VANT talk safari adventures and hagelslag at Best Kept Secret

Mattie: I think it is. It’s gone nuts out here [in The Netherlands] already. We obviously haven’t released an album yet or anything, but its been insane. The radio support out here has been incredible; they made ‘Parking Lot’ one of their classic tracks. We’ve been here three times, and every time its been incredible. Each show gets better, and long may it continue. We love it here. They’ve got such a great way of life. They seem a lot more relaxed and chilled. We’ve completely falling in love with it.

Mattie: No! What is that?
Billy: They smoke too much weed over here!
Mattie: We haven’t yet, but we best make that a priority at breakfast tomorrow.

Mattie: It’s difficult to know, isn’t it, what’d happen. I think most young people are really scared. We played a show in London last night, at Bushstock festival, and I sort of jokingly said I’d come to the conclusion that people over the age of 65 shouldn’t be allowed to vote – just because they’re such a large demographic that don’t share the views of a lot of young people. We all really enjoy living in a cosmopolitan city like London. The thing that makes it so brilliant is all the people from different cultures and backgrounds. It enhances culture, and all of the job industries really. It’s the scaremongering from the press, and figures like Nigel Farage, that makes it so terrifying.

We really need to make an effort this week to talk to older family members, because, without wanting to sound morbid, they’re going to die in the next ten years. If we exit, it’ll leave the rest of us who wanted to stay in a position of turmoil, where we have no idea how it’ll affect anything. Obviously there are a lot of reports saying it’ll effect the music industry massively, as well. Like I say, with festivals like this, the reason a band like us can come and open the main stage is because they’re able to pay us a fee which is affordable for us to come, and it’s not a massive fee for them to be able to put us on. If taxes come in, and visas, and all that stuff, it’ll remove the British music scene from Europe. And at the moment, the music industry is one of the greatest – if not the greatest – export we have. There are many factors to it, but it will affect the music industry.

To me, it’s an outcry to fellow British people more than anything, cos you’re not just voting against immigrants, you’re voting against people who have relationships with people from different parts of Europe, and the world. You’re voting against people whose livelihood depends on travelling to different places in Europe. This bollocks sort of question about our export value going up – what have we got left to export? The steel industry’s gone kaput, every other industry in Britain has gone kaput, and all of our cars are shit compared to French and German cars. It’s absolute bollocks. If we cut ourselves off, we’ll have nothing, and everything else will skyrocket. It’s really, really scary. For us as a band, we always say we’re from Planet Earth because we don’t really feel like we have a tie to a specific place. We want to make the world a smaller place, and a more unified place. A place where there is less conflict.

The beauty of the EU above everything else is that since its been formed there’s been virtually no conflict in the entirety of Europe. I’m not saying we’ll suddenly go to war or anything like that, but it should be about creating a more unified society rather than a more distanced society. It’s genuinely terrifying. It’s small mindedness from regional towns where people have never even met an immigrant before. It’s like, how can you put judgement on someone, a part of society, who you’ve never had any interaction with. It’s completely insane. As I say, to go back to finish, it’s not just about you and your views. It’s about the younger generation and the linage you’re going to leave to your children and grandchildren. They want a closer society. They want a more equal society. Leaving would be a massive step in the wrong direction. It’s bad enough feeling like Trump might get into power in America, never mind Britain leaving the fucking EU. It’s mindblowing and it’s scary.

Please, just talk to everyone you know who feels like it. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but just at least listen to the other side a bit more, rather than the fucking Sun and Rupert Murdoch, and all that bullshit. Talk to each other about it. That’s my point [laughs].

Mattie: It’s great, we always said we wanted to be patient and make sure it was coming at the right time. It’s gunna be the very start of next year now. In the meantime, we had so many tracks we felt were great and deserved their own light, so we’re going to release an EP at the start of August. That’ll take us through the summer, and then the album will drop at the start of next year. With a lot of touring in between. It’s really exciting for us; we just want to make sure it’s right.

Mattie: Billy. He was literally born in a field.
Greenie: I think all of us would be alright in there, you know, but I think Billy could be sort of picking flies out of his hair and stuff.
Henry: And eating them, as well. They’re actually very intelligent, chimps.
Billy: Probably smarter than me.

Billy: Oh yeah, definitely.
Mattie: He already asked if he could go in with the chimpanzees today. They told him no cos they’d tear him limb from limb, but worth a try.

Greenie: You should never reveal secrets!
Henry: Secrets need to be kept secret.
Billy: I often spoon Mike [VANT’s tour manager] in the van when we tour. But that’s not really a secret.
Mattie: That’s just comfort on the road. Thankfully we’re a pretty honest band in our lyrics and music, so we don’t really have a lot to hide. Apart from spooning on the road.
Greenie: And there’s nothing wrong with that, on a cold winter tour.
Henry: And even when it’s warm. We just want to be close.

Tags: Vant, News, Festivals