Indietracks interview #23: The Good Natured

Less than two weeks to go now and we've been keenly examining the final list of stage times on the Indietracks website - we've got farm visits and stationwear shop perusing to schedule! Today we catch up with Sarah from The Good Natured for a brief chat. Although the band is mainly made up of Sarah, she is also joined by friend Hamish for live perfomances. Combining warm, electro-acoustic disco beats with tales of love, loss and spaceships, the band featured on a Huw Stephens Introducing podcast in January. Apparently they are a band who "love to dance" - we're sure they won't be the only ones having a little shimmy in the loco shed this year!

Hello The Good Natured – nice to meet you! Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?

Hi, my name is Sarah, I am 17 years of age and I like to make up little songs on my grandmother’s old keyboard

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

I saw Alan Titchmarsh on a ferry once!

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

The Cure's greatest hits, Gang of Four, Strange Idols, Love is All, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Napoleon IIIrd

Thanks for popping in to say hello Sarah! We’ll look forward to seeing your grandmother’s keyboard on display at the festival!

As ever, we’re giving away a free song – do be sure to check out The Good Natured’s Our Very Last as you’re doing your last minute packing! The file is actually an MP4, so you will need to convert it before you upload it to your iPod.

FREE MP4 Download: Our Very Last

Next up: Glasgow Indie Eye Spy’s Chris Gilmour reminisces on his highlights from Indietracks 2007.

Indietracks maps and programme!

It’s only about two weeks until the festival, so today, instead of rambling on about llamas, sing-alongs, popstar celebrity spotting or essential fashion items, we’re hitting you with some useful factual information. Firstly, we can (semi-exclusively) reveal that The Parallelograms and The Kick Inside have been added to the bill for the Saturday main stage. For full details of who’s playing when, please visit the Stage Times page on the Indietracks website.
And when you’ve done that, you’ll probably be wondering how you can walk briskly (don’t run kids!) between stages so you don’t miss your favourite bands. Fortunately help is at hand, as Emma’s designed this rather fetching map:

Firstly, don’t panic, there’s also a ‘fully-stocked’ bar inside the main stage building, as well as another inside a train next to the main stage. Also, you might like to know that a map will also be included in the official Indietracks festival guide, which you can pick up at the festival for a small price. The guide will include:

Performance/stage times
Steam train timetable
Bands biogs
Details about the discos
Details of the open-mic acoustic stage
Where to eat
Local transport links
Things to do after the festival (e.g. where to upload photos, chat on messageboards etc)

And if you’re wondering how to find Ripley station, the Travelodge, the campsite, the nearest supermarket, or the bus stop, you might find this Indietracks Google map useful. And, as always, if you’re missing any information, try this Anorak Indietracks Questions thread, or drop us a comment.

See you at the festival!

Indietracks interview #22: Lardpony

Just when we didn't think Indietracks excitement could get any more exciting, we wake up not only to discover that that our Sunday headliners Los Campesinos! are on the cover of this month's Plan B magazine (hurray!), but also to find out that the festival even got a mention in the Easyjet inflight magazine. The word is now spreading around Europe at some pretty high speeds and altitudes. Look up to the skies, and there's someone on a flight reading about the festival right now!

And they're just in time to find out about Lardpony, who are possibly the most local Indietracks band. Well, them or the Deirdres, we're not sure. The band are made up of Tom, Mandy, Kristian and Nathan, and they've been playing pop music together since 2003, influenced by the likes of Hefner, Pulp and Grandaddy.

Jaunty keyboard tunes drive the sound, complimented by light-hearted and thoroughly entertaining lyrics. Their first album ‘This Is Lardcore’ on their own Cowboy Democracy label has been followed up by the second, ‘The Greatest Invention Ever’ which is available for free download from http://www.lardpony.co.uk/mp3/invention/ (Radiohead style donations are gratefully received!)

Having taken time off in recent months through the production of a Lardpony baby (aw…), many will be hungrily anticipating Lardpony’s Indietracks debut. We caught up with the band for a few questions...

Hiya, please tell us a bit about yourselves?

