On top of that I got to hang out back stage at the Strongbow tent with a lot of artists who are enjoying the day sipping on cider and listening to the live music coming from the front. In addition I managed to chat to a few of them about the vinspired Lake of Stars project and and how important volunteers are to music festivals.
First we caught Mean Poppa Lean – a band loves Eating Funk from Brighton. http://www.meanpoppalean.com/
Rob – “You feel like you’re doing something a little bit wrong by helping out for massive companies but if it’s for a good cause, do something great to have a great time, you know you’ve done something kind.”
C- Dogg – “We basically volunteer ourselves all the time, I mean we are a small, new band who don’t get paid a lot to do things so we go out and we put so much effort in everything we do. For us music is volunteering because we go out there and we play really hard. The reason behind that is we want to make every event we play at to be a really special time for everyone.”
Christian – “Volunteering is dope!”
Johnny and Mike of Dang Dj’s – from London who play old school Hip Hop
Mike – “Volunteering is absolutely essential, it’s amazing just to see the amount of effort people put in, picking up stuff and dealing with it, and it means that V Festival can be an organized festival because of those volunteers helping out who makes it possible.”
Johnny – “We were here till the end last night and came back into the camp site at 10am the next day, and after leaving last night we notice the whole area covered in glasses, so it was good to come back and see that everything is all immaculate again – it was down to the volunteers.”
Sam & Patrick from Rogues. http://www.roguesmusic.com/ - Three brothers and two drifters
“Without these guys it wouldn’t be possible, they’d do it for a ticket, but in order for all to operate consistently they need to be here. Volunteers are what makes the world go round half of the time anyway.
We did a Macmillan Cancer Trust in Brick Lane couple of weeks ago, we got no fee for that, it was for charity and it’s not about getting paid all the time, it’s about getting the experience. “
Nikki Mac and Aaron from Cicada. http://cicadamusic.com/ - Mr Natural speaks out...
“They kind of keep it going really, I mean without the volunteers, these festivals won’t get off the ground, obviously they get something out of it, like see the other bands. It’s important to keep these things going as the money is getting tighter, volunteers are the life’s blood of the place. Festivals needs so much help as they can get, there’s so much organization are put in to it, so the more the merrier. “
James Connor – Drummer of Screaming Lights http://www.myspace.com/screaminglights
“It’s brilliant that are willing to volunteer and not get paid to do it, I think it’s a really cool thing to do. It must be a lot of hard work and a strange thing to do to come into work at a festival, with people around you having a holiday. “
Jon Carter – http://www.myspace.com/joncarterofficial - A man who specialises in the unexpected
“Places like Glastonbury, that’s been on for years have a lot of people who can’t afford the tickets, they work and clean up just to get in. And you have something like the Malawi Festival where there’s an incredible spirit from every single person involved and you see these two things and you’ll see a connection there.”
Big Special thanks to Jess from RPM for looking after us.
If you're 16-25 and would like to volunteer, find opportunities at vinspired.com
Words by: DwikoArie (http://www.dwikoarie.blogspot.com/)
Photos by: Justin Ng (www.flickr.com/photos/innov8)
