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Leeds Festival: Ready for the big gig
With Leeds Festival championing new talent as well as the big names, seven local bands will make their festival debut this weekend. We spoke to two acts about their graduation from giggers to bona-fide rock stars
"THIS is where the very best brand new talent from the UK gets its first chance to appear in front of the greatest tastemakers in the country – the audience at Leeds Festival."
So says the blurb for the BBC Introducing Stage line-up for this year's rock-extravaganza at Bramham Park.
Not much pressure at all then for Penguin, the teen band who have fought their way through a huge pool of young talent to win the chance to debut at the biggest rock music showcase in the country.
The Wakefield youngsters will be showcasing their self-penned melodies on Friday on the Radio 1 Introducing Stage.
Together since they were 14 after coming together at a "mini version of Woodstock" put on by their schools, the boys – guitarist Matt Cornish, bassist Danny Prochera and Joel Small on drums – were the overall winners of the Centre Stage schools' bands competition organised by Martin House Hospice with the backing of Leeds Festival supremo Melvin Benn.
Penguin beat off competition from 40 singers and groups, sailing through their heat at Batley Frontier before triumphing in the final at the O2 Academy Leeds.
No surprise then, that the boys feel "stoked".
"It's pretty fantastic," says drummer Joel.
"We did not expect it at all.
"We didn't dream that we would actually win it, we just thought it would be cool to play at O2 if we got that far and here we are."
So how will they feel when they walk out on the stage this Friday?
"Nervous and excited," says Joel. "We have all been to the festival before, so we know what it's like to come and watch, but to actually play, it's a totally new experience.
"To be stood in front of the crowd, looking at everyone else from behind the drums, instead of being in the crowd, it will be brilliant."
The boys' enthusiasm is understandable, but somewhat of a contrast to their mature music and lyrics, which they say is influenced "by anything and everything".
They describe their music as comprising "lots of things" but as being essentially "melodic, alternative and ambient."
They are inspired by bands like Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro and are looking forward to seeing the latter at the festival this year.
And they still can't believe they will be playing in the same arena as their heroes.
"We have played the Cockpit, Carpe Diem and other small venues in Leeds but this is the biggest thing we have done by a long way ," says Joel.
"It feels fantastic to be playing at Leeds Festival. If you told us a year ago we would be, I wouldn't have believed it.
"We had just been going around doing gigs in little bars and then this competition came along. It was a big enough thing to play at the o2 Academy but to win the competition is just phenomenal."
Kassius, who will open the Festival Republic stage at both Leeds and Reading this year, might be a little older and more experienced than Penguin, but their nerves will be jangling just as much this weekend.
The lads, hailing from Harrogate and Knaresborough, were the winners of the Futuresound local talent competition run at the Cockpit in Leeds, and will be rewarded with the chance to open the Festival Republic stage at both Leeds and Reading festivals this year.
The band's line-up features Biz Denton on vocals and guitar, Joe Bothamley on drums and vocals, Adam Odle on bass and Jason Odle on piano.
Biz and Joe, aged 24 and 26, have known each other since their early teens, having met at a schools music project where they decided to join the Stomp-style recycled percussion section because "that's the people we are".
The pair teamed up with Adam and Jason last year and Kassius was born.
The boys describe themselves as "not your average rock band".
Their music combines epic piano and classical chord movements with feelgood and sometimes raw and aggressive guitar riffs.
But they prefer to go by the "hard to define" label – or no label at all.
"We explore all kinds of music really," says Biz.
"When we started the band we didn't want to set any boundaries, so it's a really hard question to answer. We just say have a listen and you can see for yourself!"
Despite having a big local following , and having already done a national supporting tour in February and recently shooting their first video for the song Wonders Prevail from their new EP, the lads cannot wait for their debut at the ultimate arena of rock, something which they see as a reward for all their hard work.
"It's so amazing for local bands to get opportunities like this," says Biz.
"That's how it should be.
"Most musicians that play Leeds Festival will have been there as spectators - to actually be part of the line-up is incredible."
"It's probably the same for all the bands here," adds Joe. "You work really hard, and you don't earn anything from it. You do it because you love it and you love the music."
See Penguin at the Radio One Introducing Stage on Friday and Kassius at the Festival Republic stage.
You can also follow both bands on myspace.com/3penguinsuk and myspace.com/kassius.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
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