SEB LOWE TALKS NEW HEIGHTS IN HILLSBOROUGH STADIUM INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW | SEB LOWE, KATE COURIEL & JOEL GOODWIN | TRAMLINES FESTIVAL by Morgan Hermiston
At Tramlines 2026, I sat down in Hillsborough Stadium with Seb Lowe and two of his bandmates, Kate Couriel and Joel Goodwin. We had a chat about their set at the festival that evening, what they want to see more of in music, and what their dream festival lineup would look like if they designed it. Read on to find out more!
Headlining the Leadmill Stage
I started by asking them about their headline slot at the Leadmill Stage that evening, and what songs they think will get the biggest crowd reactions. Kate said, “‘No One To Kill In The Sky‘ is…one of the newer releases, which has been getting a really good reaction at the moment. So hopefully that“.
Seb agreed, “It’s relatively new, but it’s been marinating a bit now, so it could pop off. I would always put my faith in ‘Terms and Conditions‘, or something like it, perhaps“. Joel carried on from this, “‘Here Comes The Aliens!‘, that’s a good one. It’s a good tune, yeah, I’d say ‘Here Comes The Aliens!‘”.
UK & EU Tour
We then spoke a little about the UK and EU tour they’re embarking on later this year. I asked them if there was a city or venue that they’d never played before that they’re excited to play. Kate said, “oh yes, there is, Warsaw“. Joel added, “Warsaw, yeah, I think that’s…is that the only one? That’s the only city we’ve not been to“. Kate continued, “we’ve just been on tour with Sofia Isella, and we did loads of the places that we were doing on the tour for the first time, which was really exciting to get that fan reaction. But we didn’t go to Poland, so excited!“.
In terms of venues they’d never played, or headlined, Seb added, “yeah, pretty much most of the venues…absolutely buzzing to be headlining the [Royal] Albert Hall in Manchester. I mean, obviously, we’ve played the Albert Hall before, and we’ve played in Manchester more times than I can count, but we’ve never headlined it and I feel like it’s, kind of, stood in the distance as that unattainable goal. But to be headlining it will be absolutely insane“.
They all agreed that they’re “buzzing to go back to Prague because we had a lot of fun in Prague“. Joel added, “Glasgow is always fun, doing a cool venue in Glasgow, the SWG3. We’ve done loads of gigs there but I don’t think we’ve headlined the room that we’re doing there. Glasgow should be good, Berlin as well“.
Method or Madness?
A lot of Seb Lowe’s material manifests into discussions with multiple meanings. I wanted to know if there was a method as to how he actually writes them, or if they come more naturally. “I would love to know any, sort of, foolproof methods, because I’m yet to find one. I think it’s just a matter of thinking and talking, and having conversations with people“.
Seb continued, “and a bit of madness and a bit of boredom, and something will eventually come…hopefully. I’m yet to have a real sort of dry period, but that will come, and that will be terrifying“.
They Want More…
Off the back of talking about how his songs dive into lots of topics and tribulations, I wanted to know if there was anything the trio wanted to see more of in music, or perhaps less of.
Kate began by saying, “I think it’s great that, at the moment, there are many more acts and artists who are talking about the political state of the world. That’s becoming much more common, and I think that’s a really good thing, that people are feeling able to talk about that. I hope that just continues upwards“.
Joel said, “I mean, it’s good to see more women in music, especially on the crew side of music. I think, yeah, we definitely need more women in music“. Seb chimed in at the end, agreeing with the previous statements, “what they said“.
Dream Festival Lineups
For my final, and usually my favourite, questions, I asked them who their dream festival headliners, or lineup, would be. I think this question gives you an insight into who they’re listening to at that specific point in time, I’m sure maybe in a year or two, the answers could be different.
Kate started her Friday lineup by asking, “can they be dead or alive?” and I said it could be anyone they like. “So…I’m having Radiohead, I’m having Led Zeppelin, I don’t know who’s headlining there. Then I’m having Noah Kahan, Erin LeCount“. She added, “it would be fun to play with all those people. And then The Guest List as well“.
Seb agreed with The Guest List and said “I’d definitely echo Led Zeppelin“. They joked about how there was a lot of headliners for Friday. He then added, for his Saturday lineup, “Sinead O’Connor, who I have seen when I was far too young to appreciate it. I would have loved to have had the chance, but David Bowie, another artist I became a really big fan of, sadly too late“.
Joel concluded with, “all right, Sunday. We’ve played haven’t we, already?” I said they could play again if they wanted, “Oh no, no. It’s just too much stress, I want to relax. King Crimson, Rush, that’ll do me. They’ll play for long enough, that’s six hours of music there, yeah, so that’ll do. King Crimson and Rush“.
Seb Lowe is released their brand new single, ‘Paradise of Mine‘ on 31st July, which you can listen to here. Tickets for their upcoming UK & EU Tour are also on sale, with tickets available here!
