TURTLE TEMPO

We had the chance to have a cheeky little chat with Idle Frets at this year’s 110 Above Festival – check it out!

TT: What’s the best gig you’ve ever played so far?

Luke: For me, probably back in 2013 we did X and Y Festival in Sefton Park Palm House in Liverpool. As you know it’s a massive greenhouse isn’t it with a tropical vibe. There’s not many stages that are like that, so that was a very good venue.

Ben: Go on, Matt’s the newbie. What’s been the best gig you’ve ever played so far?

Matt: I’d like tickets again for this one [110 Above Festival]. It’s a nice stage to play as well.

Ben: And it’s good that there’s no overlapping with the artist so you can see everyone you wanted to see.

 

TT: What’s the furthest you have traveled for a gig?

Luke: Timewise so far, we did a gig back in November when it was snowing and usually it takes about 3 and half hours to get from Liverpool to London but it took it around 7 hours.

Ben: Scotland was quite far to travel as well.

Luke: We’ve actually been quite lucky on tour with traffic and timewise, like we never really get stuck in bad traffic. Touch wood.

 

TT: Would you camp for 2 months straight for the guaranteed slot of headliner on mainstage at Glastonbury?

Ben: Yeah course, we’d be straight there we would. Get a load of tinny’s.

Luke: I’d do it for the opening slot on the smallest and worst stage there was.

Ben: I’ve made a rule that I’m not going to Glastonbury until we’ve [Idle Frets] played it. And I’ve not been yet.

Matt: I’ve not been yet either, seems very posh.

TT: Is there anyone you’re looking forward to seeing at 110 Above Festival?

Ben: Loads of people, this is our kind of music. This is all the tunes we play in the van on tour. The Magic Gang, Circa Waves, Saint Raymond. We’ve seen so many cool bands we like as well. Flyte were really good yesterday, Ten Tonnes was good.

David: Nah they weren’t even that good they didn’t play my favourite song, Love Me To Death. What they doing not playing that for? Who does he think he is? Hahaha.

Ben: Dave was prepared to cry, it’s his cry song.

 

TT: If you had to pick an album from a smaller band or this festival that you can only play for the rest of your life, who would it be?

Ben: Do you know what, I think Flyte’s album.

Luke: I think Flyte’s album also because it’s so diverse. You have a lot of other bands who sound the same throughout all of their songs. But with Flyte, you’ve got your highs and your lows, you happy tunes and your sad tunes.

Ben: I’ve got a great one though for new listening, if you’ve not heard of him before. This guy called Ed the Dog. Go and listen to him, he’s really cool and I don’t think he’s even played a gig before but he’s got an album out now, dunno what the crack is with it but he is class, great album.

Luke: Definitely The Magic Gang but I don’t wanna say it too loud because they’re like right behind us, hahaha.

 

TT: What’s the most defining moment of your career as a band so far?

David: This time when Luke jumped over a fence and fell over.

Ben: Wait till you see it, he drops like a sack of s***, it’s amazing.

Luke: I just feel like it’s summed up everything we’ve done as a band so far.

Ben: We played a gig in Sheffield at Tramlines and then this gig in this bar for an after-party thing and we’d been jumping this fence all day because it was the easiest way to get over it, because if not you’d have to go right around. It was only a little fence like and this one time Dave decides to film it and it was the funniest thing that’s ever happened.

Luke: I rose like a phoenix from the ashes.

 

TT: Where would you like to be next year in terms of your career?

Luke: For me personally, I’d like to say back here at 110 Above festival, playing mainstage at a nice, late time. You know when the day turns into night? Then.

Ben: I wanna play Glastonbury, because of my rule I said before. I really wanna go to Glastonbury.

TT: How would you describe your music to someone who’s never listened to your music before?

Luke: Feel like you’ve put me on the spot there. Tunes, vapes, vibes.

Ben: Absolutely do not put that in there.

Luke: Dave’s on the vape isn’t he? That’s the headline of the interview.

Matt: I’d say 2 and a half minutes of eargasms. That’s probably a general way to describe it.

Luke: That was premeditated that weren’t it?

Matt: No but I’ve always thought you know when you’re listening to a song, that just really works for you and it gets to the stage where you just really enjoying it that much you wanna go and listen to it again.

Luke: Or the kind of song that you put on in the car and then you get home and like you sit in the car and wait for the song to finish before you get out.

Matt: Yes that is exactly what an eargasm is.

Ben: I did that with Ed the Dog, I just had it on repeat.

Luke: When Ben wrote the lyric in Sleep Talk and he sent it to me I was like crying, it was a very emotional song.

Ben: Aww, he’s not told me that before! Stop it hahaha!

Luke: Real men cry.

Ben: No they don’t, they vape.

 

TT: What’s probably the worst thing that’s ever happened on tour/at a gig?

Ben: So in van there was a speaker in the back, Luke was well drunk coming back from a gig, I think it was Manchester. We were driving back and the speaker was going a bit crackly, so Luke said he’ll fix it. There’s loads of seats in the van and then a table, so Luke’s on a set of the seats trying to fix the speaker. I didn’t know he was doing this and I braked not very suddenly but braked for a roundabout. And we all heard him go flying and I just heard this massive sound of wood breaking and then I turned round and he’d gone WWE-style, straight through the table. We had to get a new table fitted and everything.

David: It was funny as f***. He’s wised up since then though.

 

TT: If you could give any advice for anyone such as aspiring artists or young people, what would it be?

Luke: If you’re in it for the money, then stop. But if you’re in it for the passion then just keep going. Keep gigging, keep making music.

Ben: Do what you love, don’t do what you think you’ve got to do.

Luke: Love what you do, do what you love.

Ben: Philosophy.

Matt: That’s amazing man, that is beautiful. I’d just say don’t vape.

Ben: Don’t vape, don’t commit to that vape. Once you commit to that vape, you never go back do you?

Luke: What I’ll say though is 110 is full of suicidal wasps. They go into the brim of your drink and I’m like, ‘Don’t do it man, don’t do it’ and the next thing they do is just jump straight into your drink.

 

Big thanks to the guys Ben, Luke, Matt and David at Idle Frets for giving us the chance to chat and talk all things Idle Frets.