The D.O.T

Digitalism, The Joy Formidable and more for Standon Calling

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Signed to ultra-hip label, Kitsuné, the duo have been filling dance floors to bursting point since 2004 with their indie, electronic crossover tunes. As adept at DJ sets as they are live performance Digitalism blend the two expertly, they will be the perfect climax to a day of festival partying. Sure to deliver a much welcomed tidal wave of dreamy, euphoric rock to the festival, The Joy Formidable are the next addition. The Welsh trio have recently toured with Muse and are due to head out on a mammoth tour of the States imminently, their set at Standon Calling will no doubt see an energetic, riff-laden return to the UK.
 
Also joining 2013’s line-up are The Music’s Rob Harvey and The Streets’ Mike Skinner, performing as their collaborative project The D.O.T. The duo’s album combines their respective influences, twisting out an audio-cocktail dubbed by the NME as “an indie-rap-disco-pop-electronica-crossover”, a mix that will have the Standon Calling crowd bouncing this summer. Speaking to 6 Music today about the need for a project after The Streets Mike Skinner said:

“Any band is kinda a bit like quicksand, it gradually dries. I had it with The Streets and [Rob] had it with The Music, it’s like ‘hey we can do anything we want!’… Five albums down it’s like ‘right you’ve got to write another song about breaking up with a girl', and Rob’s band had to find another riff. And that’ll happen to The D.O.T. but now we’re in that second stage bit where we know what it is”

Further additions come in the form of Psychedelic London-based rockers Toy, and hip-hop turntablist DJ Yoda who will be joined the bonkers Balkan sounds of Trans Siberian Marching Band.
 
Elsewhere on the line-up Public Service Broadcasting, The Skints, Shields, Lazarus & The Plane Crash, Rotten Hill Gang, London Afrobeat Collective, Band of Buriers, Trenton & Free Radicalalso add to Standon Calling’s kaleidoscopic offering.
 
Weekend tickets, currently available at the tier one price of £99 are available to order fromwww.standon-calling.com.

 
2013 theme – ‘Running away from the Circus’
Fans and tickets holders can now plan their all important costume as Standon Calling reveals this year’s theme. In the past the festival has seen sea monsters, zombies, greek gods and more wacky creations dance across the fields. 2013 calls for interpretations on the theme ‘Running Away From the Circus’.

For the first time ever, the festival will house an actual on-site circus with The Standon Calling Big Topshowcasing live circus acts by day and a fantastic array of bands and DJs by night. Everywhere festival-goers venture they’ll stumble upon pockets of performance, themed sideshows and secret areas.

Festival-goers can actually become part of the circus and perform at Standon Calling in front of friends, family and fellow festival-goers. The art of illusion, clowning, fire juggling, slack rope walking and even violin playing whilst stilt walking will all be possible. Further details on ticket prices including two days of circus training and workshops are to be revealed soon.
 
During the day people can enjoy a drink in the on-site pub, The Strongman’s Arms, which will host sessions including the Science of Building a Human Pyramid, the Art of Whipping, Conquer Your Fear of Clowns, Art Macabre Life Drawing and a Circus Smell Safari.

Late at night the Forest of Freaks will be the place to be. Here the dark underbelly of the circus is revealed as the lunatics that entertain during the day let their collective hair down, indulge in their dreams and offer a variety of nocturnal entertainment.

The D.O.T, Man Like Me, Dub Pistols and more added to Blissfields lineup

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FRIENDS, THE STAVES, THE D.O.T., THEME PARK, MAN LIKE ME, DUB PISTOLS, SAM SMTIH, DRENGE, THUMPERS, ARLISSA and more. 
 
Performing a unique and special late night festival show, the legendary Mike Skinner and The Music frontman Rob Harvey who make up exciting new electronica duo The D.O.T. fuse Skinner’s meticulous dance production with classic pop songwriting, the results heard on debut album And That celebrated for it’s lairy, heady balance of style and genre, while it’s follow on lands this summer. As part of The Streets, Skinner enjoyed huge success with five top-ten albums including the number one records The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living and A Grand Don’t Come For Free which featured the number one single ‘Dry Your Eyes’. Last month he also received an NME Award for his memoir The Story Of The Streets.
 
Folk trio The Staves make their Blissfields debut this summer, the Atlantic Records signings bringing the kind of contemplative, delicate serenity that guest featured on Tom Jones’ Praise And Blame to the Hampshire countryside this July. Championed by Bon Iver who they recently joined on tour, the much revered band have also found the ear of Jools Holland fans following a performance on Later.
 
They’re joined by Brooklyn dance-pop troupe Friends who following a year of support from people like Huw Stephens for their mutant disco funk carnage, were one of last year’s most talked about live acts. Their greatly admired debut record followed soon after the New Yorkers landed on BBC’s Sounds of 2012 poll, and was surrounded by months of hugely entertaining party shows in the vein of Tom Tom Club and ESG. Now readying a new album, expect brand new material in their celebratory Blissfields show.
 
Fresh from touring with Bloc Party, the bright and quirksome leaders of British indieTheme Park join the line-up this year, their intelligent, modern use of groove and guitar on their self-titled debut album likening them to a festal Talking Heads or Fine Young Cannibals, restlessly running wild in the school yard at break time. With playlist support from Radio 1, and a sell-out UK tour recently tucked under their belt, their return to Blissfields will celebrate an exciting year for the band.
 
Thursday night will see a performance from Man Like Me, returning to the festival to headline its opening night alongside winners of the Road To Blissfields competition happening in 13 venues across the country, from The Sugarmill in Stoke-On-Trent to The Monarch in Camden, throughout Spring. Man Like Me are renowned for their fun live performances that have previously soundtracked some of the biggest party crowds at Blissfields, their piercing pop complimented by sharp stage antics and hip-hop bravado.
 
Featured on BBC’s Sounds of 2013 list, hungry young star making huge headway in the pop world Arlissa’s music has been described by the Guardian as “stirring, valedictory anthems about discontinued love, mournful but not nostalgic”. She also joins the corral of diverse and exciting artists that comprise this year’s Blissfields music bill as festival fans will welcome the return of Dub Pistols. 
 
Along with Drenge, Sam Smith, Thumpers, Blaenavon, and Jim Lockey, who are also confirmed, these additions follow in the great Blissfields lineage of emerging talent, the festival having previously showcased the likes of Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling and Ben Howard before their meteoric rise to popdom, while more recently Jake Bugg and Charli XCX, who appeared in 2012, have both seen chart and critical hype respectively. Blissfields commitment to providing the most exciting all-round line-up in such an intimate environment remains at the heart of its ethos.