Q&A With FR

[mrtourette]

Stolen from the official site, I assume it's with Neil Pengelly (sp?).

What sort of ratio of attention do you put into booking the smaller bands on NME and FR compared to Main Stage bands?

It’s the same from top to bottom – it’s probably easier booking the smaller bands simply because there’s more of them but at each point on the bill you’re always looking to get something a bit different from what’s happening on other stages at the same time. Also newer acts are a big part of what Reading and Leeds is about so it’s important not to just stick any old acts on or do a load of favours for headliners which a lot of festivals are happy to do.

Do you take inspiration from other festivals such as Coachella and Primavera?

Not especially, we look at what’s going on at every festival but we tend to do our own thing and they do theirs. Both of these are pretty different to each other and pretty different to Reading and Leeds anyway. There’s a fair bit of crossover with acts with those two in particular simply because they’re prime examples of festivals that book quality acts throughout the bill.

This year see's quite a few re-booking of recent years (Paramore, Bombay, Enter Shikari, Gaslight etc). How hard do you try and book new bands to keep the line-ups fresh?

I’d say that Reading and Leeds book more new acts than pretty much any other major festival but it’s all about balance. There’s usually something going on with the bands that come back , Gaslight didn’t play last year and the album’s out this week, Vaccines , Two Door have new records out around the festival, Bombay were the biggest crowd last year on the second stage and are well worth a main stage spot now at their only festival shows in this country. It’s impossible to book 130 acts every year and not repeat some – that’s the nature of the music industry right now but it’s all about getting the best acts, acts with new records etc. Also for everyone who complains about repeated acts it’s worth bearing in mind that they are often the one’s that when we run polls everyone wants to see…each year I want the bill at Reading /Leeds to reflect the best of what’s going on musically that year so whether it’s Florence, Black Keys, Vaccines, Enter Shikari, Maccabees, SBTRKT or Grimes it’s important to have as many acts with new records out as possible.

Is there any band you've been trying to book for years and haven't managed to, or in the past a band that has been booked after years and years of trying?

I think the most obvious one was Radiohead where year after year I’d get back from Reading and the first thing I’d do would be make an offer for Radiohead for the following year. A couple of years ago they finally agreed to do it so persistence paid off. There’s maybe half a dozen possible headliners that haven’t done it yet that I’d like to get one day.

Could you, in a really shortened-down, concise way, outline the whole process of booking a band? Who pays for extra equipment like lights and custom PAs? Is it the band or the promoter? What if an act is bringing in their own equipment etc, who pays then? How do you deal with unreasonable rider requests?

Ok, this might be a bit dull – most bookings are done via agents. Either the agent approaches me or vice versa and then it goes from there. We argue a bit about offer, billing etc and then they say yes or no…if they say no you throw something at the wall and move on. Everyone uses the same p.a. and we provide the basic lighting rig then if an acts wants to bring in anything on top of that they pay for it and we try and accommodate it within the rig.

As far as rider requests it’s actually pretty rare if ever that you get anything ridiculous so we tend to make sure they’re all looked after.

On the lower down stages such as Festival Republic, do you approach all of the bands or do they get in contact with you and then you check them out?

It’s pretty much the same process from top to bottom, most of the acts on the Festival Republic stage will be at a point where they’re starting to get a bit of press and starting to put records out and have agents. I try and check out as many of the new acts as possible live or sometimes , Fidlar for instance, you’re going on links and reviews as they’ve not been over before now.

Any thoughts for 2013? And if so who?

Yes but can’t say who yet. If we get everyone we want it’ll be amazing. But let’s make the most of 2012 first…

What is the situation regarding the booking of The Cure? I assume many bands with a more relevant commercial pull were available, and it seems risky booking a legendary act for a festival with a very young age base (I am 100% in favour of this booking however, my favourite band on the line up)

I don’t really see booking The Cure as risky. In themselves they’re an amazing band, and when you look at say the top 2 acts across the 3 days there’s a good balance to the headliners covering a good range of acts. Pretty much everyone knows their songs whatever age they are and I think it’s good for the festival and for the band that they’ll probably play to a big part of the audience that might not necessarily have gone to see them at their own shows before. If you look at the set lists from recent shows there’s one great track after another – personally I can’t wait for A Forest - still, if you’re not into them there’s the Maccabees, Foster the People, Social D, Anti Flag and Sleigh Bells all on at same time so there’s options…actually I’m going to be running between stages like a looney that night…

What's more important with regard to placement on the line-up - critical success or commercial success?

Are we talking about billing? I guess with the sort of acts that play Reading and Leeds there’s often a correlation between the two. Generally though if you go down the bill the rule of thumb is how many tickets a band would sell for their own shows. It’s almost impossible to say to a band “you’re playing below X because they got 8.7 on Pitchfork” but if you demonstrate to an agent that the band above did x amount more people at their last london show then that’s generally accepted. As far as the whole bill goes I suppose a lot of newer acts are getting that critical acclaim that might not have translated yet into commercial success so it can be a factor.

Why do you stagger the band announcements?

It’s all part of a cunning conspiracy to wind you up…actually, it’s pretty simple. Once the majority of a stage is booked it’s announced shortly afterwards. It takes pretty close to when we announce to get that many acts and rather than just booking all the stages at once so that there’s loads of clashes I work down the bills spot by spot. It’s not quite as simple as saying we want all of these and then they all say yes…

Also if we go with everything at once smaller bands tend to get lost or overlooked – so for example I’d rather announce the dance stage separately so that acts like Grimes or Katy B get the press and publicity rather than it all being about Foo Fighters and Kasabian which is what would happen if we did it all at the same time.

