Features Rob da Bank: ‘I’m Going To Bestival As An Ant’

With his trademark ponytail and permanent cheeky chin, Rob da Bank has become an instantly recognisable character in music. Masterminding Bestival, along with juggling two record labels and a prime-time Radio One show, is no mean feat, but from Rob da Bank’s consistently chilled outlook, you’d barely realise that the clock was quickly ticking down to biggest festivals on the summer calendar. We rang the man himself up for a chat during a rare moment’s peace, and got the lo-down on this year’s line-up and the economics of running a festival. We also put to bed the popular (but largely wrong) perception that festivals in 2012 are all doom-and-gloom – Bestival is stronger than ever.

How are things? Is it beginning to get pretty manic now we’ve got just over a week to go until Bestival?

I dunno, I’m feeling pretty chilled [chuckles] yeah, but I’m about to go back on site, and everything is going well in the last week, and I think we’re on course.

Is the site really coming together now then?

Yeah, I mean, there’s lots of bigger structures gone in, but the main stage and the Big Top are still to go up. You know, things like the Swamp Shack, The Wishing Tree, some of our permanent structures that need to go in earlier, yeah, they’re up now and it’s full steam ahead. Weather forecast looks, weirdly, quite nice for the next two weeks.

You had one year, I think it might’ve been 2008, where there was awful torrential rain and at one point it was a bit touch-and-go wasn’t it? I seem to remember the theme was Under the Sea that year too!

Yeah, well, we had to put down plastic flooring – well, we didn’t have to, but we decided that otherwise we could’ve had a sort of Creamfields type scenario on our hands. I like to think that we’re very well-prepared and we like to be organised about things like that, and yeah, 2008 was a very wet year so we did get a load of plastic flooring from Scotland and didn’t have to close the show. As it turns out, weirdly that was one of people’s favourite years [laughs] so, well, you never know what people like, and it’s quite weird.

Is it tough running a festival at the moment given that the world is in a pretty rubbish state economically?

Yeah, it’s definitely hit; it’s hit every festival. There’s no festival in the country that hasn’t been affected by it, whether you sell out or whether you suffer on people buying less food or drinks at the show or whatever, yeah it’s definitely hit everyone. We’ve been slower, but luckily only slightly slower – we’re going to sell out either today or tomorrow [at time of printing, Bestival is now sold out]. We’ve done really well to sell 50,000 tickets in this kind of climate, and Camp Bestival sold out too, so we’ve been really… well, I don’t know whether it’s luck or maybe we’ve just got a very good, faithful crowd that come back. I think we’ve booked a good line-up this year, I mean I think things like Stevie Wonder - whether he’s your bag or not – I think he just creates that wow-factor. People want to come down and see the show, so I’m really excited.

With festivals this summer, I’ve noticed across the line-ups that a few bands seem to be playing practically all the festivals. Your Bestival line-up, on the other hand, has a fair few unique bookings, very high up the bill in some cases. Is that exclusivity something that’s important to you?

Very important, yeah, and even things like Florence, she’s done Reading, but it’s not like she’s doing a lot of other shows. Things like Sigur Ros, Warpaint, The XX, they’re all festival exclusives. This is actually the only show that Sigur Ros are doing in the UK at all. I mean, all the acts don’t have to be exclusive but I think it certainly helps. We had The Cure last year after a long time of them not playing in the UK, it was their only show, and when we had Kraftwerk, and Beastie Boys, you know, it’s really important to have those special moments. I don’t want to be sort of dull, or ‘rent-a-festival’, I want to have loads of different stuff to everyone else. Ideally the whole bill would be exclusive but it’s not going to happen.

Especially with Glastonbury having the year break this year, a lot of people are saying Bestival is becoming a sort of mini-Glastonbury. How do you feel about that comparison?

I find it flattering if people compare us to Glastonbury, but we definitely do our own show. Glastonbury is a huge inspiration and the Eavises know that, and I’ve always said it’s my favourite festival. I think we do our own thing now, and hopefully in a year off when Glastonbury’s not on, people are choosing to come to our show instead. Personally I can’t wait for Glastonbury to come back next year, I think it leaves a real hole in the festival calendar. It’s definitely a tricky year too, with the weather and the economy and everything else. There just hasn’t been that wow-factor with the press, and the festival. I think most people who don’t go to festivals, they’re all sat there going “Oh yeah, you know, it’s been a terrible year for festivals, what a washout, blah blah blah..” which isn’t really fair, and it isn’t true. There’s been loads of festivals that still sold out and have had amazing bills and good times. Glastonbury always creates that nice feel-good factor about festivals, whatever the weather.

Obviously live music is one of the main concerns for a festival, but Bestival also has a lot more to offer besides – you know, you clearly put a lot of thought and energy into filling the site with really fun and eclectic entertainment. Why is that so central and important to the ethos of Bestival?

