“THE ULTIMATE PARTY” NME
“A FANTASTIC UNPRETENTIOUS PARTY VIBE” THE GUARDIAN
“LEE'S STORY HAS BEEN COMPARED TO THAT OF GLASTONBURY’S MICHAEL EAVIS ” BBC RADIO 1
( dj set ) Crazy P (Live) / Moxie / oxide & neutrino Strong Asian Mothers / Makeness / krywald & farrer hosts: Percolate / Regression Sessions / Wonderland Real Beach Parties / Tiki Bar / Opulance Spa & Wood Fired Hot tubs Glitter Wrestling / Chill out Cinema / wild Drag Shows
RD THIR THIRD head l iner To Be Announced
Kagoule / Shame /Valera / Valerass / Fish Catholic Action / Indian Queens Graceland / Lady bird / Operation Kino Tor / Hunters Loaf / tunbridge wells forum
Tom Grennan / Fickle Friends / id ider Keston Cobblers Club / Hannah Peel Bad Sounds / The Bay Rays / Bokito Weirdo++ Co / SuperGlu / Childcare Weirdo Ambient forest / Hidden Venues Natural Lake / Arts and Crafts Workshops / Kids Activity Camp
Burlesque, Cabaret, Circus Sideshows Retro Gaming / Arcade /Jolly Roger Casino / night Goldmine Rave
Never Grow Old 10/11/12 august
£99 weekend ticket
tunbridge wells - Kent
www.leefest.org
10% Discount. use code “DORKNEVERLAND” at checkout. www.leefest.org
THIS ISSUE... 04 F R A N K CA RT E R & T H E R AT T L ES N A K ES 10 RE A D I N G & L E E DS 12 L E E F EST 14 PA RK L I F E 16 T W I N AT L A N T I C 18 I S L E O F W I G H T
DORK readdork.com
Editor: Stephen Ackroyd stephen@readdork.com Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden viki@readdork.com Assistant Editor: Ali Shutler ali@readdork.com
Contributors: Heather McDaid, Jake Richardson, Jessica Goodman, Ryan Johnson, Sarah Louise Bennett, Steven Loftin
20 L I V E AT L E E DS 26 L AT I T U D E 28 D OW N LOA D 30 S P RI N G K I N G 33 G RE E N M A N 34 S L A M D U N K 36 L I ST I N G S
All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. P U B L I S H E D F RO M
THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
FRANK LEEDS
CARTE R
FOR ‘Q U
TENTH
HAS B
EEN PL
ITE A L O
YEAR
BLOW -OUT.
AYING READIN
G AND
NG TIM
AT TH E
AFTER
E’. 201 7 WILL
ANNU AL BA
BE HIS
NK HO
LIDAY
LAST Y EAR’S EM, TH MAIN STAGE E RATT LESNA KES’ B IT E IS MO VENO RE MOUS THAN EVER BEFOR E. W
MAYH
LIVE P HOTOS ORDS. HEAT HER M : SARA C H LOU ISE BE DAID. NNETT.
I
t’s 10pm. There’s a small tent in a festival somewhere. It’s dark, a bit cold; the crowd are fine, it’s a fairly standard show, nothing exceptional. But Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes feel fucking alive.
This is a defining moment, one where the impostor syndrome that plagues everyone - even one of the British rock scene’s most commanding frontmen – dies. Frank Carter was born to play music, and on that stage, in the middle of the night, he knew it. “We just were so hyped,” he remembers. “We just played without any nerves, no worries. Something happened that day - we just really understood each other, we locked it in, and I felt such elation and happiness being on that stage at that moment that I really took stock of everything that I had. “I felt incredibly lucky to be still playing music for a living. Now, I’m sat 30 storeys up in an apartment building in Melbourne. I’m looking out at the sunset, I’ve just played four shows here, every one of them has sold out. “I’m 33-years-old. I’ve been doing this for a long, long time, and I just feel really lucky. I have a new appreciation and a new respect for music and
6
the industry and our fans that I just couldn’t have had when I was young because I was young. “It’s the kind of respect and appreciation that only comes with experience and loss, with losing all of that. I know what I have to lose now, and so I’m working as hard as I can to make this band be the greatest thing it can be - I believe that we can step into that role as being a really important British rock band.” “I want to give people what bands like the Deftones and At The Drive-In gave me at these festivals,” he explains. “I struggled to get into those tents and what I saw was life changing. I know that sounds a bit much, I’m not saying I’m going to be life changing for anyone, but I want to be. “I don’t want to just play songs. I want to go out, perform and I want people to feel something. Even if they fucking hate me and want to bash my fucking face in, that to me is better than them feeling nothing,” he offers with a grin. “I just want to make people feel something. Anything.” The Rattlesnakes’ first album ‘Blossom’ was created with a vengeance. Burning with the need to make something, the record is vicious, vitriolic but full of a swagger and personality that sets it free as a band in their own right. ‘Modern Ruin’ was made in its immediate aftermath, with more time to consider the full potential of the band, pushing them in ways they had never considered.
