10 Essential Acts At Isle Of Wight 2013 And Q&A With John Giddings
Q&A - John Giddings
BT : First off John thanks for taking the time to speak to WhatCulture today. We're really excited about covering the Isle Of Wight festival this year- the lineup is looking amazingly strong- and it's great to be able to get an opportunity to speak to the man who orchestrates it all!So... How did you first get into the music business? Did you have any jobs you hated before that? The basic thing was at school my mate had a group and they split up, so he said to me why dont you learn to play bass and well pull some chicks! So I thought that was a really good idea until I learned a few riffs, got in the group and realised I had no hope of becoming a musician however much I loved music... I seemed to be the only person in the world who knew that when they went to university if you became Social Secretary youd be able to meet people in the music business and hopefully get a job. So I didn't care what course I did as long as I got to University and became Social Sec at Exeter. I put my hand over the courses, looked at the A-Levels and it said English, Geography & History. For some reason I studied Sociology and Philosophy which I still dont know anything about... But I did become Social Sec and get a job in the music business so I was very lucky. But before that I had some rotten jobs- cutting the verges for the council, and being a postman, until I realised then I needed to do something proper, though after thirty years now I still dont feel like Ive had a real job! BT : You obviously love it? Yeah I live and breath it. Its music. Its enjoyable isnt it? BT : It is! What specifically makes a good festival performance from a band and who is the best performer you've ever seen take to the Isle Of Wight stage? The best performers are the ones who of course relate to the audience and project to the audience; they get the audience involved. You know Jay-Z isn't someone I would necessarily play in my car but it was incredible, just asbolutely incredible the way he got the audience on his side and then tore them apart. And then you see The Rolling Stones do the same thing. These guys they've learned their craft the hard way and they've come through clubs and theatres and built it up and now, when it comes to playing to fifty thousand people, they've learned what they need to do to get them on their side and its extraordinary to watch. You know also The Prodigy when you see so many sets of hands in the air it sends shivers up your spine. BT : Yes I love The Prodigy. One of my favourite bands ever, they really know how to work the crowd!2013 will see the winners from the very first Isle of Wight Unsigned Competition take to the stage. What motivated you to launch the competition this year and do you see it becoming an annual opportunity for aspiring performers? Basically- with the onslaught of social media now- every day on Facebook and Twitter and on our website were getting contact saying Im in a group can we play at your festival?" So we decided the only way to do this fairly was to give one of the slots on each of the major stages and offer it to a group who wins a competition- within two days we had 2700 entries. It was extraordinary. BT: Wow. That's a lot of artists! Exactly. So we had a final of the last twelve bands from the competition and we had Steve Harley from Cockney Rebel, Jim Duguid who was in Paolo Nutinis band, and a guy from Q Magazine and also someone from Absolute Radio, and we chose the six best bands. The level of ability was much much higher than I expected. It was amazing. BT : So you must be really happy with the six finalists? Absolutely. Depending on what type of genre the band was we decided which stage to put them on the rock band on the Main Stage, the reggae band on the Beach Stage. We put them where they will do best on the day. BT : Isle Of Wight is massively growing in stature from the new festival's inception in 2002 (crowd attendance of around 8000) to an estimated attendance this year of 55,000 plus. What do you put the success down to and how do you hope to continue to replicate that success? Well everybody told me it was a mistake to restart a festival that was on an island! But to be honest I think thats half the attraction; because you can only get there by ferry its like going on holiday. And its just a beautiful place to go, it has a micro-climate. And because of my time in the music business I like to have bands from past, present and future and make sure its an eclectic mix of artists. Also its not in a field in the middle of nowhere- you can walk into town for ten minutes if you like. You hang out for the day and see a lot of great bands with your mates in beautiful scenery, and theres many things going on even if you dont want to see a group: you can go to the Bohemian Woods, and we have a pulpit that you can give a sermon from, and other weird and wonderful things like that! BT : Are there any new surprises on site this year? Yes there are but they would not be a surprise if I told you what they are! All I can say is there are some interesting whacky fun things to do which youll find out about when you get there...