£2 pints, £10 tickets and 8 incredible bands. No this isn't a dream, this is Stay Fresh Fest this weekend at Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute where you can hear the best, upcoming bands of the north! Ahead of the festival this Saturday, we spoke to four-piece, garage punk band Fighting Rhythm about to what to expect at Stay Fresh, what makes it so great, and where they'll be in five years time...
Don't miss out on last chance tickets to this unmissable Saturday full to the brim with talent. Tickets on sale here.
Is this your first time playing at Fresh Fest and what drew you into playing at Stay
Fresh Fest 2020?
Yes, this is our first appearance on a Stay Fresh lineup. We were approached to play the festival and very gratefully accepted the request. Stay Fresh events are renowned for hosting stellar acts so it was a real pleasure just to be asked to perform.
For somebody who's never been before, how would you describe Stay Fresh Fest in three words?
Quality Northern Music
Other than awesome music and £2 pints, what else can we expect from the festival?
A room brimming with like minded music fanatics, so a decent atmosphere, a most certain overspending of funds, a hangover... Deaf Institute serve up some cracking scran. Always a bonus.
Curated by Steve Fresh with the focus on emerging bands, do you think it’s important to have events specifically focused on upcoming artists in local areas?
It's essential that we all champion new bands, musicians, solo artists etc. It's never been harder to 'make it' or make yourself heard in this over crowded industry, than it is today. Stay Fresh is a popular event that helps to shine a spotlight on otherwise unnoticed talent. We salute you Steve.
Other than yourselves (that's cheating) who should we not miss performing at the festival?
Grave Goods and Mt Fuji are belting live. Bleach Boy and All Girls Arson Club have also sparked our interest. Basically everyone on the bill. You shouldn't be missing anyone's set.
Tell us a bit about your band. How you got started, what you sound like, and what we can expect from you in 2020?
We all come from a run down, mill town in East Lancashire where music is quite prominent. We've all done the rounds in the industry, performing in various projects, some pretty successful. We formed just over half a year ago out of mutual friendships and share similar views and tastes, particularly about politics.
What do we sound like... If Ty Segall joined Rage Against The Machine back in the day and then started writing angsty punk similar to sound of bands like IDLES, METZ, Fontaines DC... you'd probably be pretty close to our sound.
2020 - We've got an EP, 'Pessimistic by Default' dropping on all streaming platforms on January 31st, we've got a support show with Strange Bones on their forthcoming UK tour, we've got 3 dates in Manchester in February including the pearler Stay Fresh at The Deaf Institute and some other BIG dates that will be announced in the not so distant future. All our upcoming dates can be found on our social media pages.
We're on Spotify right now (other streaming sites are available), which song of yours should we start with first and why?
Well, there's only one to choose from right now so... give that one a do. It's a track we wrote and recorded in the space of three days following the Great Nigel Farage Milkshake fiasco of 2019. It's basically a big fuck you to Brexit, the Brexit party, the Tories and Boris' horsemen of the apocalypse.
What’s your most interesting/wild/funny live show story?
Against all stereotypical notions of a punk rock act, we are all pretty tame-ish. The live show stories we have are extremely boring. There was one time we all ate some vegan brownies, some of us are vegan by the way, at a venue which will remain anonymous and all ended up with the shits. We were literally darting to the toilets, cheeks clenched just after coming off stage. The journey home was extremely uncomfortable to say the least.
It’s five years time. What are the band up to?
Probably touring shitty working men pubs playing Bon Jovi covers or something. That's were the real money is at.
Finally, and arguably most importantly, the Stay Fresh mascot is an apple with a cheeky face. Which fruit would your mascot be?
Our mascot would be a piece of pineapple on a pizza. An acquired taste that most dislike.
Last chance tickets for Stay Fresh Fest this weekend are still available. Get yours quick!
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