Jack Black Shortlist Q&A

Ella Eyre in bus crash horror

Ella Eyre got quite the scare when she 'dodged death' in a crash on her way back from Glastonbury festival.

The 20-year-old pop babe was forced to cancel a planned appearance at an Irish music festival when her tour bus was written off.

But she managed to escape in one piece after being rudely awakened by the drama.

‘I didn’t even know we crashed – I was asleep!’ the If I Go singer revealed to Guilty Pleasures in an exclusive chat.

‘I woke up when I slid off the seat. I was in the living room with my band and everyone was chilling with laptops and stuff and suddenly the bus halted really quickly,’ she continued.

‘My keyboard player flew over the table, over two people, banged his head against the door and landed on the stairs. It was horrific. But he was alright in the end.’

The husky voiced Londoner insisted her bus driver was not at fault for sending her tumbling to the floor.

‘What happened was this woman had turned out to do a 360 because she was stuck in traffic and she didn’t look to see if anyone was coming and the bus had no time to stop. I dodged death!’ she said.

Eyre – able to laugh about the accident now she's safely back home – is hoping for better luck when she hits the road this weekend.

She is on the bill at the Wireless festival - performing in London today and in Birmingham on Sunday.

And the singer - whose real name is Ella McMahon - said her audiences can rest assured that she will give her all each time she gets on stage.

‘I will never mime. Anyone who comes to my shows will hear that my vocals are real. Mainly because I am out of breath half the time!’ she laughed.

[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures, Friday 4 July 2014]

M.I.A reveals Glastonbury break in

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]

Foster The People recall run in with Snoop Dogg entourage over Nandos chicken

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]