We're Lardpony, from Derby - just down the road from the Indietracks site. We got together in 2003 after Tom booked a gig despite not having any other band members. After a frenzied recruiting spell and a mere two practices, we debuted with an incredibly shambolic gig that went down surprisingly well. We slowly evolved into a real band, writing songs together, practicing every week and EVERYTHING, and managed two albums and a tour before we were forced onto hiatus by the impending family-hood of two of the band. Now that they've adjusted to being parents a bit, we are BACK! Whenever we can get a babysitter, anyway!

I guess that doesn't say anything about what we sound like - one review said "like a more-straightforward Bearsuit or a more-manic Pulp, depending on how you look at them." We were pleased.

Have you played any gigs to rival Indietracks for uniqueness?

We accepted a request to play a birthday party for a man who would later become Nathan's boss. It was his 50th, with full family in attendance, and he asked for a 45 minute set... I think we only had about 30 minutes of material at the time so we were forced to flesh it out with dodgy covers and songs we had dropped from our set (with good reason)... It was a bit of a nightmare, the highlight was looking out over the audience during 'Zombie Bride' to see one of his elderly relatives stuffing her fingers into her ears. The other band were an incredibly professional cover band, needless to say they went down a bit better.

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

Apart from trying to fit in gigs and practices around childcare, we were asked AGES ago to submit some songs for a Cloudberry Records single - unfortunately we didn't manage to get them finished before we took a break, but hopefully if Roque is still interested then we'll manage to get that sorted this year! Also there's this indie pop festival in July that we're all quite excited about :)

And who are you looking forward to seeing at Indietracks?

Darren Hayman for me - Hefner were one of my favourite bands of all time, and Darren's solo gigs are a brilliant mix of new and old songs that always make me smile. I'll be setting up camp in front of the Church stage to make sure I get a good spot!

Thanks Lardpony! And here's a free MP3 from the band:

Free MP3 Download: Lardpony - Teenwolf

Next up: The Good Natured talk Alan Titchmarsh and more...

Indietracks picture bingo!

We know there’s around a thousand bands playing Indietracks at the last count, and you won’t probably won’t even have time to force out a little “eeeeeeep” in between sets, but we reckon even the most hardcore indie-poppers amongst you might need a bit of a sit down occasionally. And, as you sink your Real Railway Ale, soak up the sunset and keep an eye out for any rogue llamas on the loose, do have a stab at our Indietracks Picture Bingo game. Don’t let all those minor indiepop-celeb spottings and icky tent experiences go to waste - start totting up your points…..they could come in handy in months to come! What for exactly, we’re not sure, but points are always good - that’s all we know.

Erm, at this point we should probably confess that this game is not actually bingo as such, we couldn’t work out how to do the cards (!), but the game is easy enough to follow. Just accumulate points as you spot or do the things on our list. We’ve made allowances for bonus points, but do feel free to add your own spottages! And, if you want to shout “bingo!” at random moments anyway, well………..I guess we’ll see you down at the acoustic gazebo along with all the other over-excited, hyper-ventilating indiepop kids! Enjoy…

1 point – You spot someone wearing an aged Belle and Sebastian tee-shirt. And an extra five bonus points if it’s too difficult to read from far away because it’s so faded.

5 points – You see organiser Stuart Mackay walking around looking a bit stressed, phones tightly clamped to each ear. Take a bonus point for every non-essential phone he’s using.

10 points – You spot and accurately identify at least two members of Red Pony Clock – there’s just so flippin’ many of them! No points if you’re just guessing names like Dave though.

50 points – You manage to swipe Jimmy from Bobby McGees’ hat – don’t let the llama anywhere near it though, or you’ll never get it back. In fact, halve your points if the hat is later spotted on a llama's head.

100 points – You persuade Pete Green to lead a campsite sing-along (Did we mention we’re obsessed with this? If it happens and someone captures it on camera, please, please send it to us!) Subtract 10 points if he goes all shy mid-sing-along.

500 points - You find a random stash of booze in a roadside bush and manage to drink it before Matloob from the Roadside Poppies catches up with you. Deduct one point for every can unopened by the time he finds you.

750 points - You manage to locate and bring along a bouncy castle for the festival. We've heard there isn't going to be one this year, and our Indietracks fantasies have been slightly less bouncy as a result...

1000 points - If you manage to find Santa's secret grotto aboard one of the steam trains, complete with full on Christmas decorations and children's fancy dress angel outfits. However, be warned - every single one of your points will be deducted if you try to half-inch any of the goodies - that kind of behaviour is definitely frowned upon and the station-mistress will be after you quicker than you shout "But I just love choo-choos!"

