Gorgeous, angular, and infectious: Chatting with KEG ahead of their Jarred Up Festival appearance
Jarred Up festival is back! Following last year’s storming debut, this year’s edition returns with a stacked lineup featuring some of the best of the UK alternative music scene - all in one handy venue to boot. Riotous art-punk seven-piece KEG are no strangers to the delights of said venue Sidney & Matilda, having played here twice before, and their return to the Basement room is one of the more hotly hyped sets this year among in-the-know Sheffield music fans.
Such anticipation is richly deserved. A KEG live show is an experience in every sense of the word: mining a rich and very British seam of joyous eccentricity, their feverishly-delivered songs are by equal turns gorgeous, angular and infectious. Their excellent debut album Fun’s Over, released in March this year, captured that energy admirably, but you really do owe it to yourself to see them in full flow. Fresh off the summer festival circuit, they should be in peerless form, so don't miss out on one of the (very few at the time of writing) Jarred Up festival tickets remaining!
What can KEG's growing contingent of Sheffield-based fans expect to have changed since their last show here? What should the uninitiated be prepared for? We caught up with frontman Albert Haddenham to find out.
Hey Albert! It’s been a busy summer of festivals for KEG, are you all still in the thick of it or have things calmed down a bit?
Yeah, we’ve had a bit of a lull recently. We were in Belgium last and then Holland before that, we've been doing quite a few European shows. But yeah, it didn't feel like a mad, crazy summer or anything to be honest. It was quite nice, really!
Any particular highlights?
Dordrecht in Holland, that was very, very beautiful, but all the shows and festivals were really fun. Quite a weird, funny selection. We played Teddy Rocks, a tribute festival, and we were one of the only non-tribute acts. It was a very odd lineup. We played the Vocalzone (writer’s note: some kind of throat lozenge) stage, and even got to meet the owner of Vocalzone, so that was nice.
What a treat! How did the tribute act crowd at Teddy Rocks take to you?
General confusion, I think! They were a bit nonplussed by it all. Another one we stuck out on the lineup at was 2000 Trees, because the rest of it was mainly early 2000s emo and heavier bands. Quite a few of us were into that when we were growing up, so that was cool, and the crowd were actually quite up for that one. I think we were a breath of fresh air; a lot of that music is quite reverent, quite serious, and I think we bring more of a sense of fun.
‘A sense of fun’ sounds about right for what you guys do in your shows. You released your (ironically titled and excellent) debut album Fun’s Over in March, which really captures your off-kilter intensity. Has putting the album together changed how you approach the live show?
It's changed how we play some of the music; we’ve definitely honed some of the longer, jammier tracks. It's informed our writing as well, because we're aware that people are up for listening to us explore something a little more subdued, less frantic, more introspective. It’s been nice to see that the audiences are not just like “play Heyshaw”. It's amazing that people love any of our music, and we've always wanted to make as many different styles of music as we can in this project. Some of the new stuff you'd recognise, some of it’s a bit more unexpected.
Sounds exciting, and speaking of exciting, can’t wait to see you again at Jarred Up Festival. It’s your fourth time in Sheffield, third time at Sidney & Matilda. Hopefully, that's a sign you enjoy yourselves up here?
Yeah man! Every time we've been there's always been a lively crowd, and I love Sheffield in general. I've always had a lot of time for it; it's a beautiful city. We have a small but growing collection of fans there that are really solid. Last time we went and there were these very, very enthusiastic guys at the front. The first time we played there, we had about twenty people in the room, and it’s gotten bigger every time. Really happy to be heading back.
You just mentioned working on some new songs. Can the returning fans expect any changes since your last show here in January?
There's plenty of new songs in the set list, maybe too many! But I think people expect that from us now, and it's nice to see a band not stay static. So yeah, plenty of new songs and plenty of liveliness. It'll be nice to be back in the Basement.
Yeah, love it when the energy’s good in the Basement! You mentioned liveliness; that’s probably the best word to sum up a KEG show. What else would you say to the uninitiated to get them to take a chance on you
A frenzied exploration of lots of different sounds, lots of brass, and all fronted by a shouty, sweaty man.
Sounds spot on to me! Are there any other acts that have caught your eye?
Do Nothing, I love those guys, I'm excited to see them. Yowl are playing, they’re great. And Hutch are friends from Brighton, they're absolutely beautiful people. Very angelic music.
Earlier this year, you pulled out of SXSW due to some frankly bizarre choices of speakers, including David Cameron and the CIA! Navigating the music industry, placing your principles vs potential opportunities, seems increasingly difficult, especially at these big corporate festivals.
That was a strange one, because it was such obvious artwashing, it felt nonsensical. Scratch the surface of any of these major festivals, and there are donors involved in most things, but that one particularly felt like trying to use artists’ creativity to hide some really gross things. Of course the bands playing are going to notice you’re putting the CIA on a stage!
It is difficult to navigate and know when to draw the line, but I think when you see something you really don't agree with, you’re well within your rights to pull yourself from those lineups. I don't think anyone should be afraid of that because these things don't end up being that crazy anyway. Those fabled deals don't necessarily exist anymore, where people spot you and are like, you're gonna be a star, I'm gonna give you loads of money! I think it’s better to keep your integrity rather than hope that there might be something around the corner at one of these events.
I feel like more bands are recognising what you said about that ‘fabled deal’ in the music industry; it isn't necessarily there anymore. More reason to stick to the festivals and the crowds and the people that you want to actually play to.
They're the ones who always look after you the best, as well. You want to be able to afford to actually do this, and it's always the big events that will be like, “can you do it for 150 quid?” when there are seven of us. The smaller festivals - we’re doing one in Norwich this week, as well as Jarred Up - always treat us so well. And every ticket or bit of merch bought by someone who has enjoyed the show makes a difference. Foster those relationships, grow together, and those people will treat you well down the line. That's what we've always been about, really.
Love that. And yeah, unless the James’ (managers of Jarred Up) go really maverick, I don't think any dodgy donors will be giving a talk on the 25th! Anything else coming up for KEG?
I think these two gigs in Norwich and at Jarred Up are our last of the year. Then we've got practices booked in, writing sessions and stuff, so it's gonna be a nice creative sesh for the rest of the year. Getting ready for the recording next year, that’s going to be great.
Anything else you can share on the new material?
We've decided on about eight tracks we're completely happy with, and then we're going into the studio in January, which is really exciting. For cash reasons, the last album was 50/50, doing the drums and bass in the studio and then the rest at home. This time we get to block out a full week of being able to make something in the studio and can leave gaps in to make stuff whilst we're there. The first album was a culmination of everything we'd worked on as a band together up until then. It'd be nice to make something that's like now, you know what I mean? I want to make something that feels like a stamp of that time.
Brilliant, thanks Albert. Very excited about next Saturday, and looking forward to the new songs! Nice chatting with you, see you there.
You too, see you then.
Photo: @ktallen0
You can catch KEG at the Jarred Up Festival on the Basement Stage at 8:45pm. There are less than 50 tickets remaining, so get yours now.
Words: Dave Cuthbertson
