Slam Dunk Festival 2019 Preview (Part 1)
Back in 2006, the first ever Slam Dunk Festival was held in Leeds Millennium Square. After a few venue changes in Leeds over the years, a South site at Hertfordshire University, Hatfield was introduced in 2010. Now, Slam Dunk has grown to be one of the most popular punk/rock/ska festivals in the UK and in fact all of Europe.
I have been going to the South Festival since 2013, back when I was a super cool 16 year old going around saying ‘Slam Drunk’ all day. Some incredible moments for me have included: watching Gnarwolves grow from their first time at the festival in 2013 to 2014 and 2016, Against Me! headlining the Signature Brew stage in 2017 after Puppy, Milk Teeth, Turnover AND Frank Iero & The Patience had already played the same stage early that day and last years main stage performances from Good Charlotte, Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes and Creeper were incredible.
Slam Dunk has become a yearly tradition for me, my friends and my website and it fills me with nostalgia whether the line up is filled with bands we love or not (….2016) it is still one of the highlights of our year. So here is part 1 of Crowdsurf & Turf’s 2019 Slam Dunk Preview. Over the two parts we have interviews with new bands playing in 2019, bands that have previously played as well as some fans of Slam Dunk that have been going for longer than us.
Boston Manor
Welcome To The Neighbourhood… What an album! How has it been playing these songs around the world? You've performed across America, Japan, Australia, as well as Europe, over the last year, how has the reaction been?
It’s been mad, we’ve been lucky enough to go to lots of new places off of the back of this record. To have crowds singing your words back to you in a place you’ve never been to before is a feeling that never gets old.
You’re becoming residents at Slam Dunk Festival! 2019 is your third time and you’ve climbed up to the main stage! What makes Slam Dunk so special for you?
I love this festival, both years we’ve had such fun sets, everyone’s always so keen & people always get there early ready to go. We’re buzzing to play the main stage this year, we’ve got a surprise planned.
Do you have any great memories from the festival?
Just lots of great weekends getting drunk with my friends!
Who will you be trying to check out over the weekend this year?
I’m gutted that there’s a lot of great bands playing around the same time as us that I’ll miss but I’d recommend checking out: Angel Du$t, Turnstile, Knocked Loose, Trophy Eyes, Gallows, Microwave, Employed To Serve & The Menzingers. There’s probably a bunch I missed as well. Just go watch as many bands as you can; they’ve put together such a great lineup it’s gonna be a fun weekend.
Sophie Eggleton
What makes you visit Slam Dunk as often as you have, why is it special to you?
From a personal point of view one day festivals are easier for me to manage. I know it's an incredibly boring observation and the kind of exciting answer you were probably hoping for, but going to lots of festivals can be expensive, so the days ones which I can get to easily by car or train are logistically and financially great. In terms of attending festivals with illnesses that involve fatigue a day feels much more manageable too. I've have some very funny memories etched on my brain forever from Slam Dunk Festival too. I think it may have been the first festival that I did filmed interviews at. Knowing me I was probably extremely nervous but I remember everyone being really chill and nice to talk to....but perhaps a bit too relaxed haha. The video with Deaf Havana ended up on their DVD Documentary because it was so haphazard. It always had a laid back and intimate feel to it which I loved, and everyone is always in good spirits even when the weather hasn't behaved well. The new larger site has brought something different though. It's a new exciting era and although it's perhaps less intimate, it feels like it just gets better every year. The growth of this festival has been extremely impressive to watch. I think because it's one of the first of the year it always feels a bit like a reunion. Being out of London I often lose touch with lots of my music industry pals over the winter months, so the day is always one big 'hey, it's so good to see you'.
Best memories and performances from Slam Dunk?
In terms of performances, whenever bands like Every Time I Die, Cancer Bats, While She Sleeps and Architects play you are guaranteed a pumped and kinetic performance and you know you're going to have a good time. I've been lucky that they've all been on the line up numerous times I've attended. The ten year Take To The Skies celebration from Enter Shikari was a blistering and multi sensory showstopper of a headline performance. It really was one of those moments where you realised a band has moved into a new sphere of their career. There was this real feeling of wow, they're huge...and they deserve to be. Panic at the Disco in 2016 was a very uplifting way to finish the day, and considering I was in the O2 watching Brendon Urie do his thing a few weeks back you feel even more lucky that you got to see him do his signature backflips so up close and personal.
