TRUCK PREVIEW | LOW ISLAND | INTERVIEW
Photo credit: Brian Rankin.
With only a few hours to go until we’ll be heading down to Hill Farm in Oxfordshire for this year’s Truck festival, we wanted to bring you another interview with a band that we’re super excited to watch!
Oxford’s very own Low Island will be playing not one but two slots at the festival, appearing Friday on the V&V Stage and returning to rock The Nest Stage on Sunday.
The band released their sophomore album Life in Miniature in late 2022 and kick started 2023 with support slots with Friendly Fires, a headline tour and a hop across the pond to play Texas’ SZSW.
We caught up with the band to talk about the inspiration behind Life in Miniature, their festival essentials and their favourite venues, with Quentin Tarantino even getting an honourable mention.
At the end of last year, you released your second album, Life in Miniature. Can you tell us a bit more about it?
Life In Miniature looks over a period of 3 years including the pandemic and beyond. They were years of huge change; a disorientating mix of profound sadness and challenges, but also cracks of light that opened up new possibilities and a realignment of priorities. In my case, I lost people close to me who may well still have been around had there been no pandemic, but I also fell in love, I left home, we (Low Island) went through a period of managing ourselves, releasing two albums on our own record label in spite of the music industry being completely upended. Looking back on it all now, that period occupies its own little space in time which is what we wanted Life in Miniature to be – a kind of timestamp that captured the emotional pushing and pulling of those years.
Your sound has a unique balance of indie with electronica, where did you draw your influences from for the album?
From a whole range of artists – there was definitely a more pop influence on this album compared to the last. Production-wise, in the studio we were listening to albums like Haim’s ‘Women in Music pt III’ and Christine and the Queen’s ‘Chris’. But there were also tracks on the record like ‘Goodbye Bluefin’ that looked to bands like CAN and early Caribou, so it was a real mix.
You finished your headline tour in March. Which was your favourite venue?
I really liked this venue we played in Austin for SXSW called ‘Hole in the Wall’. We were drafted on last minute at about 1am because another band pulled out. Barely anybody watched our set, but they had a great karaoke room out the back with a guy triggering the songs off a massive old desktop computer – I remember someone belting out Christine Aguilera’s ‘Beautiful’ to a completely empty room other than the guy at the computer and me passing by to take a piss before going on stage. It reminded me of some early Tarantino movies – like Deathproof – which is apt actually as I think he’s hung out there a couple of times!
You’ve bagged some great support slots with Hot Chip and Friendly Fires on tour. How was that? How important do you think support slots are to emerging bands?
We’re very lucky to have played with both Hot Chip and Friendly Fires – they are bands we’ve admired for a really long time. I remember Jamie introduced them to me when I was 13 or so; he’d make us all compilation CDs of music he was listening to and both bands were regular features. It’s such an important thing that smaller acts like us get to play with established bands like Hot Chip and Friendly Fires. It gives you the opportunity to test your music in bigger venues and in front of bigger crowds; to be able to see the mechanics of a bigger touring operation; to make new fans and to be able to meet artists you look up to. Both Hot Chip and Friendly Fires were just absolutely lovely guys; incredibly grounded, amazing performers and musicians. It was a very inspiring experience.
You’re playing this year’s Truck Festival. Is this your first time at the festival? What can we expect from your set?
It’s actually our 3rd time playing, 4th if you include Jacob, Jamie and I with a previous band. As an Oxford band, Truck has a special place in our hearts; it was the first proper festival we ever played at and went to. Jacob, the bass player, has been going since he was a teenager, where he saw bands like Stornoway and Foals’ early festival performances. It’s great to see how much the festival has grown, but also how it is still supporting local music. Dave Gilyeat and his team at BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire do the most amazing job at promoting local bands at the festival and in Oxfordshire generally. As for our set, we’re trying to push our songs to their most raucous at the minute, which means extending and adding sections, giving everything to the performance, all to create a live experience that is distinct from the recordings and unique to the moment. We’ve got late slots this time round on the Friday and Sunday – we’re looking forward to seeing how far we can push it!
Are there any other artists you’re looking forward to watching at Truck?
Wunderhorse – I love ‘Cub’, especially ‘Morphine’ and the way Jacob Slater’s voice sails in the chorus. I’m hoping to be in the front row belting it out!
What are the three things you can’t live without at a festival?
I think it’s got to be, in this order:
1. Loo roll
2. Loo roll
3. Loo roll
Head to Tickets – Truck Festival to bag yourself one of the last remaining resale tickets!
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