10,000 points – If you see Dave Gedge in conversation with a llama. Take a bonus point (and maybe a couple of hours of sleep) if the llama appears to be talking back.

50,000 points – If you spot Stuart Murdoch serenading Stuart from the acoustic gazebo/ grassy knoll, whilst simultaneously declaring Indietracks to be “better than bread”. Take about a billion points and declare yourself the winner if you convince him to come and perform every year.

Ooh, and multiply all of your points by three if you have any llama-related anecdote by the end of the festival, no matter how dull.

Good luck! And do let us know if you have any other point-spotting ideas, cos we're just about exhausted from thinking up things we'd like to see! All this Indietracks-visualising is making us see imaginary llamas everywhere...can you tell?

Indietracks interview #21: Colliding Lemons

Over at Indietracks Towers we've been mightily busy promoting and sending out the shiny new Indietracks compilation CD, flyering everywhere we can think of and at the same time trying to squeeze in some much-needed festival shopping! Despite all this activity, a couple of us found time to decamp to Glastonbury last weekend, where we caught Indietracks faves The Kabeedies and Los Campesinos! playing on the BBC Introducing and Other Stage respectively, and on the way home we caught up with BBC Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq at Castle Cary station, who told us how much he had enjoyed The Kabeedies' set. Both bands were on tip top form, and we just can't wait to see them do their thing for all the Indietrackers - we just know they're going to be brilliant!

But, as well as the more established bands, there's tons and tons of brand new groups playing - including glamorous girl-poppers the Colliding Lemons. Reminiscent of cutie-era Primal Scream and the Dolly Mixtures, they're sure to bring handclaps and swoons a-plenty, and we already can't wait to shimmy along to their summery melodies...

Hello there Colliding Lemons! Tell us a little bit about yourselves..

Well, we're just five girls from Bristol, who started a band to get out of tutor lessons at college! We never realised how much we would enjoy it, and after three years we have played gigs both locally and further afield, and have recorded some of our songs- something we never thought would happen!

Indietracks is held on a steam railway. Tell us about an unusual place where you've played a gig in the past.

We played in a truck for our first gig at college, it was cool but we couldn't hear a thing we were playing!

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

Three of the Lemons are in Australia for three months, travelling and generally enjoying themselves! Four of us are off to university in September, but we plan to have a summer full of gigs, recording and song writing first!

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

It varies- we love everything from Michael Jackson and Nirvana to The Pipettes- so we may have to create a few CDs to keep us happy!

And...finally, do you have any surprises planned for the Indietracks festival?

If we tell you it would no longer be a surprise......

Thanks for your time girlies! We'll look forward to catching up with you in three weeks' time!

Next up: Excitable scamps Lardpony talk about babies, scaring elderly relatives and their love for Hefner!

Indietracks interview #20: Punk TV

We're nearly there! Only a couple of weeks to go, so hopefully you've picked up your tickets, found somewhere to sleep and are just settling down to listen to some of the overwhelming choice of bands Indietracks is serving up. And to offer a helping hand, please sit back and let us introduce the latest in our series of Indietracks interviews!

Punk TV were apparently one of the most-talked-about independent bands in Russia last year. Originally from Siberia, Alex, Volodya and Kostya, formed the band in early 2004 and then headed to Moscow two years later. With two full-length releases, a 2005 debut ("Punk TV") and a follow-up in 2007 ("Music For The Broken Keys"), Punk TV grabbed people's attention with their romantic electronic melodies, crashing guitars and infectious vocals. They've been compared to My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Joy Division, as well as being dubbed the Russian Chemical Brothers" after appearing at several major Russian and European festivals. They've even played shows alongside The Rapture and Happy Mondays at huge shows in Moscow. We're delighted to have them at the festival!

Hi there, Punk TV! You'll be playing on the Church Stage by the steam railway - it's a pretty unique place to play! Have you played anywhere unusual in the past?

We played at an open air festival in the valley in Gornii Altai in Russia, It's near the Mongolian border and there were nomads on horses in the audience.

After the festival, do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year?

We are very excited about recording and mixing our new album in the second half of the year.

