and whether you can still buy long johns and stuff like that.

We're a Sheffield band but hardly anyone likes us in Sheffield. Dan and Rob know loads of people from the Sheffield in-crowd as well, which you'd think might work to our advantage, but no, still nothing. I think all the cool kids here must see the world through irony-coloured spectacles and my songwriting must just be too honest and pure to work on that level. Or too rubbish. Pure, yeah, that's it. Pure. Ahem.

Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past

The other year I did a couple of solo gigs in Grimsby, which is a very unusual place indeed. I grew up and played in my first band there, and went back twice in 2005 to play live there for the first time since I left in 1992. It isn't always a welcoming place, but God bless it, it's been through a lot. The buildings on the fish docks where my dad used to work have been standing derelict for years – a constant, crushing reminder of failure and neglect and being left behind by bigger, grander places. So the Google Street View car was chased out of Grimsby recently by angry locals waving pitchforks and blazing torches, but I got a bit nicer reception than that – although any unpleasantness would have been dealt with swiftly and decisively by my mum.

Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year?

We're halfway through recording an album with the very lovely Pete Bowers out of Horowitz, which we hope will be finished in the autumn. Unfortunately, that's exactly when Rob will probably have to leave the band because of his job moving. He turns off power stations so they can do the cleaning. So our exciting plans for the rest of the year will mostly involve trying to find a new drummer instead of promoting the album with a marathon global tour of the East Midlands. If anyone's reading this who plays the drums and lives within the South Yorkshire commuter zone, please do get in touch! While we're at it, the same applies to any girls who can play keyboard and sing a bit. Ta!

Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?

Rob does the hardest high-fives in the world. Do a high-five with Rob and your hand will sting like a bastard for about a week. If he could hit the drums that hard, he'd be in a death metal band instead.

Do you have any surprises planned for the Indietracks festival?

To coincide with the festival we've just released a download of 'Hey Dr Beeching', the train song I debuted when I played solo at the 2007 Indietracks. It's completely free but we're inviting people to make a small donation to the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway when they download it! It's available right now at www.sparklemotion.co.uk/beeching.

There are one or two other things which may or may not happen. Dan is contemplating an interesting item of stagewear which would mark him out as an Indietracks hero, but I suspect he might bottle it. We might play a shocking cover. I'm trying to sort out some live samples for 'Beeching'. And we're intending to become a four-piece for part of our set by borrowing a member from another band who seem to be quite popular around Indietracks way. It's not yet clear how we'll manage to rehearse, as the other band are based a couple of hundred miles from Sheffield, but then so is my brain during most of our practices, so we ought to muddle through somehow. See you in the queue for a veggieburger. Eeeeeeeeeee!

Thanks Pete – we’re super excited to see what you’ve got in store for us! Make sure you download Hey Dr Beeching from www.sparklemotion.co.uk/beeching asap - it’s perfect for your travelling-to-Indietracks compilations. And don’t forgot your donation – please help to undo a little bit of the damage wrought by the Beeching Axe.