Festival Q&A:
The Blinders

Who else are you excited to see?
JB Barrington. He’s essentially Sleaford Mods mixed with a version of Noel Gallagher when he’s in a non-wanker mood. Eloquent, witty and side-splittingly funny. No Hot Ashes. Their shows are one of the only times we get to disco dance at a gig; wonderful people also. Cabbage. No explanation needed really. Mossley über alles!

What’s your best festival memory?
That’s tough. We’re all avid festival goers. Charlie is lucky enough to be attending Glasto this year. Having a boy-cry at Johnny Marr during There Is A Light perhaps? Either that attaching a bottle of Buckfast to each of hand of our poor mate. The tape was this industrial strength stuff. He didn’t make to 3pm, bless him.

What are your festival essentials?
Friends. Wet wipes. A nice thick poncho for nights. Sunglasses. You don’t need a tent – totally over-rated.

How does playing a festival differ from playing your own gig?
Comfort, both onstage and offstage. There are no boundaries at a festival. No line to cross and get thrown out by some jobsworth. You wanna piss on a stranger during Mumford and Sons? Go for it – you and the guy will laugh about it afterwards. Seriously though, it’s just a jungle of love and is truly a wonderful experience to play.

What’s your favourite part of playing a festival?
We could be shallow and say copious amounts of free booze. In all honesty, it’s the vibe. It’s completely out of the ordinary, and quite hard to describe. Something maybe along the lines of everything feeling very much in its right place, and that there ain’t no qualms in anything that happened before this moment, or anything that’s going to happen after this moment. It’s just the vibe, you know?

Rec Rock is working closely with Big Issue North to highlight the problem of homelessness. Why did you choose to get involved?
Involvement in issues like this are key, regardless of the backlash. What we mean by that is when a few lads like us comment on the issue of homelessness, even though us ourselves are seemingly free from that nightmare, people’s collars seem to get a little hot and their chins recede into their necks. Fuck that. Homelessness is very real and very dangerous. All you have to do is take a short walk around Manchester city centre. Stop looking at your feet or mobile phone and simply open your eyes. It is terrifying. Everyone deserves a chance at normality and, contrary to what the papers will tell you, homelessness isn’t normal. It can and will be solved. You’ve just got to get behind whatever institutions or charities are out there right now. Perhaps if we were all a little less self-interested, the world around would look a little less abhorrent.