A few years back, Andy Hull sent us a hand-written transcription of an interview Luke had passed along to him and we each sat around our computer screens in awe of how cool it turned out. As soon as we published it, we received a great deal of feed back from fans of the band thanking us for presenting an interview in such a unique format. However, it was completely a product of someone else’s creativity and we were fortunate enough to be the recipients. 

Fast forward and we’re getting ready to head to cover Bonnaroo and begin discussing fun ways to interview the bands we’d lined up to talk with. Building on Andy’s original post, we picked up a moleskin and wrote out the things we were curious about from each band. 

I think it caught a few bands off guard, but everyone had fun with the interviews. The non-traditional manner of the project was as exciting for us as it was for them and I can’t wait to share the other features. 

Interview with Beans on Toast

This was easily the most fun interview I did all weekend, and with one of the nicest people I encountered too. I got an email from one of the guys with Big Hassle talking about an artist he was working with from the UK called Beans on Toast. Sounded interesting enough, and the fact that he (Beans) seemed like a good beer drinking partner, I headed to the tent to get the scoop from him.

When I met Jay (Beans), his first words to me were “Great to meet you, mate. I’ve got to take a piss, so just a minute, okay?”. That was fine and I told Jay I was going to get us some beers to which he replied “Great, let’s do this”.

What proceeded was a good ten minutes of general foolery, some great story telling, and a glimpse into the life of an artist who exclaimed he had “no fucking clue, but that’s okay, I’m having a blast” when I asked him where’d he be staying over the next few days.

Interview with Beans on Toast

It seemed that we had both happened upon the same moonshine that was making its way around the festival, so a few minutes were spent talking about the wonderful powers of the drink, but more importantly his newest album, Fishing for a Thank You, which was released the Tuesday prior. The album is a smart, tongue-in-cheek take on… well, the world.

Jay was on the road at the time supporting fellow Brit and close friend Frank Turner, so there we’re plenty of stories from tour.

Interview with Beans on Toast

As you can tell, Bonnaroo was fun for Jay, but Jay was probably more fun for Bonnaroo. The interview ended with one of the best quotes I took away from the weekend.

Cover Photo Courtesy of Xtra Mile Recordings.