Arcane Roots are “very eager to play new material” at Live at Leeds

Arcane Roots are no strangers to putting in the legwork. Currently in the midst of their “longest and biggest” UK tour, the trio are now gearing up for their first ever appearance at Live at Leeds. By the time they reach the city fest, they’ll have already played eight shows, meaning they’ll be ready and limber for whatever Leeds has to go to throw at them.

Taking a break from recording some parts for an upcoming B-side in his home studio, the band’s frontman Andrew Groves gave us a lowdown on what to expect from their set, how high he’s setting his expectations and what exactly made his worst festival experience so bad.

You’re playing Live at Leeds festival this weekend, is it one you’ve been to before?
My memory is terrible but while we’ve definitely played Leeds before, i think this is our first time playing Live at Leeds. Although, I was a big fan of both The Who’s and Pulled Apart By Horses’ ‘Live at Leeds’ records, so I want it to at least live up to them!

Are there any bands playing Live at Leeds you’re definitely going to see?
We try and see as many bands as we can at festivals but sadly we usually end up warming up or in a press tent, but we’ll be definitely trying to catch our brothers in Dry The River and Black Peaks, but also a band called Racing Glaciers who I discovered just the other day that I thought were brilliant and have some really great melodies.

Do you have anything special planned for your set? Are you likely to debut new material?
We’ve been away for a bit working on a new record and we are very eager to play the new material in the sets. The live experience very much dominated the writing this time around and our connection with the audience has become an unexpected facet to our songwriting now. We wrote these songs to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and your feet to leave the floor, and we cannot wait to share them with the festival crowds.

Which of your songs do you most enjoy playing to a festival crowd and why?
Our last single ‘Over & Over’ has become a firm favourite among us, it was really our first attempt to reach out to the audience in a song and invite them to share something with us. It’s been met with such a warm response wherever we go that we always look forward to seeing them sing it back to us.

Can you remember your first festival? What was it like?
Our first major festival was Sonisphere and we were star struck just as much as we were nervous. We had an early slot on a Sunday and we were convinced that no one would watch us, especially as Biffy Clyro, Weezer, Periphery and The Mars Volta had delivered their sets the day before. We had done our homework, warmed up and clumsily prepared for our set but it wasn’t until we stepped out on to the stage that we even knew that the tent was full. Our smiles gave away all our coolness and we bashfully played with all we had. Apparently Corey Taylor watched us?

So, what’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you at a festival?
At Download Festival last year one of my guitar pedals had a power malfunction and buzzed very loudly; louder in fact than my guitar volume. Which wouldn’t have been SO bad if I could have worked out which pedal it was and taken it out, but I couldn’t, and I didn’t, so we had to play our set with my guitar masked in buzz and hum, especially during those lovely quiet bits, just me and my swarm of bees. Halfway through the set I kicked a pedal and it stopped buzzing. This bee was about to fly. And it was torn from it’s holdings and dutifully soared through the air, away from my pedalboard and all the way to backstage.

What’s your favourite part of playing festivals?
There is much to be said for the change in demeanour that a festival casts over its audience, like it’s fine to finally let go and really enjoy yourself. For bands, there is something quite magical about having a festival crowd under your spell as, if only for a short time, they always sing louder and jump higher than the last. Although most of the time we spend catching up with old tour friends and crews that we haven’t seen since the last date of their tour.

What else have you got planned for the rest of the year?
Well, Live at Leeds sits right in the middle of our longest and biggest UK, Ireland and EU tour, which we can’t wait to get our teeth into, but we will be releasing a new record at the end of the year, with a new single imminent any day now! We’ve been away for a little while and we can’t wait to come back with a new record and a new label.

Arcane Roots play The Key Club at 9pm on Saturday 2nd May.