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!

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!

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:

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.

Mixtape swap: don't forget to bring your mix CDs for the mixtape swap.

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!

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:

• Sheffield – Derby – Leicester – Kettering – Wellingborough – London
• Nottingham – London

We have checked with East Midlands Trains, who confirm that any seat reservations on these services will still be honoured. If your train is not running, your ticket will still be valid on the next most convenient service.

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

Revised timetables for these services can be viewed at the following page:
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

Please call the number below for information about these services.

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.

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.

Workshop interview #8: The Bunty Collective

Name: The Bunty Collective (Gillian Elam and Xtina Lamb)

Name of workshop: Bunting Making Party

A little bit about you?
We are both designer-makers with a passion for bunting. Xtina Lamb is an artist and illustrator producing lovely prints and books with her Japanese Print Gocco Machine. Gillian Elam is part of Fabric Nation, recycling vintage fabrics into nostalgic and vibrant homewares and accessories including a collection of cats, dogs and other strays from the 1950s and 60s.

Description of your workshop:
The buntees (bunting makers) will be have a choice of kits (£2 to £4 to cover the fabric costs) to make bunting to deocrate their tents, cars or themselves. The bunting will be ready-made and materials provided to customise and decorate it. There will be a prize for the best. We will also be holding a competition to design an 'Indietracks' camping pennant in the style of old camping and caravan club pennants. We will have a little collection of these on display as well as Xtina's fabulous gocco printed bunting. The winner will have their design printed up and everyone taking part will receive one!

What are you looking forward to the most at Indietracks?
Its hard to choose, such a wonderful combination of woodlands, steam trains and fab music and meeting lots of new people with a waeakness for bunting!

Do you have any camping tips?
Decorate your tent! Bunting, flowers, flags, glo-sticks.

Have you been to the festival before? Do you have any Indietracks stories/gossip you'd care to divulge?
We are first-timers, but know all about you!

http://www.xtinalamb.co.uk/
www.folksy.com/shops/FabricNation

Thanks! You can catch the workshop at 2pm on Saturday, in the Workshop Wigwam.

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

Workshop interview #7: Craft Guerilla

Name of workshop:
I'm still working on this but how about "Craft Guerrilla hosts Crafternoon - a DIY Craft Event"

A little bit about you?
Craft Guerrilla is a group set up to work with independent Crafts People, Artists and Designers Makers of quality hand made goods. The aim of the Craft Guerrilla is to join forces with other creative individuals and set up craft events in vacant or unused venues and associate with "friendly" businesses and other Craft groups. The Craft Guerrilla Army is taking on the world for a better hand made existence! We've had enough of soulless, mass produced tat and so has the average consumer.

The Craft Guerrilla was born out of a shared idealism with regeneration, recycling, sharing of knowledge and the revaluation of the hand made movement at its heart. We want to show people the true meaning and value of quality hand crafted designer goods through our ethos and principals of cooperation, collaboration and experience
gained by working within a creative community. We're all for learning and that's why we are promoting our DIY craft events and our work shops - "classes for the masses". We're a peaceful bunch but we're looking to create opportunities, we're ready to take action, take over and DIY our own opportunities.

Description of your workshop:
At the workshop we will be selling our craft kits for a small fee which we have made especially for the Indietracks festival. The kit will be to make a felt mix-tape badge and is exclusive to this event. Everything you need to make the badge will be included in the kit and the Craft Guerrilla tutors will be on hand to help with the threading of needles, which stitches to use and anything else that you need to help you in making your badge.

What are you looking forward to the most at Indietracks?
All of it! We're stupidly excited about the festival!

Do you have any camping tips?
Put matches for lighting your camping stove in an old film canister so they don't get wet and use Swan Vestas so they can be struck on anything.
Keep your loo paper in the plastic wrapper it comes in and make a small hole at the bottom to pull it out of so you have your own waterproof toilet roll dispenser.
Keep a few black bin liners around, they're great for making emergency wellies and raincoats out from. (Why do my camping tips all have to do with keeping yourself and your kit dry? Must be the English weather!)
Finally, an inflatable mattress and electric pump will ensure the best nights sleep you've ever had when camping. Well worth the extra rucksack space!

Have you been to the festival before? Do you have any Indietracks stories/gossip you'd care to divulge?
I haven't, but ask me again next year...

www.craftguerrilla.com

Thanks! You can catch the workshop at 4pm on Sunday, in the Workshop Wigwam.

Workshop interview #6: DIY Fanzines!

Name: Pavla Kopecna/ Twee as Fuck

Name of workshop: DIY fanzines!

A little bit about you?
I run Twee as Fuck club, fanzine and record label together with Rory and Elaine, which involves putting on, releasing and writing about our favourite indiepop bands. One of the funnest parts is putting together the quarterly fanzine, where we interview our favourite musicians and other characters from past and present.

Description of your workshop:
In this workshop you'll learn how to put together and put out a simple fanzine and maybe even try your hand at making your own on the day.

What are you looking forward to the most at Indietracks?
Camera Obscura and The Bobby McGees! And the general mayhem and larks that apparently go on.

Do you have any camping tips?
Two words - "Thermal Underwear".

Have you been to the festival before? Do you have any Indietracks stories/gossip you'd care to divulge?
I'm afraid this is my first time. I was going to go last year, but my car broke down about 200 metres into the journey dammit.

www.tweeasfuck.com

Thanks Pavla! You can catch the workshop at 3pm on Sunday, in the Workshop Wigwam.