Alvvays talk Britpop and “seminal moments” of Glastonbury

Speaking ahead of their debut at the festival, Canadian band Alvvays say that Glastonbury has a special place in their hearts.

Hours after arriving on site, Molly Rankin says: “We haven’t even explored any of it yet, but already I know it’s so, so different from the majority of festivals.” Rankin and guitarist Alec O’Hanley say there were both raised on the fest. “It’s considered top of the totem pole,” says O’Hanley. Rankin attributes the Glasto connection to their own love of Britpop. “So many seminal moments came out of this festival. Pulp, Oasis and Blur. Those were all the dudes we adored.”

“It was such a foreign word to us. It didn’t really enter into our Maritime lexicon. So it sounded very lofty,” explains O’Hanley. “We take it for granted that a music festival’s gonna be uber-corporate, where I’m from. To come here and have Oxfam involved and Greenpeace as the main funders - that’s a shock in the face. We want to volunteer for those organisations.”

With one night to explore Worthy Farm ahead of their John Peel Stage appearance, all eyes are on Yeezy. “Kanye’s at the top of our list. I’ll forgo that yoga studio experience for a Sunday activity, more so than a Saturday night,” jokes O’Hanley, with Rankin adding: “We don’t need much healing, at this point. We’re one week into travelling. We’re all showered.”

The past week’s seen Alvvays playing sweaty shows in towns they’ve never visited before, and they return to the UK for Reading & Leeds, End of the Road and dates in London and Brighton. Despite releasing their first work a year ago, the self-titled debut is still travelling. “We kind of broke in England first. For that we’re grateful,” says O’Hanley. “We’re trying to reciprocate that by coming back frequently. Maybe that’ll backfire and people will get horribly sick of us.”