“It’s gonna be a hoot!” - Do Nothing chat Y Not Festival, recording their debut album & more

Hello Do Nothing! The last time we saw you was at DIY Alive! What’s been going on in your world since then?
We had a few shows in with our pal Lawrence from Victory Lap, Kagoule and Blessed Twins, filling in on drums (Andy’s been up to his eyeballs in uni work). They were pretty much all places we’ve never played before, from Huddersfield and Bedford to The Hague in the Netherlands and Rock for People festival in the Czech Republic. Lots of fun!

You released your latest EP ‘Glueland’ back last year so, if we’ve done our calculations correctly, we’d guess you might have been working on some new music? Can you tell us anything about that?
Yeah, it feels like a million years ago since we released ‘Glueland’. Vocalist Chris does the vast majority of the writing, and I think because we were so busy finally being able to tour, playing rescheduled gigs and getting back to our day jobs meant there wasn’t much time for writing. But it’s always been there in the background and we really hit our stride in 2022.

We also heard a rumour that you might be about to start recording a slightly larger project… Any secrets you can let us in on?
Yep we’ve finally booked in some time to go and record our debut album! It’s been a long time coming, but we really wanted to have a proper idea of what we wanted it to be before we rushed into anything. I can tell you that the album will feature all new material - we’re leaving the EPs and singles in their own little bubble. So much has changed since we formed the band so this felt right.

Live shows are very much back on the agenda! What’s it been like getting out there and playing across both the UK and Europe, after such a stop-and-start few years?
It’s been a whole lot of fun, we really missed it. It’s been so nice meeting new artists and reconnecting with old friends on the scene. It was pretty wild doing our headline tour, because even though we’d actually played a lot of those songs live before, most of them weren’t released until after the pandemic began. We didn’t expect so many people to know the words, it was heartwarming. Lots of our songs before ‘Glueland’ were honed and tightened up when we played them live, before we recorded them in the studio, so it’s been great to be able to try a few brand new ones out and see how they work.

You’ve also played a couple of festivals recently - what’s been your favourite bit so far?
I think Grauzone festival in The Hague was a big highlight. We absolutely love the Netherlands so it was beautiful to get back there after so long. The line-up was absolutely killer and lots of friends were playing, including Folly Group, Bdrmm, Lynks and Crows. We had a great time even if people did leave early to go see Viagra Boys (I would have done the same….)

Later this month, you’ll be back on UK soil to play some more festivals, including Y Not! How’re you looking forward to those performances? What can fans expect from the sets?
It’s gonna be a hoot! Y Not is pretty close to where we’re from in Nottingham, and we always love playing there. Fingers crossed for good weather, it seems to be a little cursed sometimes. Expect all the songs you’ve come to know and love as well as a couple of new ones!

Will you be trying to catch anyone else on the bill?
I’m very excited for Sorry because I’ve somehow never seen them live. We’ll take a look at our pals Yard Act and Alfie Templeman, and I’ll probably go and see Kelis and get a bit daft.