Francesca Gardner┬ácaught up with Leeds’ Sky Larkin ahead of their S┼Án set.┬á

How have you found the festival so far?

Kate: Yeah itÔÇÖs a shame we have to leave because S┼Án is such a great festival and Cardiff is such a great city that itÔÇÖs a match made in heaven, really. We played the first year so itÔÇÖs really nice to come back, it felt like a family affair.

 

You drew in a good crowd, as well!

Kate: Yeah it was full ÔÇô for the first night as well, on a school night, youÔÇÖre not expecting it!

Michael: Watching each band on each floor was great, because itÔÇÖs all people that we know, so it was like a giant party ÔÇô Kate was saying sheÔÇÖd happily join any of the bands.

Kate: You donÔÇÖt normally go to a festival where for every single band youÔÇÖre like, ÔÇÿYeah, I could play this music forever!’

 

YouÔÇÖre soon to be playing at All Years Leaving festival in Birmingham alongside Frankie and the Heartstrings ÔÇô are you looking forward to it?

Kate: Definitely. Michaels from Sunderland so we know the Frankie and the Heartstrings lot too well! Michaels toured with them before, so weve got some information

Michael: We know their ins, we know their outs Probably more outs than ins.

 

As a ÔÇ£suburbÔÇØ festival, how important do you think it is to bring live music outside of the city?

Michael: I think itÔÇÖs really important, because these places are out of the limelight, so theyÔÇÖre ÔÇÿallowedÔÇÖ to develop their own ideas and micro-climates of music. Bringing in music from the city puts a spotlight on these places which perhaps arenÔÇÖt getting the attention they deserve. ItÔÇÖs a win-win situation, really, ÔÇÖcause people from these places get to see these bands that arenÔÇÖt from round there and also the bands that are from there get to play music.

Kate: And equally, it brings music back into the city centres eventually. There was a venue in Cardiff that got shut down for noise complaints, but that was one of the reasons why it was so cool to live in that area. So our friends Frankie and the Heartstrings have opened a record shop in Sunderland and theyÔÇÖve got the old Tourist Information centre on the high street, and so, for a band to take music back onto the high street ÔÇô because thatÔÇÖs the problem, record shops arenÔÇÖt on high streets anymore, so itÔÇÖs almost inevitable that people are getting driven out to the suburbs because the centre is almost homogenizing.

 

YouÔÇÖve been on the scene for the past eight years now; how do you think youÔÇÖve progressed?

Kate: When we formed I was at Uni so it when I finished that we went on tour, five years ago.

Michael: We had a bit of a break after the second record as well, so weÔÇÖve just started touring again. For me it feels like starting all over again, but with the benefit of touring before, so itÔÇÖs new and yet the same, which is reassuring. So weÔÇÖre playing all these venues that we know and love, so thatÔÇÖs really nice to look forward┬á to and youÔÇÖve also got this kind of nervous feeling because itÔÇÖs fresh and exciting again, soÔǪ Yeah, itÔÇÖs new but also comforting.

Kate: I think that because all three of us have a lot of touring experience, but we all value it. In the best way possible, itÔÇÖs taken the drama out of it and means that weÔÇÖre all good at coping in a crisis! But it also means that we donÔÇÖt all have some sort sense of entitlement ÔÇô you know what touring is and the best part of it is that you get to tour around and make friends and then see those friends again.

Michael: Then you can deal with the down times and find fun things to do.

Kate: As long as youÔÇÖve got a cereal bar, youÔÇÖll be fine.

Michael: CanÔÇÖt go wrong.

 

How would you describe your sound?

Kate: With this record I had kind of set goalposts of wanting to make something that was arresting but not aggressive, and beautiful but not permissive, because those were my parameters for music that I like and music that aggravates me.

Michael: I think itÔÇÖs direct but not rushed, not hurried, not forced.

Kate: ItÔÇÖs hard to be direct and not seem forced. And itÔÇÖs hard to be beautiful and not seem whimsical.

 

WeÔÇÖre anticipating some new material from you ÔÇô what can we expect?

Kate: Just getting excited to do shows with Dutch Uncles and tour again. WeÔÇÖre doing a lot of remixes for people.

Michael: Making a lot of noise.

 

Sky Larkin’s full-length album ‘Motto’ is available for download now.┬á