Back in November my friend Fay asked if I’d like to come and do interviews for a video project she was producing at the Coronet Theatre for Four Tet and promoter Tom Baker’s Eat Your Own Ears. It was kind of a reunion show for a gig that Kieran (Four Tet) and EYOE had put on a few years back at the same venue with Animal Collective, Caribou (when he was called Manitoba) and a few other bands. They wanted to document the occasion, so Fay enlisted a crack team of camera wielders and yours truly to interview bands and punters.
The Coronet Theatre is kind of run down in a charming way. It reminds me of a smaller version of Melbourne’s Festival Hall in the way that it doesn’t appear to have been renovated in any way shape or form since the 1950’s. It’s located in the very dodgy Elephant & Castle area in South London, which is a complete hole with no redeeming features except for the Coronet theatre and Corsica Studios next door (a London must-do for fans of dirty dance music). Oh and uh Ministry of Sound, if that’s your thing.
If my memory serves me correctly, Kieran and Dan are neighbours in London as well as close friends and have worked on lots of gigs together over the years.
The gig was amazing: ridiculous line-up, great vibe, great crowd, nice bands, good peeps. Also: a balloon drop! They had LED lights on them! And LED hula hoop girls! It was definitely the coolest thing I got to do during my time in London.
The interviews were really fun and relaxed. Turns out it’s a lot more fun having a few cans and impromptu chats in hallways and dressing rooms than sitting awkwardly across from Justin Bieber in a record label office while three managers and five label publicists watch your every move.
We knocked off at about 5am but it was totally worth it. Amazing night and Fay’s edit came out brilliant.
Watch individual tracks from each band at Fay’s YouTube channel
Interviews with: Tom Baker (Eat Your Own Ears), Keiran Hebden (Four Tet), Dan Snaith (Caribou), Rocketnumbernine, Nathan Fake, James Holden.
Here are some pics I took of the performances, plus myself and the rest of the production posse on my new camera!
