This weekend all the rockiest rock bands are heading to Donington Park for Download Festival. Alongside headliners Avenged Sevenfold, Guns N’ Roses and Ozzy Osbourne, you’ll find a number of Upset’s faves – from former cover stars Black Foxxes and Milk Teeth, to cover-stars-in-waiting The Faim (right, guys?!). We sent a bunch of ‘em our patented (not really) Download 2018 Q&A to find out what their plans are, and who they’re looking forward to checking out (spoiler alert – almost everyone said Guns N’ Roses)…
Hi Max from You Me At Six, congrats on playing Download this year – are you all ready for festival season?
Yes, we are excited to come back to Download, it’s been a few years for us, and it’s always such a great vibing festival. We are as prepared as we can be for festival season (aka never ready as you don’t know what’s ever gonna happen).
What’s your top tip for surviving a summer spent in fields and on the road?
Having essentials ready no matter what, so sun cream, hay fever tablets, a raincoat just in case (as you can never tell with the weather) and a ton of booze to make sure you have a good time.
Do you have any fond memories of Download from years gone by?
Best memories of Download was 2009 when Limp Bizkit played the main stage, all of us lads in YMAS watched and were pretty drunk. For some reason, we decided to throw each other up in the air as a joke and then other people wanted to get involved. So we created essentially a new entire mosh move.
Which bands are you most looking forward to seeing there this year? Will you be meeting up with any pals?
It should be a good day, our mates in Marmozets are playing the main stage, so that will be fun to check out. As for meeting up with mates, we will no doubt all be back stage having a good time causing some ruckus.
Download’s got a new Greenpeace campsite this year – do you think festivals have a responsibility to do some good by raising awareness of things like environmental and/or social issues?
Yes, I do think the festival has to take some responsibility for environmental issues such as plastic waste and using as many recyclable products as they can. If you imagine a festival, a lot of plastic does get used and wasted and knowing what’s going on with the plastic waste in the ocean; it’s now the time to set an example to people. It’s great seeing festival’s starting that off this year by banning plastic straws – it’s a good start for something that’s going to help the World out in the long run.
If you were running your own festival, are there any ‘do good’ initiatives like the above that you’d want to introduce?
I think plastic waste is a big issue and I would drive people to use recyclable products. I would also try and help people who have mental health issues; if there’s a way you could have multiple huts or tents at a festival when people might need help, then I think it would be a great way to tackle problems that a lot of people are facing today.
What else are you up to this summer, do you have a busy few months coming up?
We have a few busy months coming up; we have a pretty busy summer with festival appearances but also new music in the pipe line, so I’m sure we will be working toward the new record too. Hopefully, we can preview something new at Download…