Enter Shikari and Crystal Castles Main Stage?I was just wondering if there was a specific reason why these two acts have been put on the main stage even though from past years they have been proven to bring a lot bigger crowds and the perfect atmosphere in the nme tent?

Ok…firstly these are two acts that absolutely love Reading and Leeds and to me are what the festival is all about. Young, exciting, challenging, occasionally chaotic and you know, there’s a reason they want to play at Reading and Leeds, it’s where their fans are. They could go and play another festival instead but then they’d be playing between The Saturdays and Keane or something to a bunch of Cheryl Cole fans in fancy dress. So they kind of prefer Reading/Leeds. Also both acts have new albums since last year. ES went top 5 in January and CC out soon. Both acts were massively high on the polls we did. As for why are they on the main stage…maybe they’ll be back there at some point but I think right now it works for Enter Shikari playing main stage and the atmosphere will be incredible, they almost get headliner size crowds when they play. Crystal Castles want to make that move up, they could play tents for ever and have really good shows but this is about them stepping up a bit with the new record. They’ve done outdoor stages at other festivals and it’s worked well. They’re also one of the acts I mentioned above that are going to be putting on a real show production wise. And there’s the Cure connection as well, having done the song together, and both acts were keen to play with the other.

"Foo Fighters are planning the mother of all headline sets this year". Care to elaborate?

They’re not going to be playing over here for a while so they’re looking to make these shows something really special that goes way beyond a normal headliner set….they’re putting everything into this one and I’ve got a feeling this is a show that will go down in Reading and Leeds history. Be prepared for an epic set…

[guitarbhoy1888]

"Foo Fighters are planning the mother of all headline sets this year". Care to elaborate?

They’re not going to be playing over here for a while so they’re looking to make these shows something really special that goes way beyond a normal headliner set….they’re putting everything into this one and I’ve got a feeling this is a show that will go down in Reading and Leeds history. Be prepared for an epic set…

god i hope so !!

what do we think, special guests, long set, rarities, something completely out the box

seen them at T and they were phenomenal. reading/leeds really has a place in their heart though

[jump]

"Is there any band you've been trying to book for years and haven't managed to, or in the past a band that has been booked after years and years of trying?

I think the most obvious one was Radiohead where year after year I’d get back from Reading and the first thing I’d do would be make an offer for Radiohead for the following year. A couple of years ago they finally agreed to do it so persistence paid off. There’s maybe half a dozen possible headliners that haven’t done it yet that I’d like to get one day."

I wonder who those bands are? Coldplay are the biggest British band not to play, AC/DC were apparently in talks to play one year then and maybe System & Gorillaz as they are possible headliners.

[Vieuphoria]

Interesting. I like that he said The Cure weren't a risk. They never were.. silly people.

To be honest I agree with pretty m cuh everything he said.

[jump]

Interesting. I like that he said The Cure weren't a risk. They never were.. silly people.

To be honest I agree with pretty m cuh everything he said.

[mrtourette]

Without wanting to take business away from this wonderful site the admin on the official forums are taking questions to put to FR and then every so often publishing the replies. Seems like a great idea although this was only the first one so we'll see how long it lasts.

[Gucci Piggy]

"Also if we go with everything at once smaller bands tend to get lost or overlooked – so for example I’d rather announce the dance stage separately so that acts like Grimes or Katy B get the press and publicity rather than it all being about Foo Fighters and Kasabian which is what would happen if we did it all at the same time."

But, Katy B was announced at the same time as Foo Fighters and Kasabian.

[Cieran]

About Crystal Castles.

"And there’s the Cure connection as well, having done the song together, and both acts were keen to play with the other."

Stoked about this, I'm really into Crystal Castles' song with Robert Smith at the moment, if you haven't heard it, check it out.

Crystal Castles - Not In Love (Ft. Robert Smith)

[mrtourette]

"Also if we go with everything at once smaller bands tend to get lost or overlooked – so for example I’d rather announce the dance stage separately so that acts like Grimes or Katy B get the press and publicity rather than it all being about Foo Fighters and Kasabian which is what would happen if we did it all at the same time."

But, Katy B was announced at the same time as Foo Fighters and Kasabian.

[mrtourette]

About Crystal Castles.

"And there’s the Cure connection as well, having done the song together, and both acts were keen to play with the other."

Stoked about this, I'm really into Crystal Castles' song with Robert Smith at the moment, if you haven't heard it, check it out.

Crystal Castles - Not In Love (Ft. Robert Smith)

[Gucci Piggy]

Yeah I noticed that, I get his point but not the best example to use

[Vieuphoria]

That's called PR, he said similar things about My Chemical Romance.

[jump]

I don't think you can make the comparison between the two. But let's not get into this again

[Vieuphoria]

common sense?

[jump]

common sense?

[Vieuphoria]

I did. You've misunderstood.

[jump]

I did. You've misunderstood.

[AcademicPistol]

It does make me laugh when you two do battle. Always a good read

Edited August 7, 2012 by AcademicPistol

[evilduck]

I wouldn't necessarily assume that this means they'll be on stage with each other, could just be that they wanted to be on the same stage and hang out during the day.

[LondonTom]

Intresting...well not really some generic enthusiastic answers that are always put out by promoters

[Bisque]

I actually think this guy should handle the press for R&L, he does a better job than Melvin. (& dare I say it... seems to come across as quite honest imo).