Who doesn’t love an Indiepop All-Dayer? Increasingly there seems to be one in every major city, and this year see’s the launch of a brand new one in Cambridge, which might just have the best line up of the year.
The festival is going to be headlined by the always superb Glaswegian queer-punx The Spook School, and they’re joined by a stellar cast of underground-popstars, including jangle’n’roll heroes Chorusgirl, synth-pop wonder Deerful and local heroes Mammoth Penguin. There’s also plenty of up-and-coming acts including London’s almost a super-group Suggested Friends, local act The Baby Seals (who we’ve never heard of before but sound great) and one of the best new bands we’ve heard all year, ¡Ay,Carmela!
Today we’re delighted to share an excellent playlist from of the bands, and to have the opportunity to talk to two of the festival’s co-founders Beck and Chris.
FTR: How did the idea for the festival come about?
Chris: Beck and I met at Indietracks festival in Derbyshire last year and drunkenly bonded over a shared love of US comedy show Parks & Rec. It’s an amazing festival – loads of great DIY/Indiepop bands and a real sense of community amongst the couple of thousand people there which has definitely been an inspiration for us. Once we discovered we both lived in Cambridge, we decided to set up an Indiepop night, and within 6 months, Sweet Revenge!!! was born!
Beck: The response to Sweet Revenge!!! has been really positive so we knew that there was an appetite for more indiepop in Cambridge. As we seem to spend so much of our time schlepping up and down the country going to different all-dayers and festivals, organising an event like that in Cambridge seemed like a good idea and an obvious next step for us. Emma, who plays with Mammoth Penguins, thought so too and was keen to join us in organising it. Helpfully, there weren’t too many disagreements about the bands we all wanted to book!
FTR: Who are you looking forward to seeing?
C: The crowd, for starters! I can honestly say I’m a big fan of all of the bands, and it’s really exciting to know that they’ll have a sold out room to play to, it’ll be a great atmosphere which is something we’ve been really keen to cultivate with Sweet Revenge!!! since we started (and our venue the Blue Moon have been a big part of that too). ¡Ay Carmela! are a fantastic three-piece, Chorusgirl made one of my favourite records of last year, and Spook School are such a great, energetic live band and its really exciting that we are helping them make their Cambridge debut!
B: We picked the bands because we wanted to see them all! I’m particularly excited about Deerful because I haven’t managed to see her live yet and the Spook School because they’re always lots of fun to watch. Maybe we’ll get a reprise of that Indietracks Vengaboys cover!
FTR: What are your plans for the future?
C: We want the all-dayer to become an annual (if not more frequent) event – there are loads of bands we’d love to get over to Cambridge if we can! Sweet Revenge!!! will continue for as long as people want to dance – we’ll certainly never get bored of playing our mix of indiepop, classic US alternative and kitsch pop hits!
B: We want to establish the all-dayer as a regular fixture on the indiepop calendar, hopefully getting bigger and better each year. We’ve already started talking about who we’d like to book for next year!
The line up’s so good in fact that it’s already sold out, but to whet the appetites of those going, and to make those who didn’t get a ticket relalise what they’re missing, we’re delighted to share the festivals playlist. Click on the image below to access the playlist (or alternatively click HERE)
1. Chorusgirl – Oh, To Be A Defector
2. The Baby Seals – Period Drama
3. The Spook School – Sometimes I Hide From Everybody
4. Suggested Friends – I Don’t Wanna Be A Horcrux For Your Soul
5. Melge – Hello Dear
6. Deerful – Some Nights
7. ¡Ay,Carmela! – Crying In Public
8. Two White Cranes – I Tried
9. Mammoth Penguins – When I Was Your Age
Click HERE for more details about The Cambridge Indiepop All-Dayer
For The Rabbits 