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

Alex is a great ice-hockey fan, Konstantin is crazy about cats and beer and Vladimir likes to sleep and watch old movies :-)

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

Electronic, The Charlatans, Death in Vegas, The Ravonettes, Roy Orbison...

What attracted you to play the Indietracks festival?

Some of our friends told us many good words about last year's festival. We know that some Russians are looking to come to the festival this year and at the same time, it's a good reason to visit Derbyshire - we've never been there before. We're hoping to see lots of great new bands for us, and of course, The Wedding Present - our school-day heroes!

Do you have any surprises planned for the Indietracks festival?

We're going to play several new and as yet unreleased tracks, but surely having a band from Siberia is a good surprise in itself isn't it? :-)

Thanks very much. And, as always, here's a free MP3 from the band:

Free MP3 download: Punk TV - Every Minute Is OK

Next Up: Skipping lessons at college for your musical enjoyment - Colliding Lemons!

Indietracks warm-up gigs!

Less than four weeks to go now, and we just know you’re all itching to see all this weird and wonderful music, but did you know that many of the Indietracks bands are also playing warm-up gigs up and down the UK between now and then? You don’t have to sit at home every night staring at the countdown on the website willing time to speed up you know – instead, why not have a look at our round-up below or, better still, visit the gigs page at www.indietracks.co.uk/gigs, where new shows are being added all the time!

On the other hand, if you are an Indietracks band looking for a show, or a keen promoter looking for bands to put on or even hosting a show that we don’t know about, then this is also the page for everyone to come together. Just follow the email link and your details will be added in just two shakes of a llama’s tail.

Thursday 10th July
St Christopher + The Social Services + The Candy Twins + The Lieutenant's Mistress @ The Gramaphone, London

Saturday 12th July
The Bobby McGees + tbc @ The Macbeth, London

Saturday 12th July

The Starlets + tbc @ Sunflower Lounge, BirminghamSaturday 12th July - Amida + The Just Joans + The Occasional Flickers @ Henry's Cellar, Edinburgh

Monday 14th July

MJ Hibbett + Pete Green: Press Launch for "My Exciting Life In ROCK" @ The Cross Kings, 126 York Way, London

Tuesday 22nd July

The Smittens + The Zebras + Red Pony Clock @ Sunflower Lounge, BirmimghamWednesday 23rd July - Airport Girl + The Zebras + Pocketbooks @ The Buffalo Bar, London

Thursday 24th July

Even As We Speak + Mexican Kids At Home + Hong Kong In The 60s + The Give It Ups @ Jamm, London

Thursday 24th July

Airport Girl + The Zebras + Pocketbooks @ Junktion7, Nottingham

And, if you’re anything like us and need group therapy when it’s all over, you’ll probably be looking for somewhere to get together and blow your choo-choo whistles in an attempt to re-live the weekend, so here’s more gigs providing the perfect solution!

Monday 28th July

Ballboy + Lime Chalks @ The Flapper, Birmingham

Tuesday 29th July

Ballboy + The Bobby McGees + The Smittens + Red Pony Clock @ Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff

Wednesday 30th July

The Zebras + Still Corners + Hush Arbors @ The Gramaphone, London

Thursday 31st July

Ballboy + The Smittens + Pocketbooks @ The Luminaire, London

Friday 1st August
The Smittens + more tbc @ Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Friday 1st August

Ballboy + The Zebras @ Exeter Hall, Oxford

Indietracks 2008 - an indiepop compilation

Make Do And Mend Records are releasing a double CD of bands playing at this year's Indietracks festival - and it's available from today!

The CD features 45 fantastic tracks, ranging from dancefloor fillers and punk-pop explosions to dreamy acoustic folk and gorgeous summer harmonies.

The compilation showcases a number of bands who are already causing excitement on national radio and across this year’s summer festivals, including The Kabeedies, The Voluntary Butler Scheme, KateGoes, Esiotrot and Slow Down Tallahassee.

They’re joined on the compilation by some of indiepop’s most celebrated names. The double CD includes never-released-before songs from ex-Hefner legend Darren Hayman and and acclaimed ukulele popsters The Bobby McGees, as well classic tracks from John Peel favourites Ballboy and Milky Wimpshake.

The compilation also introduces a wave of new and exciting bands from around the world, from A Classic Education’s dreamy Italian folk pop to Punk TV – Russia’s answer to the Chemical Brothers!

