Music

Brainlove Festival: Crushed Beaks

Luke Morgan Britton | Monday 14 May, 2012 17:33

Crushed Beaks are a duo whose live performances win you over right away with their unabashed and unbridled energy. Or at least that was the case with Brainlove/Snipe’s very own John Rogers who, upon seeing the noisy twopiece play at Dalston’s fashionably crammed Powerlunches venue, decided to give the band a little more space and booked them for this year’s Brainlove Festival.

We spoke to frontman Matt about what we should expect, what they’re looking forward to and, of course, the Windmill’s infamous resident dog on the roof.

Could you introduce a little about yourself first and foremost?
We’re a two-piece based in Peckham and Lewisham. We make noisy pop songs with limited means and boundless energy. We released our first single on Too Pure Records in November. Since then we’ve released a ‘cover swap’ split single with our bros Torches, where we covered one of their songs and they covered one of ours.

For people who haven’t seen you live before, what can they expect?
Our live set up is quite stripped back, we just use an electric guitar, a drum kit, vocals and a couple of pedals. We like to concentrate on making really good songs, without letting ourselves get bogged down with loads of equipment. Also, my shed (where we rehearse) is too small to fit much stuff in, so that’s another reason we’re a two-piece.

Have you played or even been to the Brainlove Festival prior to this year?
We haven’t been to Brainlove festival before, but we’ve played a few shows at the Windmill and we bloody love it.

What are you looking forward to most about it?
The dog on the roof, obviously.

Looking at the line-up, who are you excited about seeing live?
I don’t think I’ve seen anyone on the line-up before, so everything is going to be new to me.

How do you find festivals in general? Do you prefer smaller venue shows?
I’m actually a massive fan of huge, impersonal stadium venues where I have to use binoculars to see the band and pay £9 for a pint of beer in a plastic cup.

Do you enjoy the prospect of people that necessarily aren’t that familiar with your music getting the chance to stumble upon you?
I think that’s probably the best thing about playing festivals to be honest. It’s always good to be a little bit out of your comfort zone and play to people who haven’t heard you before, and to see how long they stick around before they head back to the bar.

Could you tell us a little bit about the track you chose to give away as a free download?
‘Close-ups’ was the A-side from our single with Too Pure. It’s only two and a half minutes long. If that hasn’t sold it to you already, I honestly don’t know what will.

Tickets & Lineup Info for Brainlove 2012 at: www.brainloverecords.com/festival.

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