The Punk Archive: Are you excited for 2014's Undercover after all the work that's gone into it?
Mick: Excited? More like knackered and running on adrenaline! We have put a lot of our hearts and souls into this year and we hope everyone comes down and has a cracking time. Last year was a belter and let's hope this year is even better.
I am excited about seeing bands that have been around for years. I must admit some I've been following for years. I find music in general these days to be depressing especially when young, vibrant and talented bands with something about them and something to say are being suffocated by the media driven schmaltz of X Factor and all that shit! So if I am excited it's also about some of the bands we have lined up including a few that are under 18. Last year it was the unknown bands, those that were or are not established that made Undercover what it was as much as the headliners and more established bands. There is a lot of talent out there not getting the gigs they deserve and it is them I am really looking forward to working with and welcoming to Undercover.
The Punk Archive: What have you done to make it better than 2013's? What elements have you improved on?
Mick: Last year was pretty special so we have not done a lot to change it to be honest...Increased the festival to three days, and widened the sort of bands we have put on. We have increased the amount of bands with longer sets as well...
The Punk Archive: Talk us through your band selections: were there reasons you went with certain bands?Mick: Is there a reason or a rationale behind what bands we put on and why? I suppose if it feels right we do it and if it does not then maybe we will take a few looks before deciding not this time! If you're asking whether we have actually sat down and said 'this is what we are looking for and these are the bands we will put on', then not really.
I think with last year and Dreadzone headlining on the Friday we have gone for a band of that nature but different (Gentleman's Dub Club), but elsewhere not really. We kinda just went 'this band is so and so and does it fit?' And it was either a 'fuck yeah' or 'errr no maybe not!'
As long as it falls into the broad rainbow of alternative music we have identified (Punk / Ska / Northern / Dub / Reggae / Glam / Retro) then we are happy. It is then at that point we look around. Some of the bands that played last year are back again because they had to be and that made it a lot easier.
We have looked at hundreds and hundreds of bands. Hillsy, who I work with on this and mates threw loads of bands in the mix for consideration and in November we had 211 bands apply to play in eight days, and I listened to every one which was fun! There are a lot of really good bands and a few that do need counselling. Then we did the roadshow gigs in at The Cave in Addlestone so we could take a proper look at them as well as putting on a few bands that were already playing; as a result of this we added The Wonder Beers and T&The Mugs to the line up.
The most regrettable thing about this year is that we were not able to put every band on that played 2013, or put every band on that wanted to play; but there is simply no room.
As we are only a small festival with a cap of around just 1000 I suppose cost does determine why we can't put on some bands that many consider to be the big ones, but when a band's rider, add-ons and requests for a suite of 5 star hotel rooms is nearly what the fee is then you decide this is not for Undercover. We believe the line up we have got overall is pretty special and for a festival of our size I defy anyone to better it!
The Punk Archive: What's the best thing about putting on a festival?
Mick: When you organise a festival and there are only days to go you realise you have an inbuilt desire to do things that no normal and rational person would put themselves through and it is at that point you realise you must be mad. With three days to go and all that planning and last minute things to deal with I am knackered and I can't really think of much that can be said that is good about organising a festival. But ask me a week or so afterwards, as it is more than likely I will be buzzing as I was last year.
The build up has been fun, I have become a temporary radio presenter on Radio Woking, with 3 shows entitled Countdown to Undercover. Our last show is Wednesday 17th September 8pm – 10pm where we shall be packing the show with bands playing Undercover. The last two weeks we have had some cracking guests in the studio as well as playing tracks by bands that are playing Undercover or tracks by bands that have shaped what we are trying to achieve. On Show 1 we had Mat Sargent and Nic Austin from Chelsea and last week's show we had Eddie Roxy and Pete Jones from Department S which I was pretty chuffed about. The best thing about putting on Undercover last year was the buzz about the place and even though I was knackered that helped us keep going. Hopefully we can recreate that buzz again.
Nic Austin from Chelsea on my radio show a few weeks ago summed it up: in all his years of playing festivals Undercover is one of the most enjoyable and friendliest he has been to. That sums it up really .
Undercover Festival runs from 19th - 21st September 2014. For information head to: http://undercoverfest.com/
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