M.I.A is well known for her Bad Girls antics and has confessed she once broke into the Glastonbury festival without a ticket.
The 38-year-old London rapper smuggled her way in to the legendary music event when she was a student at Central Saint Martins.
‘I went there with thirty people. When we got there, we had to dig a hole and make a tunnel to get through the fence because nobody had tickets,’ the star – real name Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam – cackled, adding that they also forgot to bring a tent.
‘Somebody lent us this piece of plastic. It was a massive sheet that could fit twenty people under. But it wasn’t a tent. It was very open. We just had poles and put the sheet on top like a roof. It was well ghetto. It was like going back to my experiences of living in India or something like that,’ she explained – adding she also struggled with the lack of hygiene that comes with attending a week-long music event.
‘It was disgusting. I stayed in the same outfit for three days. It was gross. You’re in the same thing and everyone is getting off with each other – although I’m totally fine with that,’ she laughed.
M.I.A will be headlining this years’ Lovebox festival on June 19 but advises fans that festivals are the least likely places to find love that will last.
‘It would be like falling in love at a rave. I always thought that was it when I found someone at a rave – that was the thing. But it never was. You would see them the next day and be like: “Wow! You look so… different”.’
Catch M.I.A at: Benicàssim, Hove Festival, Lovebox, Glastonbury. Her fourth studio album, Matangi, is out now.
[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures 2014 Festival Guide, Friday 2 May 2014]
Luke Pritchard has confessed he relied too heavily on alcohol as a crutch while working through personal emotions while creating The Kooks new album.
‘I was being very self-destructive. I was confronting a lot of stuff about my dad at the time and there is a song, See Me Now, which is on the album which is about my dad,’ the 27-year-old frontman said.
‘He died when I was three. When something like that happens when you are really young, you go through phases where you deal with it. I poured it all into our music. But I didn’t want to make a depressing record, I wanted to make one that would make you cry but make you sing as well.’
The London-based singer says he almost lost himself to drink but managed to pull himself together in order to confront his own mortality and make his best music to date.
‘Drinking for me got really bad at a time and it changes you when you are like that. You become more aggressive and everything is s**t. Before you know it, it’s been months and months and you can’t remember the last time you didn’t have a drink and you’re sat there going “what am I doing? This is insane”.’
‘I was like “right. I want to do something f***ing amazing now. I’m in a place to take this to another level. What am I on this planet for? Why do I exist?” I want to leave my mark on the world.’
Catch The Kooks at: Lollapalooza, Mallorca Rocks, Ibiza Rocks. New single, Around Town, is out June 15 and album Listen on September 1.
[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures 2014 Festival Guide, Friday 2 May 2014]
Foster The People have revealed they once got thrown to the floor by Snoop Dogg’s overzealous entourage at a music festival.
Frontman Mark Foster recalled the incident and hopes his UK experience will be a little less manic when the band take to the stage at Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds this summer.
‘There was a huge group of people waiting to get into some area after playing at a festival in England. I think there was a Nandos or something backstage and everybody was really hungry so we were all waiting,’ the 29-year-old recalls.
‘And then these giant bodyguards came storming in and just threw everybody out of the way. And it was Snoop Dogg’s entourage trying to get to the Nandos. I remember getting, like, thrown,’ he laughs.
With the band’s new single, Best Friend, out on June the 23rd, Foster hopes he can make new friends with his fans when he get’s the chance to mingle with the crowds at this summers’ events.
‘I remember at Coachella when I was 20, artists were all just hanging out and playing music together and it was super communal and kind of a hippy vibe,’ he reminisces.
‘I love walking into environments like that where there is no pretention and no cultural divisions and people are bonding over something, like music or whatever. It’s what you remember because it is out of the ordinary and people can kind of put down their preconceived ideas of society and kind of be a kid again.’
Catch Foster The People at: Glastonbury, Hove Festival, Reading & Leeds, Lollapalooza. Their latest album, Supermodel, is out now.
[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures 2014 Festival Guide, Friday 2 May 2014]
Iggy Azalea confesses she can’t remember if she’s ever been a punter at a music festival – and admits she hates the idea of spending a weekend camping.
The sassy 23-year-old – who will perform at Wireless festival in London and Birmingham – says she’s not exactly down with festival style either.
‘I can’t remember if I have been as a punter because I am always performing, but I hate tents and I hate camping – it’s not for me,’ the blonde babe admits.
‘Gum boots – what you guys call wellingtons – are not particularly my scene,’ she went on, adding her opinion on the inevitable festival wear necessary for outdoor music events in the UK.
Having grown up in the Australian outback, the Fancy singer also adds the fear of spiders and snakes invading tents is more like a myth.
‘I love the reputation that a kangaroo would be stomping on my tent. It’s not likely,’ she laughs – revealing she never really had a need to go camping growing up.
‘We could just stay up all night. It was warm where I grew up so it wasn’t a big issue, you know? We would just be out there partying.’
Catch Iggy Azalea at: Wireless Festival, Lollapalooza. Her debut album, The New Classic, is out now.
[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures 2014 Festival Guide, Friday 2 May 2014]
