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With a lot of festivals available nowadays, it’s hard to choose which one is best suited to you. It’s always the bigger festivals that pull in the big names and large crowds but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have more to offer. This summer, I was invited to Nozstock Festival in Bromyard, Herefordshire, to check out what they had to offer.

The festival is a small one of around 5000 people based on a farm, run by Pete Noz and his family. It began as just a BBQ for a few mates to come and enjoy and soon attracted more and more people each year. It’s not surprising that numbers increased each year as Nozstock is home to one of the greatest festival vibes around. It has so much originality to offer, ranging from sofas to watch the acts on stage (a highlight for myself), to craft workshops carving chalk!

Amongst all this, it still has some great acts to bring the table. This year saw The Blockheads headline with special guest Phill Jupitus performing with them, as well as The King Blues, Sub Focus, High Contrast and even comedians such Russell Howard and Stephen Frost!

I caught up with a few of the artists playing at this year’s festival to see what they had to say about the unique and crazy world of Nozstock.

Interview with the King Blues

Is this your first time at Nozstock Festival?

No

How are you finding it so far?

It’s a new festival. I mean big ones are cool but new ones have more going for them. There’s a lot of love here so that’s nice.

What do you think makes a good festival?

Respect. People who come will get p***ed off if you keep taking their beers away. If you give respect to people that come then they show it back.

Can we expect anything different from your set tonight?

Who knows?  It’s Nozstock so we will just judge it how it goes. We don’t have it planned and we tend not to plan, ust get out there and see what happens.

Whats the biggest show you’ve played so far?

Wembley Arena with Hard-Fi.

How was it? Were you guys nervous?

That was big, we've been lucky to play on some big stages and because of that now we are growing in confidence on our live performances. It’s not about nerves right now; we just go out there and get the job done.

Who are your favourite bands to play alongside?

Rancid. The Specials. Gogol Bordello. Bedouin Soundclash. We’ve been lucky to be able to share the stage with some of the bands that influence us musically and politically.

What does the rest of 2010 have in store for The King Blues?

We have an album coming out later this year. We will also be touring in November time and playing Reading/Leeds so we have a busy summer.

Interview with Sub Focus

How did your set go?

Really well thanks, it was a good crowd to play to so yeah I enjoyed it.

Nozstock is a pretty unique festival, what do you think of it?

It's cool, I mean two years ago this was an even smaller festival and it’s good to see it growing. It’s nice, I mean it’s definitely unique and a small thing but it’s all about planting the seeds and them growing.

Where’s the craziest place you’ve played before?

There’s been quite a few really. There was one show in Russia about two years ago which was mental. You get really big crowds for drum and bass out there, like 20,000 people. It was one of the hottest clubs ive ever played in and shortly after my set the place actually caught on fire and burnt down. So yeah that was pretty crazy.

Now theres a lot of good DJ’s playing here over the weekend, what DJ’s are you rating at the moment?

There’s a lot of good DJ’s at the moment, theres a few in particular I like. I like Skream, he likes to mix up his set - you know it’s very varied. Theres a bit of dubstep and indie mixed up in there. I like people who arent scared to play a different style track. Ecclectic DJ’s, like Jackbeats I guess. I like loads of people; I get inspired by people who mix it up.

What have you been up to lately?

Touring mainly. I’ve been adapting my live show adding controllers and a new light show as well. I have a motion sensor on stage now so when I’m playing ‘Let the story begin’ which is usually the track I end on I can use my hand to control the pitch in the track. I’m trying out a new direction, more of a futuristic style.

Can we expect any new releases soon?

Yeah, I've been working on some new alternative mixes of some album tracks and will be releasing a special edition version of the album. I’ve also done a remix of Rusko’s ‘Hold On’.

‘Rock it’ and ‘Could This Be Real’ both did really well on radio and received a lot of air time, do you think you will release similar stuff in the future?

Yeah, I mean I like them kind of tracks. I don t think there much point for music that is too niche. Theres always new audiences but I think you should make music in a way that works.

Now you’re signed to Ram Records – Andy C’s label, are you two good friends?

Yeah, we've worked together for years now. He’s massively helpful in getting music out there. Hes really open minded, people like Chase and Status and I like to vary our music a lot, so yeah.

Do you like his music?

Yeah, definitely!

Will you be playing with him at any festivals this summer?

Well just got back from Glastonbury. I’m off to Belgium after this for a show tomorrow night. Then there’s Global Gathering and Bestival and a lot more in Europe. So yeah, really doing a lot of festivals this summer.

Who would play at your ideal festival?

Oh god, good question. I think it’s really hard to beat Glastonbury….it's hard to pick ideal acts. I like ‘The XX’ and ‘LCD Soundsystem’. I’d have to rank lineups for different music.

Pete and the Pirates Interview

Alright Guys, Is this your first Nozstock experience?

Yes

What are your thoughts?

We had a little look around. Seems like theres a lot to do, theres a comedy tent and cinema as well.

What have you been up to lately?

We’ve been working on a new record. It’s been a year of creativity, quite a slow year. We hope to of released a single or two by the end of this year. We’ve just been away touring a lot, especially in Europe. We played a few places in Italy and really enjoyed it there. The people treat us really well so that was a lot of fun. We got to party at the place where we were staying, the owners took us out and we had some drinks so that was really nice to have.

Are you playing any other festivals this year?

We’re playing Bestival at the end of summer and theres a festival in Europe in Romania so that should be interesting.

So, what’s your name all about? 

   It’s just a joke. It started out as a name that we used to put a few songs out that we had recorded and then it just stuck. There was no thought into it at all.

Are there any other band names that you think are good?

'Mike and the Mechanics’. I don’t know if I like that one or dislike it. If you think about a lot of big bands though, their names aren't necessarily the best they just seem it because of the size of the band. I like Led Zeppelin, its pretty abstract. I think it comes from the saying ‘going down like a lead balloon’, 'cos a zeppelin is like a big ballon. I dunno, they definitely put more thought into their name than we did to ours anyway!

Where do you get your influences from?

A wide range of bands. Its hard to single out just one, we all vary in styles of music that we listen to. We don’t share the same influences. We don’t think about style, just melody and lyrics, then play.

Thanks a lot for the time and the interview, good luck with your set!

- Nic O'Brian