Musical Taswegians Ben Wells & The Middle Names have had a top 18 months. Hordes of their fellow Tasmanians love this band in a way that mainlanders are only just catching up on. Having played Falls Festival, MS Festival and any other Apple Isle festival worth mentioning (or not, it appears) the band (who, incidentally, are 2010 Amplified Award winners for Emerging Artist of the Year, Indie/Pop Artist of the Year, and Folk Artist of the Year) just had a crack at Sydney and Melbourne, following the playlisting of their song “Robin Hood” on triple j.
They’ve just released their 2nd single titled “A Good Read” from their forthcoming debut EP House, Come Home, to be released in March 2012. In December, they will tour the East Coast of Australia hitting up Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle and Port Macquarie’s Festival on the Sun! We quizzed Ben Wells himself about festivals while they were packing to hit the road again.
What was the first festival you ever went to?
That would be the Falls Festival.
Share with us your most memorable non-musical festival moment – either as a performer or a punter.
Probably meeting Lupe Fiasco at Big Day Out, that was really surreal, a really nice guy too!
Now give us the best ever festival music moment.
Opening Falls Festival on the Mainstage last year was awesome and having a crew up the front who got up early to come see us made it that much better.
If you could curate your own festival who would you book to play?
Ah, where to start! Umm, The National, Arcade Fire, The Cure, The Hives, Gotye, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Darren Hanlon, Digitalism, Radiohead, the list goes on!
Location is everything when it comes to staging an incredible festival event. If anything was possible, and no damage lasting, where would you stage your dream festival?
On a beach for sure! Somewhere you can surf in between acts.
Festival Of The Sun has an amazing lineup this year – who are you looking forward to seeing yourself? Are there any of the artists that you’ve performed with before (and can you tell us a sneaky secret about their backstage antics?)
I’m really looking forward to seeing Hungry Kids of Hungary. We’ve played with a couple of acts that are at Festival Of The Sun, ah, I remember being particularly drunk with some of Art vs Science at an after party for MS Fest, but I don’t remember a great deal of that.
When you’re Rolling Stones Big, what are you going to request on your rider: don’t be shy. We want specifics!
6 cartons of James Squires Golden Ale, basketball ring, Cheerio’s cereal, several fruit platters of kiwi fruit and mango.
Do you camp or flee when playing a festival? What are your festival must-haves if you’re staying the weekend?
We always stick around and enjoy the rest of the festival. Gotta have plenty of alcohol, good mates, fruit and sunscreen!
Good boy. That’s exactly right. Catch Ben and his Middle Names at Festival Of The Sun in Port Macquarie on December 9 – 10. They’ll be performing alongside loads of other awesome acts including Art VS Science, Ladyhawke, Hungry Kids Of Hungary, FLOATING ME, Brothers Grim and Guineafowl. For more info get along to the FOTSUN website!