You can pick up a copy now for a bargain £6 (incl. p&p) from: http://www.makedoandmendrecords.co.uk/ or http://www.indietracks.co.uk/

Tracklisting:

CD1
01 Slow Down Tallahassee Baby Don't Cry

02 The Just Joans Hey Boy...You're Oh So Sensitive!

03 Shrag Forty-five 45s

04 Milky Wimpshake I Wanna Be Seen In Public With You

05 Allo, Darlin' Emily

06 Marjit Vinjerui Good Thoughts

07 The Manhattan Love Suicides Clusterfuck

08 Darren Hayman & The Secondary Modern Amy And Rachel

09 KateGoes Happy Dancing

10 The Occasional Flickers When The Sky Looks So Gray

11 Silverdrop Drown Her

12 Airport Girl Tenderness

13 Pocketbooks Falling Leaves

14 Mexican Kids At Home Female Thief

15 Lardpony Trance Anthem

16 Still Corners History Of Love

17 The Smittens Half My Heart Beats

18 The Zebras Push Our Way To The Front

19 The Good Natured How Can I Believe In You?

20 Liechtenstein Stalking Skills

21 The Bobby McGees U'r Enemies Enimy Is Yir Pal

22 Punk TV Every Minute Is OK

23 Cocoanut Groove The End Of The Summer On Bookbinder Road

CD2

01 The Kabeedies Sideburns

02 Esiotrot My Chemical Romance Saved My Life

03 The Retro Spankees Charlie's In His Garden

04 Little Things Brand New Rollerskates

05 The Deirdres Fun To Pretend

06 The Foster Kids Will We Ever Make Love Again?

07 The Mai 68s Totality For Kids

08 Tortoise Shout! Shanti

09 Red Pony Clock Don't Forget Who Your Friends Are

10 ballboy The Guide To The Shortwave Radio

11 The Rosie Taylor Project The Sun On My Right

12 Mono Taxi We Wanna Get Some Real Fun

13 Dirty Fingernails Bruno

14 The Voluntary Butler Scheme The Eiffel Tower & The BT Tower

15 Silence At Sea Come Home

16 Roadside Poppies Cute Susan

17 Strawberry Story Boys (from The Story) D&D Remix by Bernard O'Reilly

18 A Classic Education Badlands & Owls

19 Zoey Van Goey Two White Ghosts

20 The Starlets All To Make You Feel Brand New

21 Socks & Shoes And We Might Even Meet Dave Gedge

22 Amida The End Of The Affair

Heaven Is Above Your Head's Must-See Indietracks Bands!

When we saw that one of our fave indiepop blog writers, Kris from Heaven Is Above Your Head had started to compile his list of must-see bands for Indietracks, we just had to poach him for our blog! Of course, Kris is also in A Smile and A Ribbon, who charmed the pants off just about everyone at last year's festival with their delicious, sugary-sweet melodies. Now, let the boy himself guide you through some of the top names to catch at this year's shindig.....

Hello kids, I'm taking a rare break from my steady intake of bubblegum pop to write to you - I hope you appreciate the profundity of my gesture! Joining the ranks of the past witnesses heard here already, I can only agree that last year's festival was indeed the best thing that happened all year...

Like some of the previous guest writers on this blog - Pete Green, MJ Hibbett and Emma from Pocketbooks - I too had the immense honour of performing at the festival and I too wish that A Smile and a Ribbon could play again. And in fact I'm still having a hard time digesting that this year the festival will be even BIGGER and thus BETTER. How is this even possible? Well....you needn't look further than the line-up, which is what I'm here to talk about. Apparently the powers-that-be deemed my blog's list of things to see at Indietracks worthy of appearing here, albeit in an improved and slightly more eloquent guise.

We might as well confess, we've all been glancing at the line-up, eagerly circling bandnames with a Big Marker Pen For Big Matters and guiltily crossing things out with the Even Bigger Marker Pen For Things I'd Rather Not See Just Now. Priorities and allegiances - here's what i'll be tripping over my own feet to catch:

The Manhattan Love Suicides

…no words needed, right?

The Zebras

My favourite Australian band at the moment. I hope they bring their own instruments, because i wake up with their 12-strings jangling in my ears every morning.

