Years & Years talk festivals: "It's every band's dream to play Glastonbury" • DIY Magazine

2015 was the year of Years & Years. From chart-topping debut album ‘Communion’ to frontman Olly Alexander becoming one of the year’s defining faces, the pop trio took on everything those twelve months threw at them - and conquered the lot.

“It’s been a year of firsts,” keyboardist Emre Turkmen described at the end of last year, “Jools Holland to Glastonbury, it’s been amazing.”

Naturally a killer 2015 means they’re spending most of Summer 2016 festival-hopping, from the beast of Glastonbury to pop’s favourite, V Festival, via the dance-tastic Shaky Beats over in the States.

Bassist Mikey Goldsworthy faced our festival-focused Q&A.

Which is your favourite festival to play (and why)?

We’ve only been around the festival scene once but we would have to say our favourite to play is Glastonbury. Probably the biggest festival in the world, it’s every band’s dream to go and play there. It’s wild! It’s literally the size of a small city, hundreds of bands play and we had one of the best crowds we’ve ever experienced. We had the best feeling coming off stage. Then went and saw Kanye! What’s not to love?

“The audience is usually waiting for Ed Sheeran or Mumford & Sons to come on so it’s really nice when they get into your set.”

— Mikey Goldsworthy, Years & Years

Buy

What was the one festival you’d go to growing up regularly (if any)?

I grew up in Australia, so I went to Big Day Out festival every year in High School. Unfortunately it doesn’t exist anymore but if they start it up again it be a dream to go back and play.

Has there been one particular set you saw at a festival that was life-changing?

Flying Lotus at Way Out West festival - it was so amazing. The best lighting show I’ve ever seen! Got to meet him afterwards and he was super cool. That’s probably one of the best things about festivals - you get to meet other artists and pick their brains.

What’s the best thing about playing to a festival crowd?

The audience is usually waiting for Ed Sheeran or Mumford & Sons to come on so it’s really nice when they get into your set. It’s a bit tougher than playing to your own people and you don’t usually get a soundcheck but you do get to play to much bigger crowds and the atmosphere is always amazing.

‘Desire’

The worst thing that has happened is when we played Splendour in the Grass. None of instruments turned up! They were being flown from Canada and didn’t quite make it. We thought we should still go ahead with the show but could only play around four songs. I used a MIDI keyboard I borrowed from another band and Emre used an iPad. As soon as we went on stage Olly [Alexander, frontman] explained the situation, the crowd seemed ok about it and it ended up being a really fun show.

What’s the worst thing to have happened to you at a festival?

Don’t try and have a big group of people! Pick a team of three or four who want to see the same stuff and stick with them. You’ll meet other people and probably bump into your other friends!

And… you’re gonna have memorised this one, right? Your #1 top festival tip.

Years & Years will play Bilbao BBK Live (7th - 9th July) and Positivus (15th - 17th July), where DIY is an official media partner. Tickets are on sale now. Visit diymag.com/presents for more information.

Taken from the Festival Guide 2016. Subscribe to DIY below.

Tags: Features, Festivals, Years & Years