Proving to be one of the most memorable, comprehensively crowd-pleasing highlights of last year’s festival, Northern Irish electronic duo The Japanese Popstars return to Glasgowbury this year as one of the most highly-anticipated acts on the bill. Despite being down a member in Declan McLaughlin, Gary Curran and Gareth Donoghue headline the Small but Massive Stage on Friday night a genre-defining, world-renown act very much at the top of their game. What does second trip up the mountain hold in store this year?
Marking the band’s first live foray in playing brand new material, there is clearly an added impetus to their performance up the mountain this summer. “It’s an exciting time for us,” says Donaghue, who hails from Dungannon, Co. Tyrone. “We are releasing a new album during the summer called Disconnect:Reconnect and we have not been doing any live shows in order to get that finished, so this is going to be the first time playing lots of our material. So we are excited and nervous.”
Having won a small legion of fans of all ages and dispositions at last year’s festival, the profile of the Japanese Popstars has shown no signs of dissipating over the eight years since their inception in 2006. What are their memories of last year? “It was a lot of fun,” reveals Gareth. “As Gary is from Derry and I am originally from Dungannon it’s kind of a home town gig for us both. Lots of our friends came along and we partied hard. The response from the crowd was immense. We arrived on site a couple of hours before the show so we went exploring the site and thought it was really good,” continues Donoghue. “The scenery is spectacular and the whole festival had a very friendly feel.”
With their new album – their third – poised for release on July 15 via Bedrock records, the Japanese Popstars will be hitting the road across the likes of Asia and America to support the release, building upon a fanbase that’s seem lauded in every corner of the globe. Not before their headline set at Glasgowbury, of course, where the band’s preview of new material is sure to stand out on a bill bursting with homegrown talent, both establishing and upcoming. In their view, what ensures that Glasgowbury stands out in a field of its own when it comes to an annual showcase of local talent? “I guess the setting is pretty spectacular. That and the fact that it’s bringing together dance music, rock, pop and comedy. It gives young bands the chance to be heard which is the biggest struggle these days with so much free music, so I guess that’s the most important thing.”
With fellow headliners And So I Watch You From Afar on the top of the duo’s must-see acts at this year’s festival – “any time I have seen them they are blown me away” – what would the duo say by way of advice or advice to anyone who might be interested in checking their set at this year’s festival? “Prepare to sweat.”
Small but MASSIVE!
For ticket info for Glasgowbury 2013 go here.