“I BELIEVE THAT WE
Albums such as these are the ones that go beyond the casual car ride soundtracks and seep beneath the skin, they crack open the potential of a band’s capability, or – catch you at the right moment – the potential of music itself. Your whole relationship with music can shift, just like that.
REALLY IMPORTANT
CAN BE A
BRITISH ROCK BAND.”
“One of the first records that I ever
listened to that changed the way I felt was ‘Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence’ by Glassjaw,” explains Frank. “Ross Robinson did an amazing job with the way it was
TWIN ATLANTIC’S’S FAVE FESTIVAL MOMENTS HERE AT DORK, OUR FAVOURITE FESTIVAL MOMENTS USUALLY INVOLVE RUNNING AROUND FIELDS ON WARM SATURDAY EVENINGS WITH A PINT IN HAND. FOR TWIN ATLANTIC’S SAM MCTRUSTY, IT’S PLAYING BIGGER AND BETTER STAGES, MARKING OUT NEW MILESTONES AND FINDING NEW FANS AS HIS BAND CATAPULTS THEMSELVES TO THE TOP.
PLAYING READING & LEEDS’ MAIN STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME WAS HUGE FOR US.... It was a big step up into the realms of important bands who have played over the years - hard for us to comprehend that we were getting to be a part of its story. It had taken us a few years to get there, so we totally grabbed the opportunity with both hands and played like our lives depended on it. We felt like we had earned it. It was so worth the wait.
HEADLINING OUR FIRST
SOUNDWAVE
DORK PRESENTS...
FESTIVAL IN THE NORTH
FESTIVAL IN
OF SCOTLAND WAS
AUSTRALIA WAS
SPECIAL.
AN OUTSTANDING
It was the first festival we had ever played and so to return for the fourth time as headliners was a real watershed moment for us as a band, but also as men. We had put our lives on hold for music, but this was the moment I think we all accepted that music had given us a life worth living and being passionate about.
WAY TO PLAY
TWIN ATLANTIC ARE HEADLINING THIS YEAR’S HANDMADE FESTIVAL IN LEICESTER
HEADLINING THE NME STAGE AT T IN THE PARK WAS ICONIC. A MILESTONE. As a teenager, I had watched Kasabian, Nine Inch Nails or the Prodigy massive, massive credible bands - all headline that stage. Walking onto an outdoor stage at night after nearly ten years of songwriting recording and touring… interviews, music videos, festival after festival - that was a crazy moment. We stopped to let what we were achieving sink in, but at the same time, it made us realise that we are maybe capable of even more. It was definitely a show that gave us so much confidence to go on and make an album like ‘GLA’ just a few months after. Having tens of thousands of people turn out and give you all that love and attention will do that in the end! Ha!
AS DORK IS ONE OF THE
OUR FIRST EVER
‘OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNERS’
SHOW IN A NEW
FOR THIS YEAR’S EVENT -
CONTINENT.
HERE’S A FEW OTHER ACTS
On the Main Stage in the summer, when back home was winter. Being so far from home and having people know our music totally refreshed our band. It was the same story for our first shows in South Africa - we played Oppikopi Festival and didn’t know a thing about any fanbase we had there... we were greeted with a few thousand people who knew every word to nearly every song we played. It was as surreal as it was humbling. To know a song you wrote at home, in Scotland, or on tour and then experiencing life to the maximum extremes resonating with people so far from what we ever thought we could achieve. Another moment that breathed a welcome burst of inspiration into the future outlook of our band.
NOT TO MISS...
MUNCIE GIRLS
With one of 2016’s stand out debut albums under their belt, they’re a must see band.
