Stephen McMahon: When gigging and performing live shows at festivals such as Tramlines, do you feel the audience connects with the music, especially to those who have never heard it before?
Asylums: I have no idea what music fans take away from our shows where ever they are, music is so personal experience and I think any given performance with produce a multitude of reactions in the audience. However I do feel our live performances are fun and not deadly serious, lots of rocking out, silly dancing and goofing off, a bit of crowd surfing and a lot of energy. They are the kind of shows I enjoy as a music fan.
Stephen McMahon: Nowadays you see that there’s quite a lot of musicians that are becoming multi-talented in the way they perform on stage. Talk us through the instruments you guys have on stage and what you all are using in an average set.
Asylums: We are just the classic rock n roll line up, exactly the same as The Beatles. Two guitars, bass and drums, but our songs are thematically tied to now, and the speed we play them at is designed for an age of information overload.
Stephen McMahon: Your set at Tramlines is at The Crystal Stage, which is a free entry venue. What can we expect from your set in particular? any tricks up your sleeves?
Asylums: Expect a full on rock n roll show with some extremely bizarre stage craft. Also expect lots of hair.
Stephen McMahon: With you performing on a free entry stage, what would you say to persuade people who have tickets, and people who don’t, to come see you perform?
Asylums: Anyon
e who is out supporting live music gets our respect regardless of paid or not paid attendance. Its the music fans who keep live music alive. If you wanna come see Asylums then we would love to have you, we will have a blast!
Stephen McMahon: Tramlines started in 2009, and has been going for 8 years. It is without a doubt proving to provide platforms for newer bands to build a bigger fan base. Would you say more upcoming bands need to target them more?
Asylums: I think festivals operating at the size of Tramlines are the ideal way for new bands to move into the festival world, its still intimate and personal enough to bump into other bands after they play, hang out and build alliances and friendships. Musicians should mutually support each other and enthuse, not be too competitive, just have fun.
Stephen McMahon: Who would you recommend to also go see at Tramlines over the weekend?
Asylums: We played with Black Honey a while back, they are cool.
Stephen McMahon: What can we expect to see from Asylums over the rest of the summer? Surely some more music on the way!
Asylums: Our album drops on 29th July and we will be gigging a lot until the end of the summer. After that we have some exciting stuff to announce around October.
Asylums – Tramlines Festival – Sheffield – Fri 22nd – Sun 24th July – Crystal Stage
For all information on Tramlines Festival go to the website – http://www.tramlines.org.uk
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