pre Glastonbury Interview

The dreadlocked Newton Faulkner is busy putting the finishing touches of his debut album and has a dozen or so festivals to play this summer. We got a chance to chat to him about festivals, his monkey impression, his ipod playlist and more.



How would you describe your music to those who haven’t heard you before?
It’s acoustic based, fun stuff in like kind of a broad term. Actually, for the first time ever I’m in the final stages of making an album, so I’m looking at all my music in one place and I’m still not sure what it is. It’s all based around an acoustic guitar and a vocal.

I saw you at Exeter Uni supporting Paolo Nutini, you did a great monkey impression is that a regular thing?

It is bizarrely regular, it’s all his (Paolo’s) fault actually it was at one of his gigs and it was a really drunk crowd who had just seen the football, it like a really weird gig, it had a slightly strange vibe and everyone was properly drunk and someone asked my name and I said “Monkey” and they all started chanting it. I mentioned my dad’s name who was there and the crowd all started chanting my dad’s name and then I mentioned the ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ theme tune and they started going, “Do it, do it, do it!” and they started getting really angry about the fact I was apparently not going to do it and I had to work it out quickly on stage. It was just a bizarre one off but the only problem is with one offs and with myspace about now is the next day it was all over myspace.

I don’t remember you doing a lot of festivals in the past have you played any before?
No, I haven’t done that many, I did a string of really bizarre little ones which was really great fun actually, things like the Page stuff and a bunch of really random things, I’ve only done the Cambridge folk festival.

Do you go to festivals as a punter?
I did do, before I got really busy but I haven’t been for a few years now. I went to Reading kind of religiously for a little while.

I wouldn’t have expected you to be a Reading goer.
No, nor would I probably because it was the nearest. I’ve never actually been to Glastonbury before.

Are you looking forward to it then?
I’m really looking forward to it just for going to Glastonbury, and playing it is like a massive bonus!

You’re also playing Guilfest have you been there before?
Yeah, I’ve played that one once before. I don’t really have any memories of it. It was quite casual, I went to college in Guildford and went with loads of my mates, my brother was playing then.

Will you be doing the camping thing?
I have no idea there is talk, the guy who is organising it has loads of acts all doing Glastonbury, neither of which individually need a tour but if we all get together we could all blag a Tour bus and just crash in the same thing. He thinks we’ll get on, I think that’s slightly optimistic.

You’ll be a veteran by the end the festival season I’d have thought you are doing loads of them.
Yeah I’ve got loads, should be funny I’m doing loads which I know absolutely nothing about like Truckfest, bizarre, which I mentioned it to someone else and they said it was ‘amazing’. And Cropready – a taxi driver last night was telling me all about Cropready.

Who else on the bills at the festivals are you particularly going to see?
Who’s playing? That’s what I keep asking people. Every interview I do people ask me this and I don’t know. I need to look at the line ups. Who are the big guns? I’d be very intrigued to see Bjork, definitely. Actually I’ve seen the Who recently, at that you know the kind of texting in tickets for Live 8 thing I won tickets to that.

So what bands did you like most there?
It’s a toss up between Snoop Dogg and Annie Lennox.

Have you ever seen efestivals.co.uk before?
Yes, yes I have, I was recommended it by a mate. If there’s any information I need to find out it’s on there.

If you could choose a band from any era to headline a festival who would it be?
Well if it was sunny I’d have to say I’d love to sit and listen to Crosby, Stills and Nash. Just for the vibe, that would be good for a sunny day. I was brought up on them.

You’ve working on a new album ‘Hand Built By Robots’ how’s it going? Will you be doing any of it live?
Just putting the finishing touches, it’s looking really good. I’m really pleased with it, so far. If I could get my hands on a piano or keyboard, I’d add a piano or keyboard thing for the next gig, for the first time last week I added a keyboard, normally it’s just guitar. I might look out for one. There’s a few tracks off the EPs we’ve done kind of new versions of some of those.

So is the album just you solo?
No, I’ve got different kinds of stuff in it and buddies in to help me and I had a professor of world music come down here and help me.

If you could collaborate with anybody who would it be?
Can I do a track with Tom Waits, would that be acceptable? He is one guy I’d really like to collaborate with and one guy I’d love to see. Are the Flaming Lips, are they doing any festivals? I really like their stuff, man. Probably one of my favourites gigs I ever went to I was dragged to completely against my will as I didn’t really know who they were and none of their tracks made any sense whatsoever and it was one of the most euphoric experiences of my entire life. All my favourite gigs are like that, Cake were absolutely astonishing, I saw them at the Forum, just all the crowd participation. I like that I like that element of everyone getting involved. I don’t like that, ‘I’m the artist you’re the audience there will be no interaction’ thing.

Who are your influences?
It’s weird all my influences are split into kind of strains. Guitar and influences, the way I play is one line, songwriting is another one. My biggest guitar influence is Eric Roach who was one of the most gifted guitarists who ever lived, he was absolutely astonishing.. I was taught by him for a few of years, I was really into his stuff before he taught me, I went to ACM and he was head of guitar there. Unfortunately he died a couple of years ago, we got on really well, we became quite good friends, I’ve even got one of his guitars. For lyrics is Tom Waits, Cake, Presidents of the United States of America - tongue in cheeky bands and Joni Mitchell and Neil Young and all the stuff around there I should really look at my i tunes. I’m really liking Midlake are they playing any festivals?

So what’s on you itunes then?
Hang on, shall I go and get it, I’ll just go and get it. You want the whole thing or just five star playlist?

Five Star Playlist I reckon.
This could be highly embarrassing, and I’ve made a commitment to be completely honest These things are great, really good for travelling and I do a lot of travelling. Let’s see a couple of Beatles, Keigo Oyamada - Cornelius the weird Japanese producer, Rolling Stones tracks, Cake, Bobby McFerrin, Camille the French pop artist she did an album all based around one note in accapella, I read a tiny bit about it saw the cover of her face with a bit of hair across it and on the album she’s done as much as she can with her voice. Crosby, Stills and Nash, Django Reinhardt, Easy Star All Stars, Finley Quaye, Frank Sinatra, Gladiators, Hendrix, John Martyn, Jurrassic Five, Loudon Wainwright III, Madeleine Peyroux – a modern Billie Holliday, French-Canadian girl, amazing voice, she was all over Radio 2 for a bit then ran away for a year when really she’d just been living in her manager’s house with him denying it, Midlake who are wicked. Everything that’s popular is so bitty and choppy at the moment not a lot of bass in it, designed to sound quite harsh, the Midlake stuff is kind of lush. Neil Young, Radiohead, Primus is a big presence, Presidents of the USA, Seu George who did the soundtrack to "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" the guy in the corner playing David Bowie on a nylon strung acoustic in Portuguese It’s rough and wicked! Well worth checking out. Surfjen Stevens. Anyway I’ll stop that. That’s the end of my five star playlist.

Thanks for the interview hope you are enjoying the festivals.
I’m really looking forward to all of them should be a lot of fun. I’m trying to work out how many people I can sneak in. Thank you very much. See you in the summer, have a good day.

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