FISH
The buzz is building around Fish. You could say the chips are down. [Sorry - Ed.]
TIGERCUB
Last year’s debut was an underground gem. One not to miss.
IDLES
With dates supporting The Maccabees on the horizon, this Bristol crew are building nicely. HANDMADE TAKES PLACE FROM 29TH-30TH APRIL. GET TICKETS AT HANDMADEFESTIVAL.CO.UK
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L I V E AT L E E DS .C O M
WIN TICKETS TO LIVE AT LEEDS How would you like to come to Live At Leeds this year? It’d be great, wouldn’t it? All those bands? In the sunny North?
2017 G U I D E
SAT U RDAY 2 9 T H A P RI L 2017
To be in with a chance of winning two tickets for the event, visit readdork.com/ liveatleeds2017comp. Hopefully we’ll see you there.
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
‘THENORTH’’S NORTH’’S PREMIER ‘THE PREMIER ALL-DAYER IS IS BACK, ALL-DAYER BACK,WITH WITH LINE-UP THAT THAT BOASTS AALINE-UP BOASTS JUSTABOUT ABOUT EVERY EVERY NEW JUST NEW BUZZYBAND BAND AROUND BUZZY AROUND RIGHTNOW, NOW, AND AND SOME RIGHT SOME LONG-TIME FAVOURITES FAVOURITES LONG-TIME TOO--INCLUDING INCLUDING WILD TOO WILD BEASTS. BEASTS. WORDS:STEVEN STEVEN LOFTIN. WORDS: LOFTIN.
So you’ve been announced as headliners for Live At Leeds, what else is on your radar? Tom Fleming: We’ve got loads coming up, but I’m a bit out of the loop as to what’s announced and what isn’t. For Live At Leeds, I guess you could say we’re alumni of the Leeds music scene. All four of us are actually from a small town, but it’s definitely a great place for us to go. It’s great to see smaller festivals doing so well. It’s a funny cycle because there was a time not that many years ago when loads of festivals opened but then they all seemed to close again, and now we’ve got a new cycle of festivals. It seems like they’re thriving. It’s always difficult for me because I’m so involved, it’s hard to judge where it’s at in that regard, you know what I mean? People want the new thing, and they do change quickly - these days things move quicker. People don’t wait around for records anymore. People seem to like change constantly. Festivals are pretty much an expectation for the summer months, though. This is it, they’re expensive, and it’s essentially a holiday. A holiday to go and listen to some cool stuff and have a good time, and that’s okay, everyone’s allowed to do that there’s no guilt involved - you’re allowed to be a music fan and care about everything else Not enough people in the UK consider European festivals, too. The UK is a little bit of a micro climate in a lot of ways; you always have
bands who are big in the UK but aren’t big anywhere else - British bands, I mean. For American acts - like, thinking back to The Strokes and Future Islands - it was always the UK first and everyone else following suit. We’ll play in Poland, for example, and a band will be on their fifth record and the biggest band in Poland, and they’re from Essex - you know, I’ve never heard of ‘em. The world’s a big place, and we’re very fortunate that we get to travel a lot and you get constant reminders that the UK’s not the world and it’s not the same everywhere. You’ve got take that kind of devotion seriously as well - if all these people are into it, you have to take note of that.
a solid roof over your head, you get paid. It’s very different going in as a performer, and it is a lot of fun because you get to see loads of cool bands and also you see all your friends, people you don’t get to see because you’re always on fucking tour. You have to remind yourself to not take things for granted, if you have an audience at a festival, whatever you may be doing.
What’s the reception like for Wild Beasts in Europe, compared to the UK? It’s very hard to gauge where you do well until you actually go there. We do really well in Portugal, in Turkey, in Mexico, in Spain... I think there’s a language barrier in some places. It varies a hell of a lot by country, and festivals can be very different from one another as well - they can be like huge corporate sponsored things or they can be run by anarchists on reclaimed land, they’re all on the circuit.
What have been some of your highlights? The obvious one that springs to mind is Primavera, playing the amphitheatre by the sea. That was 2011 or 12, that was really awesome. We headlined Field Day that year as well, which was a really huge show for us at the time, and there’s also one in Switzerland which is really amazing, pretty small but it’s really really gorgeous. I’ve been in this band pushing ten years and the amount of festivals that we’ve played... some don’t exist anymore, some we’re playing for the first time, there’s just so many! So many people as well, you need to remember that they’ve come to see shows. At any one festival, you’re playing shows bigger than you warrant on your own, pretty much whoever you are, unless you are literally the headliner.
