goals and we have great fun! We all believe in the cause massively and that’s reflected in our work. We are insanely passionate about new music and the charity and that’s why we spend all our time doing this.
I chose Multiple Sclerosis Research as my dad suffered with MS for many years before passing away in 2006. I wanted to raise money for the research centre to help them to find a cure so other families in the future don’t have to go through what we did: my Dad was unable to walk, talk or move for several years and it was absolutely heartbreaking. Dad was a massive music fan too and I wanted to do something in his honour, something he would be proud of and would have enjoyed himself. Yard Life is THE place to discover new music; it will be the most fun weekend with lots of wonderful people who carry the same values as us, people who love new music and art and want to raise money for the charity whilst having a great time! As well as the music, we also have a great arts programme, being programmed by friends of ours at Riff Raff Productions. There will be lots of interactive live art projects that you can take part in over the weekend!
We are very lucky to have a super talented and wonderful web designer who is working with us pro bono, Jake Giltsoff. Jake made our first website too and he just gets YL and what works for us. We wanted it to be clean and easy to read but vibrant with our passion for the project. It also incorporates illustrations from the wonderful Amy McCarthy (on our posters too) and the incredible Mr Gresty, who has designed our logo, posters, tote bags and the signage for the festival. We’ve really been taking our time to find the right musicians/DJs for the line-up; we are at gigs almost every night searching high and low for the right people. We’re looking for musicians that we believe in, put on an incredible show and have huge potential, but also artists that believe in YL too. They are all waiving their fees so that we can raise the maximum for charity, which is just wonderful.
Yard Life is my ideal! I am hoping that we raise lots of money for MS Research, everyone has an incredible fun weekend and goes away with a huge list of new musicians/DJs to follow and all the artists have a whole load of new fans. My goal is to keep the YL ethos going whether that’s with more festivals or smaller events, to keep raising money & awareness for MS Research and helping to provide a platform for music/art we believe in. So please help spread the word— we don’t have any big corporate sponsors or budgets for marketing/PR so if you like the sound of us and what we do, please tell your friends and come along and help support.
Interview by Adan Jerreat-Poole
yardlifefestival.co.uk UK