Zulu Winter talk summer festivals ahead of their Reading and Leeds debut

In the second of our pre Reading and Leeds Festival interviews we catch up with Zulu Winter, another of 2012’s success stories making their Leeds/Reading debut this weekend.

Jayne Robinson

Date published: 22nd Aug 2012

Having only formed last year, they went on to release their album ‘Language’ back in May - with much support coming from the likes of Zane Lowe and Steve Lamacq.

Here, they talk us through their summer so far, tell us who they’ve been hanging around with backstage and share some splendid festival survival tips.

So you’ve been added to the Reading and Leeds line-up to play the Festival Republic stage - you must be pretty happy about this?
Yep, we're chuffed. Reading and Leeds are big festivals here and the Festival Republic Stage is a good place to start your playing relationship with them. We've been doing a lot of European festivals recently so it's going to be great coming back to a home crowd so to speak.

Given it can take some acts a lot longer to get a slot, what does it mean to you as a band to be on that infamous line-up poster having not been together that long?
We're very happy and just want to make sure we put on a great performance. There's a lot of bands to catch across these dates and we need to make sure we reward the people that choose to come and see us with some top performances.

Have you thought about the set-list yet?
We've been honing a set for festivals over the last few months but this has been in Europe mainly so it should be quite fresh here. We've also been working on some jams between songs - one of which I don't think we've played around with in the UK.

You’re still pretty new to the festival circuit, do you get nervous before a festival or are you starting to get accustomed to it all now?
You always want a few nerves. It keeps you on your toes and keeps things interesting. Perhaps once there were too many and this could restrict you but now it feels like something that adds to our performance. Helps us find that little extra each time...

You’ve played a few festival dates already this year, how have they been so far? How are you finding the European ones?
They're pretty similar to the 'boutique' festivals of the UK so it's not hugely different, but we've really connected with them and the audience. I've spoken to some people who say they look to the UK for inspiration but they're doing alright as it is methinks. There are some similarities but they have their own thing going on for sure. Plus, it's been amazing to see the reception we've had in some places such as Germany, Belgium and Holland.

The line-up at Reading and Leeds is always phenomenal, are you hoping to hang around and check out some acts while you’re there? Who are you most looking forward to seeing?
We've been spending a bit of time with Alt-J, Vaccines, Citizens and Oberhofer over the last few months so will definitely try and show our support there. Then I'd like to see the Cure, Django Django and Mark Lanegan Band.

Which festivals did you used to go to as punters?
We all went to Reading a few times when we're were younger and generally got up to no good so will be fun to return there and play. Glastonbury has always been one for us and we went to The Secret Garden a few times as well. Field Day in London too...

Many memories are made during the summer months at festivals; can you fill us in on some of your favourite ones? Any stand out performances?
Most of the stand out memories probably shouldn't be repeated here so let's just talk about stand out performances. Primal Scream at Glastonbury in 2005. The Coral at the same festival in a past year. Tame Impala, Jack White and Dirty 3 at the last Splendour In The Grass.

Surviving a festival and not peaking too soon is often key, any tips for anyone venturing to a festival for the first time this year?
Not peaking too soon is probably the best one you can offer. That and things that make you feel ok if you do peak too soon. I think I've forgotten them every time but someone who offers you a baby wipe or a grapefruit after day two is an instant god amongst broken, feeble festival goers. This would probably mean they're pretty important things to take.

You’ve had a very busy and successful year so far with your debut album ‘Language’ getting a great response, what’s on the agenda once all the festivals are done and dusted?
We're got some more touring ahead of us including some dates with The Vaccines and Keane in Europe and then some headline shows, so it's going to be pretty busy until the end of the year. I think the gigs will then slow down and we'll start losing ourselves in the studio. We've a lot of ideas for album number two already, so we're keen to get into studio and take these further. Maybe there'll be an E.P, maybe we'll head straight on to the next album...