It’s a whole other world of festivals. Absolutely, there are some really good ones out there, and ones I would never have heard of unless I was playing them. When I was younger I pretty much never went to a festival, only club shows. I guess being in a band has kind of ruined festivals for me because you’re on the other side of the fence, you’ve got showers, you’ve got
Festival crowds must be entirely different from your own shows? It’s an amazing thing to have all those people. Obviously, you do set yourself up for a battle because when you’re playing your own headline shows people come deliberately to see you. You still want to be the best you can be, but you know they’ll stay with you - whereas at festivals you’ve got
21
Listen Up! WITH ALBUM ONE OUT, SPRING KING ARE READY FOR ROUND TWO. WORDS: JESSICA GOODMAN.
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I
n the time since the release of their debut album last summer, Spring King have gone from strength to strength. The band that introduced the beginning of Apple Music’s flagship radio station Beats 1 in 2015 have grown from underground heroes to a certified sensation, and it’s an excitement that shows no signs of fading. “People come to a Spring King show because they know that they can jump around and lose themselves and no one’s going to have a problem with that,” Tarek Musa describes. “I just see people having more and more fun at our shows.”
Spring King are set to play this year’s Are You Listening? festival in Reading. Raising money for Reading Mencap, the festival also plays host to The Big Moon, Bad Sounds, Shame, Kagoule, Tusks, Matt Maltease and loads more. Taking place on 22nd April, tickets are on sale now from areyoulistening.org.uk.
Sure enough, as the number of people who turn up to their performances has grown, so has the energy that floods these concerts. “When we play a show – nowadays especially, since the album’s come out – people sing along to every word,” the drummer marvels. “If it’s connecting with the fans, if people are jumping around at the shows, I’m very, very happy.” Indeed, there’s no place the band would rather be than celebrating the mutual adoration they share with their fans. “We try and give it everything we’ve got,” he enthuses, “even if it’s only 100 people, or 50 people.” Anyone who’s seen the group play would find such a statement impossible to refute. Whether performing in rammed venues, on festival stages, or to packed arenas, this is a band who always push themselves to their limits. “I nearly died!” Tarek exclaims, thinking back to a festival the group performed at two
What’s going on ? 21ST APRIL 2017
2Q
DERBY, UK Who’s playing?: Milburn, Temples, VANT, Fickle Friends, Will Joseph Cook, The Big Moon, Muncie Girls How much is it?: £25 + booking fee 2qfestival.co.uk 21ST-23RD APRIL 2017
SAFE AS MILK
PRESTATYN, UK Who’s playing?: Butthole Surfers, Shirley Collins, The Residents, Forest Swords, Actress, Blanck Mass, Anna Meredith, Grouper, Warm Digits How much is it?: £199 + booking fee safeasmilkfestival.com
DORK PRESENTS... 22ND APRIL 2017 ARE YOU LISTENING? READING, UK
Who’s playing?: Spring King, The Big Moon, Kagoule, Shame, Tusks How much is it?: £10 + booking fee areyoulistening.co.uk 22ND APRIL 2017
WRONG
DORK PRESENTS... 29TH APRIL 2017 LIVE AT LEEDS LEEDS, UK
LIVERPOOL, UK Who’s playing?: Bo Ningen, The Wytches, Heck, Part Chimp, USA Nails How much is it?: £20 + booking fee wrongfestival.com 28TH-30TH APRIL 2017
FESTEVOL GARDENS
LIVERPOOL, UK Who’s playing?: Wild Beasts, The Parrots, Ulrika Spacek, Pulled Apart By Horses, PINS, The Big Moon, INHEAVEN, Cabbage, Black Honey, Dream Wife, Anteros, Her’s How much is it?: Early bird tickets are £25 + booking fee
DORK PRESENTS... 28TH- 30TH APRIL 2017 HANDMADE
An award winning, multi-venue festival in aid of Reading Mencap.