Who will you be checking out in 2019?
If I'm able to go I will be trying to check out Glassjaw, as it's been so long since I've had the pleasure. I'd also like to try and catch Cancer Bats, Turnstile, Gallows, Boston Manor, Milk Teeth to name a few. I keep seeing Pagan pop up on my socials too so I'd like to go and check them out. I'll also try and catch my good friend Grant doing his bass face in Shvpes. There's obviously loads of bands I'd like to see but you know what festivals are like you get caught up in socialising and realised you've missed half the bands you were hoping to see!
Hot Milk
Who are you?
ELLO WE ARE HOT MILK. We are from Manchester and we write music that we like, we say we're emo powerpop because we didn't really feel like our poppy/rock/synthy situation fit into anything else so we made our own thing up. Han and Jim both share vocal duties and we're backed up by the delicious duo that are Tom and Deller on bass and drums.
How are you feeling about this year's Slam Dunk Festival?
Right bloody excited! We've been going for years and we have a lot of friends playing so we're just looking forward to a lot of good people and nice vibes really. We're kind of hoping people turn up to see us play because we're gonna be giving it some proper energy across that weekend haha. But yes, very excited for people to finally see Hot Milk for the first time and to meet people who have backed us since day one.
Do you have any great memories of the festival?
Very hazy ones usually haha, we to remember the start but not the end. We aim to not do that this year, resist the voddys and instead play a great set and remember the whole weekend with some good humans.
Who else are you hoping to check out over the weekend?
We usually keep the list short as it gets proper stressful if your list is mega long but for us Grandson, Boston Manor, Knocked Loose and The Interrupters are making the list!
How can people support you & what do we have to look forward to from you?
They can follow us across all the usual soul crushing social media sites and preorder our EP from our online store HOWEVER the best way anyone can support us is by jamming our music loud and coming to a show and reclaiming yourself in the music. The future for Hot Milk is hopefully one of more shows and more songs, we don't wanna stop.
Pagan
Who are you?
We are a girl and three boys from Melbourne, Australia who play dark, heavy, dancy rock and roll.
How are you feeling about this year's Slam Dunk Festival?
We’re all so overwhelmed and excited to have been invited to be a part of such an incredible lineup of new and classic bands. It really is such an honour for a band at our level from the other side of the world!
Do you have any great memories of the festival?
Being Australian, none of us have ever made it over for the festival before. That said though, there are so many bands (Glassjaw, Saves The Day, The Get Up Kids, Lagwagon, NOFX, etc.) that wrote the soundtrack to so many great memories from our formative years. We have no doubt we’ll make a thousand wonderful new memories at the festival this year.
Who else are you hoping to check out over the weekend?
We’re playing shows with Microwave, Milk Teeth and Trophy Eyes over the course of our European tour so it’ll be fun to see them play in that environment. Turnstile are also one of the most fantastic hardcore bands of the last few years and are a real treat to see play too!
How can people support you & what do we have to look forward to from you?
WWW: paganrockandroll.com
FB: /pagancult666
TWTR: @pagancult666
IG: @pagancult
All our music is available on Spotify.
Once we’re done blazing a trail of glory through the UK and Europe in May, we’ll be knuckling down to work on a new record. Till then, come party with us!
Lizzy Farrall
Who are you?
Lizzy Farrall a solo alternative pop artist from the Northwest of England.
How are you feeling about this year's Slam Dunk Festival?
Super happy to be playing again this year!
Do you have any great memories of the festival?
Slam dunk is a festival I’ll always be very fond of. In 2017 I opened the acoustic stage with only having one song out and witnessed for the first time people singing my lyrics back to me.
Who else are you hoping to check out over the weekend?
Knocked Loose, Turnstile, Microwave and Plain White T’s
How can people support you & what do we have to look forward to from you?
Instagram/Facebook/Twitter - @LizzyFarrall
My music is on all musical platforms and stay tuned for some exciting news coming soon!