On Monday we gave you the essential drum & bass festival listings.
On Tuesday we gave you an insider’s guide to DJing at a festival with N-Type.
On Wednesday we got the ultimate festival tunes from 18 big players in bass game.
There’s plenty more festival stuff to come from us in the coming months but we’ll end our festival special week with this… A survival guide by Bristol’s rising star Interface. If anyone knows the score, he does: he grew up in Glastonbury and has been going to the motherfest since he was 13!
“I’ve never missed one since!” he grins. “It had a huge effect on my life. I’ll always remember being 13 and walking towards the Pyramid Stage. I think either Dodgy or Cast were playing and I still remember the feeling of the bass drum to this very day. It was a lot louder back then and I could feel the bass drum go right through me. I was like ‘wow, that’s fucking amazing!’ Ever since then I’ve been addicted to low frequencies.”
Who’d have thought an experience involving a flash-in-the-pan Scouse indie band would lead to massive cuts on Clear Skyz, Audio Zoo, Lockdown, Chronic and Gutter Funk? It also led to an innate understanding of festival’s undiluted playground spirit… And a job constructing festival stages before he became a producer!
“We used to run around having the time of our lives,” he laughs. “I remember crowd surfing to Cyrpress Hill and loads of different indie bands; going right to the back of the crowd and surfing all the way to the front. Getting moved away by security and going back to do it all over and over again. Before I became a DJ and producer I made stages I’d go round setting up stages for all the big festivals and sets. Reading and Leeds and V and classical gigs. Pretty much every big festival.”
With a festival CV like that we’d be foolish not to heed his pearls of party wisdom…
Interface’s festival essentials
“I love the whole survival aspect of it all. I’m not that sensible with packing to be honest. Most the time I just go with a bag, a sleeping bag and some money. You sleep when you need to sleep then wake up and get back involved!”
Bottom line basics: “You need wellies and waterproof clothing. Learn from my mistake – I used to go in trainers and put plastic bags around them. Do not do this! You’ll go home with trench foot and your feet won’t be the same again for weeks! You also need a good waterproof. Even if looks like only the occasional showers are forecast you will need this. Make sure it’s a good quality one too, nice and light.”
First aid: “Hand sanitiser is essential. Aloe vera wetwipes are a very strong look, too. They clear you out. I tell you what’s a good one? Immodium. It stops you going for a shit. I’m not really that bothered about the toilets, bad smells don’t bother me, but if you don’t want use the toilets then that’s a good call. Oh, and a little Vicks inhaler works wonders and all.”
If I had a bottomless bag: ”I’d pack a quad bike! And maybe a nice, massive, cosy sofa. But you find them anywhere.”
Festival chat up lines: “For me festivals aren’t about this. It’s not about looking good or chatting up girls. It’s about spending time with mates, having a wicked laugh and checking out great music. Leave the lady chasing for another time.”
How to avoid the arseholes: “Avoid anyone with a screwface! Do the smile test – if they’re not smiling at a festival they’re a fucking $*nt!”
Deal with the line-up clashes: “I used to worry about this a lot when I was younger but now the music is a lucky extra. Especially Glastonbury, there’s been times I’ve only seen one or two bands. I just pick one or two gigs I really want to watch and anything else is a bonus. I get more excited when I stumble on something that I’ve never heard of. Go for different vibes; world music, jazz, something you wouldn’t normally hear. It’s great to see bands you really want to watch but it’s the acts that surprise you that you’ll remember.”
Just get involved: “Don’t worry about anything! You can be as prepared as you like but you can’t prepare for the madness. I know people who don’t even take a bag and just get stuck in. You’ll find your feet.”
Interface’s Desperate Measures is available on Drum&BassArena 2012. Find more of his material here. And look out for two interesting releases on Gutterfunk. In June he launches a new soca-jungle project called Just Now with Trinidadian musician Laser Beam and on May 14 you’ll find Hardwork (with Minus)…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzrqVQBXDaQ