Los Campesinos! @ Glasto 2007

Virtual Festivals: First impressions of Glastonbury?
Los Campesinos: Muddy. The main down point as far as I’m concerned is that there’s lots of walking. At most festivals all the stages are quite close together, but at Glastonbury they’re miles apart. We’ve got a good camping spot; we had a good gig, so we’re just here to get drunk really.

VF: What would your tips be for surviving the mud?
LC: Wellies. If it rains, don’t see bands. If it's raining just stay inside and deal with it.

VF: Any chance of you getting involved in the whole Glastonbury mud sort of thing?
LC: There might be a chance of that actually,  but I really don’t want that to be the case. The drunker I get, the more fun I have, and the more likely I’ll have some sort of celebration in the mud. It could happen to be honest.

VF: How many beers do you think it’d take for that to happen?
LC: About three.

VF: How did the set go?
LC: We enjoyed it very much. It’s pretty strange really. We’re playing Glastonbury and there’s no chance the set could have gone badly – just the fact that we’re here is enough for us.

VF: Did it rain whilst you were on stage?
LC: No, we made the rain stop. We know its luck, but we were very lucky.

VF: How did it feel playing the Park Stage which is Glastonbury’s newest stage?
LC: Really good. Though, if John Peel was alive and he could see what lineup his stage has he would not be happy. I love the New pornographers, The Hold Steady, The Gossip, but generally, the Park stage is just awesome. The best thing is that it’s a really small area, and we’re not really fussed about playing the bigger stages.  We just want to play to people who are enjoying it. I was a bit sceptical about playing in the light to everyone, but we really got into it.

VF: Is it true that Emily Eavis handpicked you to play the Park stage?
LC: Honestly? We don’t really know. As a band we find it quite hard to believe that people like us. We’re extremely self-depreciating. We may not be the best band ever, but we had lots of fun.

VF: What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen so far at the festival?
LC: Those guys in swimming trunks are pretty awesome. There were a couple of guys over by the Queen’s Head posing. We’ve not really seen that much to be honest; everyone just seems to be having a good time. Compared to other festivals there’s such a sense of abandonment here. You see people walking along and they spontaneously burst into song. You don’t really get that anywhere else.

VF: What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?
LC: I was desperate to see MIA, but it’s been cancelled. I did offer if they put on the album that we’d go up there and go along with it, but they wouldn’t have it. I really wanna see Bjork. I’ve got a lot of respect for the Arctic Monkeys, I’ve not seen them before. Nobody else in the world can compete with them at the moment. It’s just not possible.

VF: Describe Glastonbury in 5 words.
LC: “Never mind the bands, fun”. We’re shit at maths, so having problems with the counting thing! Or, how about “Let’s have it large, alright?”