After releasing their album Long In Winters earlier this year, it’s been a busy summer for Leeds folk punks Jake & The Jellyfish who have been touring and appearing at festivals. We caught up with the band to hear their top tips and some amazing stories from their time on the road.
Favourite thing about touring:
Definitely seeing so many friends around the world (and in the van) that I don’t get to see as much I’d like.
Least favourite thing about touring:
Lack of washing opportunities haha.
Five essentials for the road:
1. Headphones – A key ‘alone time in the van’ accessory.
2. A book – For the 5 pages I read in the van before falling asleep.
3. A football – Sounds silly but you get tonnes of waiting time on tour and having a football knocking about can be fun when you’ve got time to kill. Just try not to lose it, I think we’re on Paul the Ball iii at the moment.
4. Podcasts – We started listening to podcasts on long journeys last year. ‘My Dad Wrote a Porno’ made 7 hours go soooo quick.
5. Portable phone charger – Life. Bloody. Saver.
Your favourite way to pass the time:
Sleeping. Deffo sleeping.
“The Most”
Memorable moment:
Our 19 hour drive from shows in France to Wiener Neustadt in Austria is something I will never forget. It was our first time in Europe and we were just happy to be being booked for shows so decided to risk the drive. We hit traffic about a million times, drove through 4 countries, and had the best time. Our set in W.Neustadt was meant to start at 9:30 and I think we arrived at 9:26. Luckily we were met by some of the nicest people ever, and were greeted with beers, food and hugs. I dunno how well we played but we were just super happy to be out of the van haha.
Hilarious moment:
Steve once pissed in a cup in the van, then went to throw it out of the window, the wind took it and it splashed Rich (our old guitarist) in the face on the seat behind. He was soooo angry and we were all laughing so much. “It went in my eye!” will never not be funny. I also remember Steve unsuccessfully trying to piss out of the window of the van only to later say that he ended up having ‘his penis flapping in the wind for the entire county of Norfolk’.
Embarrassing moment:
The van breaking down in the middle of France right at the beginning of tour without any breakdown cover was not our finest moment, it has to be said. We got picked up by my mate’s parents who happened to be driving past in an empty people carrier…and my dad ha.
Outrageous moment:
We got stuck in loads of traffic on our way to play Kendal Calling a few years back, and missed our set. We were all pretty bummed out and went up to the stage manager and asked if there were any other opportunities to play. Long story short, the headliners of the stage got caught up at the border and we ended up headlining the stage to about 2000 people it was fucking awesome.
Drunken moment:
Maybe when we realised you could get 24 beer crates in rural Holland for like 6 quid. We had a rider of 2 already and proceeded to buy 3 more. We all happily got smashed before remembering we had to play. …Probably the worst show we’ve ever played. I’m fairly sure we broke Steve that day.
Rewarding moment:
Driving back from Mighty Sounds Festival in the Czech Republic last year, straight after our set and driving all the way to just outside Bristol to play a friend’s wedding was pretty damn rewarding. 14 hours straight drive, arriving just in time to smell out the venue.
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See Jake & The Jellyfish at one of the following dates:
August
Sat 18th – Beautiful Days Festival
Sat 25th – Zytanien Open Air Festival
