News Reading and Leeds 2010: Pulled Apart By Horses

There was probably no point asking Pulled Apart By Horses whether they liked Reading or Leeds the most, as they’ve probably dreamed of playing the latter since, well, since it began. Here’s their answers to our quick Q&A.

Have you played Reading and Leeds before?
James Brown: Twice now. This year will be our third time. We’ll be banned soon!
Tom Hudson: I’m super excited about but pretty nervous at the same time. The first year we played I ended up puking up in front of everyone for about 10 mins at Reading and the next year we played the Transgressive stage on Sunday night and I ended up splitting my shin open on a metal barrier and losing a heck of a lot of blood. Good times!
Robert John Lee: Yes, this is our third year in a row. As with every gig this band plays, there was lots of craziness going on. A few highlights have been; Tom jumping into the crowd and coming back with a considerable chunk of his leg missing. Getting told over the PA, DURING the set by a sound man ‘If you don’t turn it down we’ll turn you off,’ we replied by asking the crowd their opinion, they loved it, so we just carried on. I met Dave Grohl briefly, and had dinner with Stephen Carpenter from the Deftones. And all of this fuelled by gallons of alcohol.

Who are you hoping to see while you’re there?
JB: Queens of the Stone Age, Biffy Clyro, Weezer, Foals, LCD Soundsystem, etc. Can think of a few this year. But with playing you always end up missing bands due to going up or down to the next festival.
TH: Same as James but with extra added Modest Mouse. Been waiting to see them for years!! Also wanna see Rolo Tomassi, Wild Beasts, Exit International and Blacklisters: we’re chums with them all and want to give them our support!
RL: For me it’s all about WEEZER. I’m hoping to hear plenty from Pinkerton. And QOTSA should be awesome. I’ll go and check out Limp Bizkit again, after seeing them last week, but only because Wes Borland’s new costumes are ace. Also very happy for our Welsh buddies Exit International who are playing this year on the BBC intro stage.

Who do you wish were playing the festival?
JB: Cast, The Verve, Oasis, Gene, Menswear, Sleeper etc.
TH: Babylon Zoo, Bombfunk MC’s, Rock Bitch, Aqua and Kula Shaker.
RL: Obviously, I would have loved to see Nirvana play Reading, but that ain’t happening. To be honest, I don’t think there are many huge bands that are worthy of playing the main stage any more. I’d like to see a lot more underground bands getting a shot at it, some less obvious stuff like Lightning Bolt and Oxbow.

Who would you like to see collaborate over the weekend?
TH: I’d give Biffy extra rock points if Josh Homme came on to play his solo on their song ‘Bubbles’ with them. They’re on after too so you never know.
RL: Josh Homme with Biffy on Bubbles, I’ve got a feeling that might happen.

Who would you least like to clash with at the festival?
JB: Atari Teenage Riot for sho’! Never seen them and need to see them.
TH: Modest Mouse. Hope we don’t miss them, it’s tough trying to juggle things about when your floating about between Leeds & Reading.
RL: Physically? Axl Rose, because he just wouldn’t give in, and then he’d get some other goons to come and help him out, much like his music career.

Do you, or have you ever gone to festivals as a fan? Do you enjoy camping there?
JB: Many yeah! You never get bored of them. I just love legging it around a field for a weekend with friends and booze.
TH: Of course, yeah! Been to Reading once and Leeds fest a couple of times as a punter. I always feel like I miss the crazy side of the normal campsites but then I go and check it out and realise that it’s slowly turned into a mini version of ‘Nam’.
RL: Yes, I used to go to Leeds in my teens. I hate camping and I hate tents. I’ve already bought and destroyed one tent before the festival has even started, I snapped the poles and ripped it during a practice erection. I’ve got to buy another one before the weekend.

What’s your festival food of choice?
JB: Crisp butties.
TH: Has to be scotch eggs, raw mince, chinese noodles (not the shitty pot noodles you get) and the silver bags of wine you get out of the cartons. I like to call it ‘Space Wine’.
RL: Booze!

Have you ever stolen from another band’s rider?
JB: Erm,……..ask Rob.
TH: Why else do you think we do so many support tours? Rob’s the Maverick of rider steals, he’s so good now he doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. Well to be honest he never realised in the first place!!!
RL: Only the bands I respect and admire. When you’re on tour, you tend to just share your rider with the supports and whoever’s around anyway. As long as everyone’s having a good time, who cares.

Reading or Leeds?
JB: Well first time I went to Reading was the first time we played it and I really liked the site. What’s with all the Scots though? Seems all the people working on the site were Scottish each year we’ve played. Fucking very friendly as well for festival staff. Has to be Leeds’ though. It’s home!
TH: We had a better gig with better sound at Reading last year. But Leeds has the vibe! Plus all of our mates are at Leeds so it makes sense really!
RL: They’re both great, but Leeds is home.