Clarence Clarity talks Sound City: "I never really know what’s going to happen" • Festivals • DIY Magazine

Clarence Clarity is heading to Liverpool next month for Sound City - which runs in the Docklands from 22nd - 24th May - where he’ll be playing on the Baltic Stage in partnership with DIY, headlined by Fucked Up, Swans and Peace.

“I might have played it in another life,” he says of the event, at which he’ll be making his debut appearance this year - in this life, at least. “But some of these things blur into one. I think I saw The Beatles…

“Not gonna lie - kinda wish I was playing on Saturday so I could go see The Flaming Lips, but there’s plenty on Sunday too. I’m gonna have to go up early actually - Thurston Moore, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and I like a bit of Evian Christ an’ all…”

The Flaming Lips will be headlining the event on Saturday, preceded by The Vaccines on Friday and followed by Belle & Sebastian on Sunday. Other bands playing include Spring King, Gengahr, Honeyblood, Slaves, Palace and Yak.

There’s a good chance if you catch Clarence he’ll be playing new material, too - “Well, new-ish material yeah - songs we’ve only just started playing live that’ve been a bit ropey so far but will hopefully be tight as hell by the time we get to Sound City.

“I never really know what’s going to happen in our show, we don’t write set-lists and usually try and jam and fuck about a bit - sometimes the improv is euphoric and other times it sounds like 15 year-old kids doing their first Battle Of The Bands, either way it’s a good laugh all-round.

“I haven’t actually done any festivals yet - only started doing this live in February, so this will be one of the first. I’m gonna guess that ‘Those Who Can’t, Cheat’ will go down quite well cos you can have a dance to that one.”

He may not have played many festivals, but he’s attended a fair few; his first being Reading. “My mum liked going to festivals so I went to Reading and Glastonbury at a quite a young age (i.e. before you just go and get obliterated),” he explains.

“My strongest memories are about the sound of a huge PA system, especially in the more contained tents. I hadn’t heard bass like that before - the sort that rattles your heart inside your chest. That was exciting.”

Not that it’s all fun and games. “In my formative years I fell down a gap in the crowd whilst crowd surfing and ruined my back for the rest of the weekend. Watch out for that.”

For more on this year’s festivals, pick up DIY’s Festival Guide 2015, out Friday 24th April alongside our May issue.

Clarence Clarity will play Sound City (22nd - 24th May), where DIY is an official media partner. Tickets are on sale now. Visit diymag.com/presents for more information.

Tags: Clarence Clarity, Liverpool Sound City, News, Festivals