The Wave Pictures

Can anyone have missed David Tattersall's greatness by now? If they have, it'll hit them in the face as The Wave Pictures take to the main stage on Sunday. Lines like "we get down on our knees and pray to be leather-bound black diaries" will leave you grovelling on the dusty floor.

Esiotrot (pic below)

Schmesiotrot was one of 2006's best albums and Seven Apples coming out later this year promises to be at least as good. If there's a time for nice guys, this is it.

The Lodger

I keep forgetting these boys are actually English. On their new second album they're climbing those Highlands Peaks that the sun has trickled orange juice on. It's like the good old days, indeed.

The Voluntary Butler Scheme

The School aren't playing, but drop-out Rob is, which is nearly as deserving of an A. When he gets a record out it'll be among the best of the year - any year. No sniggering at the back!

Gregory Webster (pic below)

Just one question: who'll stand in for Elizabeth on the carousel tunes? I can't do it! Razorcuts / Sportique and Saturn V songs he should be able to handle though.

Comet Gain
I've only seen them once, and that is NOT enough. Will they play "The Kids at the Club"? They'd better!

Red Pony Clock

Another American band...where does Stuart get his money from? Especially since I've heard this band has so many members they're falling off the stage half the time. As the title of their new album testifies, they've seen a lot of the ground.

The Wedding Present

How fast is David Gedge's wrist these days? You know those gadgets that count your steps which you can strap to your legs? I'm putting one on David's guitar, and anything below seven strums per second will be unacceptable! The new album is great and all, but SOMEONE is bound to be twisting his arm for the hits.

ballboy (pic below)

A band after my own heart - no capitals here. They may not speak in lower case, and they may be from the capital of the country they hate, but Gordon won’t need to teach me the art of kissing.

The Just Joans
Somehow i managed to live in Glasgow for a year without catching this duo live once - a grave mistake soon to be amended. I’ve pre-ordered the new Weepop! EP – have you?

I doubt I'm allowed much more space here so i'll just cram the rest in here: Still Corners, The Smittens, Pocketbooks, Liechtenstein, Milky Wimpshake, The Deirdres, The Occasional Flickers, The Good Natured, Zoey van Goey, Cocoanut Groove. There! Ooh, and everything’s been ordered in its eeeeeeeee-factor, did I forget to say that?

Thanks Kris! We'll be sure to check out some of your hot tips - and we'll be sure to say you sent us!

Indietracks interview #19: Red Pony Clock

From the sun-kissed shores of San Diego comes Red Pony Clock, an ever-changing musical collective with a penchant for jubilant horn arrangements, effervescent vocal harmonies and confessional song-writing. Primarily a recording project based on the songs of Gabe Saucedo and Tony Prudhome, the live Red Pony Clock line-up can at times swell to double digits. Members switch back and forth between a variety of instruments, including trombone, banjo, accordion and vibraphone. Their latest release, God Made Dirt, on Happy Happy Birthday To Me records, marks their first foray into professional recording. They're clearly a very bus band, but we managed to catch up with them to find out how their preparations for Indietracks are coming along...

Hello there Red Pony Clock, nice to meet you! Hope your Indietracks preparations are going well! Soooo...what are your thoughts on music at the moment and the new crop of indiepop bands?

It's a great time for music, the internet has put so much of it at our fingertips, and it seems to be causing more and more bands to try a little harder to stick out. It's finally becoming OK for bands like us who use less traditional instruments. When we first started out, people made fun of us for employing accordions and clarinets, but it seems a lot more acceptable now. Easier access to music from all over the world means there are more diverse influences seeping in, and it's very exciting to see what people are doing with them.

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

Upon our return from Europe, we'll begin recording our second album, "Whatever Forever". This one's going to be taped almost completely live, with the already 12 piece band being augmented by even more horn and string players. The sound we're going for is that of a classic 60's orchestral pop record.

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

Our bassist Gerry is actually an aspiring Hollywood filmmaker who recently made a video for our song "My New Best Friends". You can find it on Youtube.

Sounds interesting! One last question: what attracted you to play the Indietracks festival?

We love the choo-choos!

So do we! If you just can't wait to see Red Pony Clock at Indietracks, we've got a free song for you to download in the meantime - enjoy!

Free MP3 download: Red Pony Clock - There's Nothing Wrong With Getting High

Next up: Indietracks braces itself for the "Russian Chemical Brothers" - Punk TV