Stag and Dagger

Stag and Dagger

20 May, 2009
by: Domzig

Was it just me, or did Shoreditch have like a million festivals last year? There was the Shoreditch Shuffle, Shoreditch Festival, Concrete and Glass, Brick Lane Festival, Hox-to-Dot to name but a few, and for the most part they were at best sparse and at worst boring.

Come to think on it, the only one that really did the business was Stag and Dagger. Taking over almost every venue from Whitechapel Road to Old Street Roundabout, it was an evening when the entire East End turned into a wonderland of garage punk bands, basement parties, cheap booze and good vibes.

When I heard that it was returning for a second year, with the likes of Dananananyckroyd , Abe Vigoda, Die! Die! Die!, and Teeth!!! Playing, I was excited to say the least. So excited in fact that I decided to call Matt Elak at Vice and Will Rees from The Electroacoutsic Club to find out what we can expect this year.

What’s the ethos behind Stag and Dagger?

Matt: I guess Stag and Dagger grew out of the people involved really. Vice, Margaret and AITBF have been involved in Shoreditch for a long time, so it seemed natural to hold a great big party on our doorstep.

How did the Electroacoustic Club get involved?

Will: We hosted The Slaughtered Lamb, one of our regular venues, last year, which is bit off the beaten track for Stag and Dagger. Crispin likes what we do so asked us to host The Legion and suggest some bands and artists to join Maps on the bill this year. Sadly James Yuill had to pull out but our Belgian friends, Soy Un Caballo, are are now headlining.

Why Shoreditch?

Matt: Well, it always seemed strange that Shoreditch has all this vibrant night life, with all these bars and clubs and it doesn’t have one unifying event. We saw the opportunity, started the company and went for it.

How does Stag and Dagger differ from other festivals like the Camden Crawl and the Great Escape?

Will: To state the obvious, the location - it means a lot. NW1 can be pretty safe, stale and predictable when it comes to art, music and venues whereas E1 and EC1V and the surrounding areas are where so many relevant, contemporary artists and musicians live and where brilliant new, mould-breaking venues, galleries and other spaces seem to pop up every week.

Matt: Specifically – it’s held in one city over one night, so it has more of a big party vibe than a proper festival. It’s more of a one shot of excitement.

Also, we’re trying to be slightly more left-field in the bands we’re offering. Both the Great Escape and the Camden Crawl to a lesser extent are moving to bigger names and more established acts, whereas we’re trying to book smaller bands who are just emerging on the scene. The hope is that people will start to trust us and some of the people we book will go on to do big things.

Hopefully you’ll be seeing the people who will be big in 2010 in 2009.

If you had to pick, what bands are you most excited about seeing?

Matt: Erm, I’d probably say I’m looking forward to Cold War Kids, I’ve heard people saying how good they were for ages, and this is my big chance to see them.

Also Times New Viking – I’ve heard they’re really good live.

Will: Soy Un Caballo - they're from Brussels, they sing in French, their name means 'I am a Horse' in Spanish and played a killer show for us at the Union Chapel recently. They released a split 7" with Tunng earlier in the year and they're off on a US tour supporting Bonnie 'Prince' Billy in June (he guests on their album). The best points of reference are Stereolab, Belle & Sebastian, The High Llamas and Air.

I'll also catch Phantom Band, Speech Debelle and Connan Mockasin if I can.

Lastly, why did you decide to call it Stag and Dagger?

Matt: Ha, well it was actually Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys’ idea. Our events manager is really good friends with him and they we’re sitting around at a dinner table thinking of names and he just came out with it. Simple as that really.

Stag and Dagger takes over various venues around Shoreditch on Thursday night. Check out their website to buy tickets and find out more.

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Domzig