We Chat to Surf Pop Sextet Midnight Rodeo Before Their Dot To Dot Debut

Congratulations on being announced as part of the Dot To Dot lineup this year. It’ll be your first time playing it as a band - how are you feeling and what can we expect from your set? 
Maddy: We’re both really excited to get to play Dot To Dot this year as a band. I help to run it, so usually I don’t get the chance to participate - but hopefully we can bring some excitement and a big old party. We’ve swapped out a load of our old songs for new, fun tunes, so our main aim is to just have some fun ourselves, really. We’re trying to write songs that we enjoy and everyone else can also engage with. I had a tambourine interlude last time and my hands hurt so much - but it was great! 
Jim: I was lucky enough to get to play last year solo, so I’m looking forward to getting to play with the rest of the band, and we’re all just hoping to have a really good time and just dance. It's relentless - I’m jumping around non-stop.

Is there anyone you’re particularly excited to see in this year's lineup, and which venues are you wanting to visit?
Maddy: We were actually discussing this earlier - we’re really excited to see Opus Kink.
Jim: I’m also excited to see Wombo, and loads of local bands like Girlband and Divorce. We love Rough Trade and it’s a really nice space upstairs too.

Which venues in Nottingham are your personal favourites?
Maddy: I work for both The Bodega and Rescue Rooms, but if I'm not saying either of them then Chameleon Arts Cafe or JT Soar. We find Nottingham’s music scene doesn’t really have a definitive sound, it’s just made up of all different really good bands who bring their own elements to the table, which makes it quite special as it’s a small city. 
Jim: I love Peggy’s Skylight, as well. It's one of my favourite venues. It's epic, and I really enjoyed getting to play there solo. The calibre of musicians is always so interesting. The music scene is so rife with new talent and bands who are so eclectic and varied. It’s great that we get to be here. 

After playing God Save Clermont Festival in France, did you find international crowds differ at all from those you have here in the UK? 
Maddy: To be honest, there isn’t the same kind of music scene there at all. We had people coming up to us all weekend, saying, “We just don’t have this here, it’s so good to have all these British bands over.” 
Jim: Yeah, people were like, “Rock and roll isn't dead!” We were so confused. In the space of about two days we played Claremont and then Manchester. The venue in France was tiny, but we had such a good time. We were chatting with everyone and no-one knew us before. Whereas Manchester was so different - the crowd were a lot more reserved, but then afterwards everyone was saying how amazing it was. In France, you knew the people loved it, and in the UK, we had to encourage the crowd a bit more - but I suppose it depends where we’re playing. 

What other festivals are you playing over the summer, and which are you most excited for? 
Maddy: We’ve not done a grassy festival, so we're excited for Kendal Calling - the line-up is really good. There are so many bands we’re hoping to catch ourselves, but our set is on Sunday, so we’ll have to go heavy on Friday and take it easy on Saturday. On that Sunday, we get to play that stage with quite a few people we are mates with anyway, so that should be a lot of fun. Also, Great Escape - we’re super excited to play that, as we love Brighton and being by the sea.
Jim: I’m also really excited for Great Escape, it’s always such a mad busy weekend in Brighton - we have a great time whenever we’re there thanks to our label. Every time we’re in the south-east, we’re either playing with a band that we love or going to see bands that we love - we’ve never really seen a bad band there! 

Midnight Rodeo are playing Dot To Dot Festival on Sunday 28 May

@midnightrodeoband