Watch Glass Animals Describe the Road to the Festival

The British band welcomes fans in crowds large and small.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

For every band, it's a pretty big moment when you graduate from playing smaller gigs at clubs to stadium-sized festival shows. It validates years of hard work, and announces to the world that you've made it.

But a lot of musicians still crave the intimacy that those smaller gigs provide, and the guys from Glass Animals are no exception. We recently caught up with the band, which has been touring for the past 8 months, and is now gearing up for the summer festival season. Among other things, we had the chance to discuss this need to continue to play both smaller and larger scale shows, as each one provides something different–the sweaty intensity of tiny clubs vs. the adrenaline rush of playing in front a massive crowd.

Playing larger venues isn’t the only leap forward that Glass Animals has recently taken. They also were the first signing to WolfTone, the new label launched by Paul Epworth, the brilliant mind who has written and/or produced for an unbelievable cavalcade of artists, including Florence and the Machine, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, John Legend, Bruno Mars, and Adele, to mention only a very select few. The fact that Epworth has such strong faith in the band to make them the label’s first signing should speak volumes. Reaching audiences of thousands at festivals all over the world, Glass Animals are adding to the already rich history of UK rock and soul music. 

With all the success the guys of Glass Animals have been enjoying recently, they don’t take an ounce of it for granted, and are the first to acknowledge that this is all a long time coming. What's more, they actively fight against the brooding, alienating stereotype that often surrounds rock musicians to ensure that their fans feel very welcomed in the whole experience. "I think people really like seeing a band that's obviously having an amazing time," says Drew MacFarlane, who handles the band's vocals, guitar, and keyboard. "I think that's the thing we concentrate the most on." Judging by the responses of their crowds, we’re guessing they feel the love.

For more from Glass Animals as they ride The Road to the Festival, be sure to check out the video above, brought to you by Modelo Especial.

 

Latest in Music