It’s safe to say we’re pretty damn excited for what is about to happen next Friday (March 31st). We’ve booked 5 of our favouritest bands as part of our involvement with the countries best grassroots festival, Threshold. We also finally get to work with a top band that we have admired for a long time in Table Scraps. We spoke to them about stuff and it is interesting. Take a look
You guys have been plying your trade on the DIY music scene across the country for a few years now. What's the biggest show you've played to date?
All shows have their appeal in one way or another. We love the energy of small DIY shows, and the type of environment that breaks down barriers between band and audience is always fun. Our biggest show would probably have been opening for The Stranglers at The Copper Rooms. 900 capacity and completely rammed with tough old punks. Like the best tough old punks, though, and including all The Stranglers themselves, everyone was really nice and into it. We came back a few months later to open for Buzzcocks, which was also a special one.
And the best?
The best would probably be a recent one. We were asked to come and play in Madrid, as they're all crazy about garage rock over there (never seen more leather jackets anywhere else in the world) and it was like Beatlemania had arrived. We didn't buy a single drink all weekend and our livers endured a lot. We finished on a Sabbath jam and they went nuts. Good times.
How important do you think independent festivals that celebrate grassroots and DIY music like Threshold are?
Independent festivals are absolutely vital for the DIY scene. Most well-known festivals tend to be absolutely closed off for anyone who doesn't have "proper" representation. We've all been there ourselves in previous bands and it wasn't really our style. There's very little consideration for the acts or any kind of curatorial element. To have been hand-picked and put on a bill, like this one at Threshold, is the best antidote and makes you feel like there are people out there making a real effort to discover new music and make proper stuff happen.
Listen to Table Scraps’ debut album ‘More Time For Strangers’ below
MORE TIME FOR STRANGERS
You’ve got quite the journey from Birmingham to Liverpool for your set at Threshold. Lugging yourselves and your equipment long distances and back is not an easy task but we all do it for a good reason of course. What’s your favourite thing about playing shows away from your own city?
We obviously love Birmingham - it's the home of metal! Everywhere else has its own way of doing things, though, and Liverpool is one of our favourite places. Everyone is a lot more open and wears their heart more on their sleeve. Scousers also have excellent bullshit detectors which we respect immensely. Playing to new people is always a thrill as they'll always be honest with you and they'll be genuinely excited by you. It reaffirms why you do it in the first place!
All shows have their appeal in one way or another. We love the energy of small DIY shows, and the type of environment that breaks down barriers between band and audience is always fun. Our biggest show would probably have been opening for The Stranglers at The Copper Rooms. 900 capacity and completely rammed with tough old punks. Like the best tough old punks, though, and including all The Stranglers themselves, everyone was really nice and into it. We came back a few months later to open for Buzzcocks, which was also a special one.
And the best?
The best would probably be a recent one. We were asked to come and play in Madrid, as they're all crazy about garage rock over there (never seen more leather jackets anywhere else in the world) and it was like Beatlemania had arrived. We didn't buy a single drink all weekend and our livers endured a lot. We finished on a Sabbath jam and they went nuts. Good times.
How important do you think independent festivals that celebrate grassroots and DIY music like Threshold are?
Independent festivals are absolutely vital for the DIY scene. Most well-known festivals tend to be absolutely closed off for anyone who doesn't have "proper" representation. We've all been there ourselves in previous bands and it wasn't really our style. There's very little consideration for the acts or any kind of curatorial element. To have been hand-picked and put on a bill, like this one at Threshold, is the best antidote and makes you feel like there are people out there making a real effort to discover new music and make proper stuff happen.
Listen to Table Scraps’ debut album ‘More Time For Strangers’ below
MORE TIME FOR STRANGERS
You’ve got quite the journey from Birmingham to Liverpool for your set at Threshold. Lugging yourselves and your equipment long distances and back is not an easy task but we all do it for a good reason of course. What’s your favourite thing about playing shows away from your own city?
We obviously love Birmingham - it's the home of metal! Everywhere else has its own way of doing things, though, and Liverpool is one of our favourite places. Everyone is a lot more open and wears their heart more on their sleeve. Scousers also have excellent bullshit detectors which we respect immensely. Playing to new people is always a thrill as they'll always be honest with you and they'll be genuinely excited by you. It reaffirms why you do it in the first place!
Threshold Festival will be another big hit for the band, what does the rest of 2017 have in store for Table Scraps?
In terms of our future plans, we're marching on to make 2017 our biggest year yet. We're just finishing up a new album (recorded by ourselves, of course) and will be doing all kinds of fun releases and shows to support it. We're also video artists by day, so making lots of fun stuff is always important to us. We've got our eye on the continent, as always, and we'll be eating lots of pizza, too.
MATES FEST ’99 takes place on March 31st at Unit 54 (Unit 51), Baltic Triangle as part of Threshold Festival. Tickets can be purchased from the following link:
TICKETS
In terms of our future plans, we're marching on to make 2017 our biggest year yet. We're just finishing up a new album (recorded by ourselves, of course) and will be doing all kinds of fun releases and shows to support it. We're also video artists by day, so making lots of fun stuff is always important to us. We've got our eye on the continent, as always, and we'll be eating lots of pizza, too.
MATES FEST ’99 takes place on March 31st at Unit 54 (Unit 51), Baltic Triangle as part of Threshold Festival. Tickets can be purchased from the following link:
TICKETS