Steadlur
Steadulr are Roadrunner Records’ hottest new act, and with a slot opening the Second Stage on Friday afternoon, I caught up with drummer Dallas to chat about what the festival meant for them.
How are you enjoying being here at Download Festival?
We love it. This is surreal for us.. I’m still on a high from playing and seeing the energy coming back to us as well as seeing the bands here with their families and friends and some of the BBQ’ing, it’s just great! We love the UK.
How was it for you when you found out you were opening the second stage?
Man, no words can say how excited we were! It was like; “Dude, how did that happen?” it was better than we expected, people knew our songs. Seeing those people singing the words was crazy and knowing people were enjoying what we were doing and the things that we wrote was great, they’re like your babies going off to school. It was awesome to see that reaction, it was probably the biggest crowd we’ve played to, it is a very special day for us!
Aww, well I’m glad FemaleFirst can share it with you, now tell us a bit about your favourite live show then…
There was two that I go back and forth between because there were two very different crowds. One was in Mobile, Alabama, where the kids were rowdy! They were wasted and ready to party and it was one of the first shows we played and the energy was epic. It was like, you could feel it on stage, it was shaking.
But then a few months later in Salt Lake City we played in front of these kids, most of them were under 20 years old and those kids were awesome, they were so hungry for rock and roll and those two times were when we were like wow.
Then there is today, today was like the big cheese… today was it! We hope to continue and grow on this.
That’s so nice, now who are you most looking forward to checking out this weekend?
Lets see, I wanna see Slipknot and I’ve never seen Marylin Manson, then of course Motley Crue… and Whitesnake too, that’s my number one… Whitesnake! David Coverdale, phew! That man has got the pipes!
Do you prefer the atmosphere at a festival or at your own headline shows?
You know, I would normally say it would be a hard decision, but after today I think we belong at festivals, I felt at home today. It had the energy of a tight crowd today where people were into it, but it was huge. Bigger is better!
Aww, you’re so lovely, now, if you could pick three bands for your dream festival, who would you have on?
Well, I love Metallica, so I’d have them, and I’d get Whitesnake too, and, lets see…. I’d probably need someone like Pantera if they were still doing it.
Now, you’ve also got your debut album hitting the shelves, what one song should I listen to on the album to make me fall in love with the record?
Erm, probably My Mom Hates Me, it’s probably more widely liked by people everywhere and is cool and anthemic, but if it was just me and you I’d probably say Whisky And Women because that song is rocking! It’s a shredder!
Why did you choose to release Bumpin’ as your first single then?
Well, that has been our song for like forty years so we had to give it it’s shot people people loved it and we have so many versions of it and we love it. It plays very well live and is always a crowd pleaser. We love hot it came out on the album too and it’s rad!
What was it like going into the studio then?
It was a wonderful experience, we love the studio, although it’s hard work and it’s very mundane and it’s like the grind, but seeing the progress from beginning to end is a beautiful thing. Playing live you see the immediate effect and it’s a quick fix, but you need both, you need to watch the music grow. It was a great experience recording the record.
So finally, you’ve proven that bands can bring it… what advice would you give to a band trying to make it?
I would say they shouldn’t sing about stuff they don’t know anything about, be sincere about what your singing about. If you havent actually been there, the don’t sing about it. If you’re going to do it, do it for real. You need to be persistence in this business, if you continually pound on doors, they will open up at some point.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
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