With an estimated 50,000 thousand people in attendance and around 30,000 of those thought to be weekend campers, Global Gathering was a big deal this year. Hospitality and UKF both hosted their own arenas and it’s fair to say that bass music was well and truly represented across the event. The English weather remained kind and while there were a few organisational hiccups and a distinct lack of water in some areas at certain points across the two day festival, on the whole it was pretty amazing.

From a drum & bass point of view, highlights on the main stage were Major Look and DJ Fresh and the mighty Chase & Status. We caught up with Stapleton and Andy, AKA Major Look, creators of the bass music smash ‘Hush Ya Gums’ to get their take on an event that has become an integral part of the UK dance music calendar.

Your infectious brand of d&b/dubstep crossover went down brilliantly on the Main Stage at Global. Was this your first GG event?
Stapes: Thanks. We really enjoyed our time on stage and yes, this was our first time at Global Gathering. Hopefully we will be back next year!

Andy: Yes, first time at Global and hopefully not the last. Great vibe & great crowd. Just wish UK Environmental Agency would take the handcuffs off where outdoor sound restrictions apply. Saying that though, it was plenty loud during our set and the crowd seemed well up for it in the afternoon sunshine.

While basic in set up, (the stage show that is) the pair of you make for good entertainment on the big stage. How many other events of this scale have you played so far?
Stapes: The stage show is something that will progress in time. It won’t be long before you see visuals as a mandatory part of our PA set. We are really stoked to have played some good gigs/festivals this year including Spectrum Warehouse Party, Wakestock Festival and Loves Saves the Day to name a few but to play main stage At Global Gathering is a huge achievement for us.

Andy: Haha, Yep we are keeping it simple for the moment but the live show is developing and will grow as time progresses. I hope it was entertaining though and some of our character came across on stage. We've played a fair few big festivals but this was definitely the biggest!

What did you think to the crowd reaction for the set?
Stapes: When we turned up on stage, the majority of people were sitting down in the sunshine. So to see them gather round and interact with the music and performance was great.

Andy: I was definitely surprised by the reaction! We looked out from backstage and everyone was kind of sitting around in the sun relaxing after a heavy night the night before, so I thought some weighty bass music might be a hard-sell. Soon as we jumped on though the stage seemed to fill up out of nowhere and everyone was on their feet havin' it!

You played some new material at the gig. Tell us a bit about it!
Stapes: We performed everything from the Bass Generation EP, which is out from August 19th. Along with some remixes and some new material from the album.

Andy: The newest thing we played was something called No Hope City. It's about being stuck in a dead end town but still making the best of what you've got. Kind of the musical equivalent of the phrase "if life gives you lemons you make lemonade"! It's still in development but it was great to test it out.

How would you say Global Gathering compared to other large events you’ve played this year?
Stapes: The best so far.
Andy: Everything at GG is just on a much larger scale compared to other events. Don't get me wrong, size isn't everything (or so I'm told) but it was pretty awesome to look out at so many people from the massive main stage!

Who rocked Global Gathering for you?
Stapes: Unfortunately I didn’t get to see many acts but it was great to see everyone I was with rocking to Chase & Status.

Andy: It was crazy, we were so busy across the weekend that we didn't catch nearly as many people as we would have liked! Andy C and Knife Party smashed the UKF tent on Friday and we caught some of Labrinth on the main stage a little bit after us and his live show was very slick. Gutted I missed our pals Mistajam and Netsky's sets though! We had a good catch up in the artist bar though so that was good.

You played before DJ Fresh. That’s quite a task!
Stapes: With all due respect to DJ Fresh, it wasn’t something that was on our minds. We were focused on our own set and wanted to give a great performance for everyone that came to support us.

Andy: Well, I'm glad he walked out to a packed stage... it means we did our job properly!

Please add any other info you like...
Stapes: Thank you very much to everyone that came to support Major Look at Global Gathering. It was great playing our new single and watching the crowd singing the words back to us! Let’s do it again next year!

Words: Daniel Beale

Related Links:

• Global Gathering Festival Interviews
• Global Energy Drum & Bass Weekender
• Urban Art Forms 2011 Review
• Global Energy DJ and MC Competition 2012
• Win NASS Tickets

Like it? Share it!
Sign up for more with the Kmag weekly newsletter.