handmadefestival.co.uk
LEICESTER, UK A totally independent music festival! Who’s playing?: Twin Atlantic, Frightened Rabbit, Superfood, JAWS, Muncie Girls, British Sea Power, Cabbage, Demob Happy, Honeyblood How much is it?: Early bird tickets are £25 + booking fee
The North’s leading metropolitan new music festival. Who’s playing?: Slaves, Wild Beasts, Jagwar Ma, Let’s Eat Grandma, Jaws, Superfood, The Big Moon, Black Honey, The Magic Gang, Pale Waves, Get Inuit How much is it?: £32.50 + booking fee liveatleeds.com 29TH-30TH APRIL 2017
GROEZROCK
MEERHOUT, BELGIUM Who’s playing?: Deftones, Parkway Drive How much is it?: €110 + booking fee groezrock.be 30TH APRIL
STAG & DAGGER GLASGOW, UK Who’s playing?: DMA’S, Gold Panda,
Baby Strange, Dead Pretties How much is it?: £25 + booking fee. staganddagger.co.uk
Reverend & The Makers, Foy Vance How much is it?: £105 + booking fee beardedtheory.co.uk
30TH APRIL
25TH-28TH MAY 2017
MANCHESTER, UK Who’s playing?: HMLTD, Goat Girl, Shame, Plastic Mermaids, Flamingods How much is it?: £23 + booking fee. staganddagger.co.uk
LIVERPOOL, UK Who’s playing?: The Velvet Underground, The Kooks, Metronomy, The Kills, Declan McKenna, Fickle Friends, VANT, The Cribs How much is it?: From £35 + booking fee liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk 26TH-28TH MAY
SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY
11TH-13TH MAY
FOCUS WALES
WREXHAM, UK Who’s playing?: British Sea Power, John Bramwell, Islet, Gulp, Cabbage How much is it?: £35 (early bird) + booking fee. focuswales.com
DORK PRESENTS... 18TH-20TH MAY 2017 THE GREAT ESCAPE
BRIGHTON, UK The annual south coast new music and industry jamboree. Who’s playing?: Rag n Bone Man, Stevie Parker, The Magic Gang, Abattoir Blues, Pumarosa, King Nun, Marika Hackman, Dream Wife, Will Joseph Cook How much is it?: Early bird tickets are £55 + booking fee greatescapefestival.com 25TH-28TH MAY 2017
BEARDED THEORY
DERBYSHIRE, UK Who’s playing?: Skunk Anansie, Slaves,
LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY
DOT TO DOT
MANCHESTER, BRISTOL & NOTTINGHAM, UK Who’s playing?: Sundara Karma, Amber Run, The Growlers, Louis Berry, Honeyblood, Pinegrove, Cherry Glazerr How much is it?: £12 + booking fee. dottodotfestival.co.uk 26TH-28TH MAY 2017
WE ARE FSTVL
LONDON, UK Who’s playing?: Craig David, Armand Van Helden, Basement Jaxx How much is it?: £162.50 + booking fee wearefstvl.com 27TH-28TH MAY 2017
COMMON PEOPLE OXFORD & SOUTHAMPTON, UK Who’s playing?: Sean Paul, Wild Beasts, British Sea Power, Loyle Carner, Becky Hill How much is it?: £52.50 + booking fee commonpeople.net
27TH-28TH MAY 2017
LOVE SAVES THE DAY BRISTOL, UK Who’s playing?: Little Dragon, Kate Tempest, Mura Masa How much is it?: £95 + booking fee lovesavestheday.org 27TH-28TH MAY
SLAM DUNK
BIRMINGHAM, LEEDS & HATFIELD, UK Who’s playing?: Enter Shikari, Don Broco, Tonight Alive, Against Me!, Neck Deep, Deaf Havana, Boston Manor How much is it?: £44 + booking fee slamdunkmusic.com 28TH-29TH MAY
DREAMLAND
MARGATE, UK Who’s playing?: The Kills, Carl Barat, Broken Hands, Dead Pretties How much is it?: £25 + booking fee dreamland.co.uk 29TH MAY-4TH JUNE 2017
PRIMAVERA
BARCELONA, SPAIN Who’s playing?: Arcade Fire, The xx, Run the Jewels, Bon Iver How much is it?: €80 + booking fee primaverasound.com 2ND-4TH JUNE 2017
ROCK AM RING
NURBURG, THE NETHERLANDS Who’s playing?: Prophets of Rage, Pierce The Veil, Frank Carter How much is it?: €195 + booking fee