Festivals CMAT: “The music scene in Leeds is always unbelievably rich”
Ahead of her slot at Live at Leeds in the Park this weekend, we caught up with the ‘Whatever’s Inconvenient’ star.
Dare we say it, the level of indie heading to this year’s Live at Leeds in the Park is at least three cans of Dark Fruits. Headlined by Two Door Cinema Club and their trolley load of indie disco bangers, there are also spots for perennial Swedish party-starters The Hives, The Big Moon, Kate Nash, Everything Everything, and many more.
That’s not all: we’ll also be back on site living our best lives over at the DIY stage, which will play hosts to the likes of Cavetown, our Class of 2023 cover stars Crawlers, Sir Chloe and our favourite Irish cowgirl, CMAT.
To mark the occasion - and to celebrate her newest single ‘Whatever’s Inconvenient’ - we had a chinwag with Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson herself…
Hello CMAT! What’ve you been up to recently?
I’ve been making some new videos, I’m getting ready for some shows and I’m actually going to Leeds this evening! I’ve booked myself a lil Leeds holiday because I’m going to see one of the last Yard Act shows on this album cycle, over at the Brudenell. Lolly Adefope is opening for them and I fucking love her, and I’m a big Yard Act fan but I’m an even bigger fan of Leeds. I have this weird infatuation with Leeds; every time I’ve ever played there, it’s been the best gig of the tour. That’s not me being a sycophant; I don’t say this about all the other places.
“They know how to do gigs in Leeds! The level of connoisseurship that they have for guitar music, and showmanship, is probably the highest in the country.”
You’ve also just released your brand new track ‘Whatever’s Inconvenient’. Can you tell us a bit about it?
It’s the first single from my forthcoming album - which is not announced yet, but we’ll get there! - and it’s a song about feeling like an insane person because you keep breaking up with people, being broken up with and you keep changing your mind so drastically about how you feel about people. It’s a song about that feeling of, ‘Is there something wrong with me because I keep doing the worst possible things at the worst possible time in relationships?’ That’s what it’s about!
You’re also about to get back into festival season; what was it like to get your teeth stuck into playing festivals last summer?
Festival season is amazing; I love festival season more than doing my own touring because I’m a masochist. You know, we played Primavera and we had a really bad [set] time, and were warned, ‘You’re gonna go play a rehearsal show in front of maybe five people…’ So we were put in a bit of a shit position, but then 1500 people turned up! They were all wearing cowboy hats and waving Irish flags, and that was really emotional and made me feel really special. Then you play other festivals… We played - name and shame! - Standon Calling last year and the 30 people there hated me. That’s what I love about festival season; it can be so inspiring and amazing, and the next day, so humbling.
One place where things won’t go awry (we’re sure!) will be Live at Leeds in the Park…
No, because they know how to do gigs in Leeds! The level of connoisseurship that they have for guitar music, and showmanship, is probably the highest in the country. Leeds is always a really, really good crowd and the music scene there is always unbelievably rich. I love Leeds!
CMAT plays Live at Leeds in the Park (273th May), where DIY is a media partner. Head to the festival’s website for more info, and to buy tickets.
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