||||Mediocre Music Blog

As the 2011 festival season draws to a close, we nurse weary bodies and sunburnt shoulders (!?) and reflect on all the great new music and bands which look set to be next year’s hot topics. With autumn inching ever nearer, we find ourselves needing a bit of energy and fun to keep us powering through this perennially anti-climatic season. Fortunately these are two qualities  Will and The People have in spades, and both shone through when we recently heard them at Green Man festival in South Wales. The band’s bubbling enthusiasm is equally matched to their effervescent songs, with a diverse amount of influences, their sound is both unique and in front man Will’s own words “interesting”. The band of five live together in Maidenhead, and the friendship on stage is evident. After winning the Green Man Poll last year this year opened the festival on the main stage. We caught up with Will to find out how this was, chat about their new album (out early next year) and the merits of spaghetti bolognese.

MMB: How was it opening the main stage today?

W&TP: It was a first for us opening, on a brand new stage that they had pealed the plastic from as we walked on-literally. What an experience! So many people were there as well, normally you expect a couple of hundred people but everyone seemed to want to hear music early in the day, so it was really really good.

MMB: Have you played on a stage that size before?

W&TP: I think that might have been the biggest stage we have ever played on.

MMB: Ok, so can you describe your music for people who haven’t heard it before?

W&TP: I would say it’s…erm…interesting!

MMB: Interesting!?

W&TP: I just want to use a boring word because you know what it’s like, people need to come and hear it and see it. It’s not necessarily like a record either, it’s more of a live experience, we’re definitely a live band.

MMB: Have you done a lot of festivals this summer?

W&TP: Yea this is like our fifteenth festival or something stupid. We ended up just being like if we wanted to go to a festival we’d just go and turn up and find a gig! We’ve had about 4 festivals where we have done that.

MMB: Where has been your favourite?

W&TP: Hmm, well I really enjoyed Glastonbury and Secret Garden Party was amazing, we did a small one called Bimble, there was only 2000 people there but it was really good. And this is great

MMB: Yes of course Green Man!

W&TP: Yea its amazing, I’m just sad we have to leave to be honest.

MMB: Yea tell us about that, you’re off to Holland?

W&TP: Yep, we’re going to Lowlands! To play with the Arctic Monkeys, we get to watch them after.

MMB: So are you touring at the minute then?

W&TP: We are yea, pretty much.

MMB: How’s it going?

W&TP: It’s going really well, just gigging every night and living on the road!

MMB: So tell us about your new album coming out.

W&TP: It’s basically more of a sound project, it’s a real change in sound than the other stuff. We’re trying to fuse dance with house music with reggae and grunge with reggae. It’s a bit more intense…yea it’s good, still fun!

MMB: Ok well we look forward to it! Finally if you were on a dessert island and you could only take 3

things, what would you take?

W&TP: I would take, obviously my guitar, an acoustic one so I wouldn’t have to plug it in! Can I take

an unlimited supply of anything?

MMB: Sure!

W&TP: An unlimited supply of spaghetti Bolognese, so I could eat it in the morning as well, you can

have it with anything can’t you!? And I think if I had a girlfriend it would probably be her, or a wife,

otherwise I might get a bit bored. Or Bob Marley, I’d bring him. But I don’t have a wife, I’d like one

though!

 

The band have a self released album, “Will and The People” through their own label Baggy Trouser

Music and you can follow the guys via twitter or on facebook.