Editors @ V Festival 2007

United Kingdom | by Ross Purdie | 23 August 2007

VF: How did you enjoy your set today?
Editors: “It’s great to be playing on a stage in a field absolutely full of people. It’s a little bit too early. We had a bit of a late one last night. I went on stage last night with Basement Jaxx dressed as a monkey and as you can imagine, I was a little bit lubricated beforehand but it was really great fun.”

VF: Where was that?
Editors: “At Lowlands Festival in Holland. It was awesome, it really was. They are such a great live band – it’s ridiculous. It was the first time I had seen them. I know their tour manager and I knew they had costumes - I’m always up for getting into a costume.”

VF: Were the rest of the band dressed up?
Editors: “No, just me. There was only one monkey suit.”

VF: So it was really just you in a monkey suit?
Editors: “Well they had a horn section dressed up as apes as well but I was the most active ape on stage at the time.”

VF: You guys have played a lot of festivals this year, how does V compare?
Editors: “See this is quite different; the crowd you get is slightly more pop based I guess and the atmosphere is too. I mean Pink played today so it’s more of a pop festival rather than a rock and roll festival. In a way it is really fantastic because we are playing to a bit of a wider audience and to see them reacting the way they did today is rather pleasing. Even though it is not one of the ones you expect to enjoy the most it actually turned out that way.”

VF: I think that a lot of people find that. They kind of write off V festival, then they get here and actually have a wicked time. That said do you feel a little out of place on the same bill as McFly and Pink?
Editors: “No because I dressed up as a monkey last night. No really though, not at all. It’s really not a problem; I think we mix just as well as everybody else?"

VF: Do you prefer playing the classic songs that everyone goes for or do you have a bigger rush from playing the new songs?
Editors: “We played one today called: ‘When Angus Shows’ and it has taken a while for us to work out how to play it. We worked on it for ages in the studio trying to figure out how to play it live because there is so much to it. But we played that today and it feels great. We had played it a couple of times in a little Australian tour a week and a half ago but this was the first time playing it properly and in the UK. So it was a bit of a debut tonight, it felt fantastic.”

VF: Is there anyone here today who you are especially looking out for?
Editors: “Absolutely definitely Kanye West, he is just such a wonderful writer - amazing. I love his new track with Daft Punk ‘Stronger’.”

VF: Do you think you guys would ever take that sort of direction?
Editors: “We use some electronics on the album, both actually. We play with a few zappy sounds but I don’t think we will do a Coldplay and get the riff from Kraftwerk. But we will always keep an open mind. We will keep writing music we find exciting and that probably involves doing something different every time.”

VF: In terms of tomorrow at Staffordshire, are you playing the same kind of set or are you going to take it as it comes?
Editors: “I think it won’t be too far off. It is difficult working out how long to play for. Sometimes we either over-estimate or underestimate how long it is going to take. But yeah, I think it is going to be very similar I would expect.”

VF: What tips have you got for people to enjoy V?
Editors: “Look out for each other and always wash you hands.”

VF: What’s next for you guys?
Editors: “Well, we’re playing with Razorlight next weekend which should be fun. Then we are going over to the States for a month. We’re spending the whole of September in the States and then we are coming back for a UK tour in October.”

VF: Have you played much in the States before?
Editors: “Yeah, we have actually. We spent quite a lot of time there last year. The problem is no one in America buys any music apart from middle of the road bands. Country artists are big, R n B is big but no one really buys indie. To go there you have to spend a lot of money and it’s really expensive, we mostly make a loss. We have a bit of a balance though, we want to go there as much as possible and play all the towns we can but you really have to get over there quite a bit to assert yourself. That said, it’s always a load of fun, we don’t really care how much it costs. It’s a really great place to tour.”