I think it stretches back to when me and Josie both went to Glastonbury, and we saw a lot of music, but we also went to the Green Fields or the cinema or, played cricket [laughs] you know, anything. Glastonbury is like a mini town, even the details like the food and everything is so important, all the extra stuff there. It’s always been our vision of Bestival that it should be a living, breathing village or town, and it needs to have all those other elements in it. It’s very important, yeah, and it’s expanding this year as well. We’ve got the Ambient Forest and the Amphitheatre, the Nomad Cinema, the Grandpost Entertainment Caberet, there’s loads more non-musical stuff coming in.

The fancy dress theme is Wildlife, what are you going as?

I always get some sort of outfit on the day, so weirdly – well, not weirdly actually [laughs] – I’m going as an ant one day, and a sparrow the next. I think this year we’ve said to ourselves – I mean, our crew always do make some effort, but this year we’re really going for it, the whole Bestival team. We need to set an example, so we’re all gearing up, we’ll be donning some sort of crazy outfit for sure.

I’m looking forward to it, I’m pretty sure I’m going to dress up as The Essex Lion one day.

Oh that’s a good idea! I’ve heard rumours actually that The Essex Lion was just someone getting ready, practicing for Bestival. [laughs]

How do you choose the fancy dress theme then, is that something you always take charge of?

It’s just me and Josie arguing about what would be best and what would fit with the show really. We try and make it as broad as possible, so you know, something like wildlife is animals, but it is also anything wild. Space as well, that wasn’t just astronauts, so yeah, really open. When we did Pirates n’ that - the pirates, cowboys, and indians – I liked that as well, keeping it very simple and everyone’s like, “right, it’s either a cowboy or an indian ‘int it.” There’s no messing around there, you sort of just get stuck in. You want to make it easy for people, but you also want the people that really want to make an effort to be able to broaden out their mind as well.

So what do you normally do during Bestival, are you very much on the ground walking round seeing everything yourself? I mean, you must want to see all those amazing bands you book?

Yeah, oh god yeah, I’m literally non-stop, 20 hours a day. I get up around 6 or 7 and go around a check. We’ve got a team that comes round with me – well, not come out with me [laughs] that makes it sound like I need special minders or something – but yeah we’ve got people whose only duty is literally to check the toilets or for overcrowding or stuff like that. There’s another team that work with me on the sound quality in tents and tell me if bands have had good or bad gigs, so yeah, we are out there the whole day or night. Personally I’ve booked all the bands and DJs so I want to see every single gig – which obviously isn’t going to happen. Instead, I have people going round, and I’ll say “right, go and see what the sound’s like at Justice, is it getting overcrowded, do we need to adjust anything..blah blah blah.” It’s quality control all the time. I was saying about the toilets and stuff, it sounds a bit laughable, but actually that’s one of people’s main gripes at festivals, and if we don’t have someone down there, it doesn’t get checked. Silly little things like whether there’s toilet roll or whether there are toilets overflowing are so important. People at festivals these days are so fussy – in a good way. They won’t come back if they don’t have a good time, so it’s pretty non-stop.

By Sunday I try to slow down a bit, otherwise I just fall over [laughs]. On Saturday evening I do start to think I can’t do anymore bands, so I have to slow down a bit, and hopefully then by Sunday, unless something goes really wrong, it’s all very relaxing. I go and see my kids for a bit, and have a drink and chill out. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are all very full on though.

Which booking are you most proud of?

Obviously Stevie Wonder is a killer in terms of being a global music icon, but probably, most of all, Sigur Ros. It’s their only UK show, and musically it’s very much where I’m at, they’re a huge band for me. But to be honest, the more I look into the line-up, the more I could pull out a load of different things. Probably Sigur Ros though, and The XX as well.

With a week and a bit to go, what’s left to do?

Well, everything [laughs]. Structures are going in and the site is starting to come together by itself now, whatever we do, if me and Josie disappeared now it would still happen. But today I’m putting the final touches to the programme, stage times and stuff that I’m still fiddling with a bit – but I need to get that finished, like, now, because they’re waiting to go to the printers with that. I’m going to go down to the site in a little bit and check where things are going in. Even though we’ve meticulously planned it, our people might put it in place, and we get there and realise it’s not going to work. It’s a case of tweaking and fine-tuning all the time.

Well, I can’t wait to get down to Bestival, and I’ll leave you to get on with the final preparations, good luck!

Ah thanks, I’ll be sure to look out for an Essex Lion [laughs]

And DIY will be watching out for a sparrow on site.

Yeah, hopefully it’ll happen – well I have to get a sparrow costume really now, don’t I?

Bestival will take place from 6th - 9th September at Robin Hill Country Park, Isle Of Wight.