The Libertines - 25th February 2003

eFestivals caught up with The Libertines in Nottingham and had a little chat with them about their current tour and possible festival appearances ...

How has the tour been so far?

Carl: It's been supercalifradgalisticexpialidocious...

Was there any reason you chose this venue (The Rescue Rooms)?

Carl: It's not been our decision....
Pete: I don't even know if our manager knows what shes fucking doing...

NME have hyped you up more than most other bands, has this put unnecessary pressure on you?

Carl: There are people who read the press and are into music but there are a lot of people that don't, there's a lot of people that just follow their instinct. So no it hasn't put any more pressure on us.

Did you enjoy the Carling weekend festival last year?

Carl: That's bit of a sore question!...
Pete: It was one big punch up last year!...
Carl: We woke up and we were told that we had five minutes to get on stage. When we arrived on stage our microphones and amps blew up then he [looks at Carl] attacked me...

Did you see any other bands?

Pete: We saw a few lying in puddles of mud backstage....

Have you any intention of playing festivals this year?

Pete: We told our management to get us a slot at Glastonbury otherwise they won't be our management much longer. We didn't get a slot at Glastonbury, yet we still kept our management....
Carl: Although the idea of festivals is to have fun, yet the mechanisation of it and all the 'you cant go here because youve not got the right pass' just kills the atmosphere. That's not a festival that's more like the army.

How do you feel about Internet piracy?

Pete: I think that's the only reason people know our stuff, we've hardly sold any albums....

Do you like playing in Nottingham?

Carl: We've got an affinity with Nottingham, I don't know why. We hardly know the place. We played the Social here and a guy tried to strangle me.

interview by: Luke Seagrave