Mystery Jets: ‘It Always Feels Like A Homecoming’

It’s almost time for Truck 2012, so we figured we’d have a quick chat with a couple of the acts to be gracing this year’s bill. Here, Blaine Harrison of headliners Mystery Jets has a bit of a chat with us.

Hello! How’re you doing, and what’ve you been up to recently?
We’re great! Just got home from our US tour where we were pretty much playing ‘Radlands’ in it’s entirety. We were playing in seated theatres which was different, and to a lot of new people. I think the ‘Radlands’ material was going down well with them which is really encouraging. We’re currently touring as a pumped-up, expanded version of the band with Pedal steel and 4 part harmonies, which is exciting.

How’re you feeling about playing this year’s Truck Festival?
It will be our third time playing at Hill Farm and I am really looking forward to being back. I grew up about 2 miles up the road in East Hendred so it always feels like a homecoming. I remember my big sister and her friends all coming home on the Sunday night covered in mud with big dilated pupils and my mum making them all tea. I remember thinking how cool they all looked, like they’d all come back from another planet.

How do you go about preparing for a festival set, in comparison to a regular show?
We like to try and write a new setlist for each festival, so that something different will be happening right from the off. Usually we write it right before we walk on, much to our tour manager’s chagrin. Some songs feel like bursts of energy and others will have segues between them here and there, to make the set feel like a journey. We grew up listening to prog bands you must remember. These guys would play three and a half hour sets…

What’re your favourite parts about playing festivals, and what do you absolutely hate?
My favourite part is coming over the crest of the hill, seeing the first glimpse of lights darting around the sky, and the sound of distant throbbing being carried on the wind. You just get a feeling in your stomach that anything could happen. The worst part of a festival is when you realise it’s time to go home and you can’t find anything or anyone you came with.

Is there anyone you’re particularly looking forward to seeing at this year’s Truck?
I really like Theme Park, they supported us at Brixton recently. British Sea Power always pull out the stops and are great people to party with at a festival. There’s a lot of names on there I dont recognise to be honest. I look forward to being surprised.

It’s Truck’s fifteenth birthday this year - how do you plan on making sure everyone at Truck is celebrating adequately?
I think you should organise someone to go around the festival giving out party bags to people who look like they aren’t in the zone. That’s what birthdays were about when I was a kid, Party bags. As to what you put in them, it’s up to you. I’d suggest a good multivitamin, a piece of cake, maybe some of that fairy dust stuff that pops when you put it in your mouth….

What’re your plans for post-festival season?
We will be doing a lot of touring in the autumn. Australia and NZ in September, Europe in October and the UK in November. Hopefully we’ll get back out to the States before Christmas too, I think that’s really where we all want to see the band rise to the next level.

Mystery Jets are set to headline the Main Stage on Friday 20th July.