Download Festival: Entrevista con Matt

Download: Hey Matt, welcome back to Download!
Matt Tuck: Thank you
DL: How does it feel to be back at Donington?
MT: It feels amazing. I love this festival, I want to be here every year if we can
DL: Did you ever go to any of the original Monsters of Rock Festivals?
MT: No, unfortunately I missed the bar. I was too young. The first festival I ever went to was Reading and Leeds in 2001.
DL: So you’re quite a newbie to the festival scene then, right?
MT: I could never afford it when I was a kid. Even in my late teens and early 20s I was a bum. I just bought guitars. All my money went on musical instruments, so I never really did the festival thing until I was a bit older.
DL: We’ve got a massive Download Community online on Facebook and Twitter. How important is your online fan base to you with your fans?
MT: We don’t use it as often as we should or could. But all our accounts are so insanely busy with the amount of traffic we get. It’s impossible to keep tabs on it, so our management control it and then we add things when they ask us to. It sounds very corporate, but that’s the way it has to be.
DL: The Bullet Machine is a massive one these days.
MT: It sure is. Not a lot of people realize the amount of work that’s needed just to go in to sites like those. It’s pretty intense.
DL: We’re loving your new album Fever at Download HQ. How are you going to mix in the old with the new during your Download set?
MT: Very easy and seamlessly is the quick answer. We’ve just done six weeks in America, so we’re basically going to do the same set with another couple of songs thrown in. It’s pretty cool, it works really well.
DL: The American audiences seem to really love you at the moment.
MT: It’s got pretty nuts out there now. Fever went in at number 3 on the Billboard Chart – we’re becoming quite a big deal now in the U.S.
DL: Do you still wake up in the morning with a buzz, and say to yourself “fuck me, I’m a rock star”?
MT: I’ve never actually had that moment. We’re just so busy and so focussed on what we do, I never really get that opportunity to get that. I’m sure if it ended tomorrow when I’m old and grey and I can’t walk I’ll have that moment. But then it’ll be too late.
DL: Are you planning on watching AC/DC later on tonight after you finish your set?
MT: Yeah, that’s the only band I’m going to be realistically able to catch anyway. It’s a shame I can’t see Unearth and 36 Crazyfists – I love those guys.
DL: What’s your favourite AC/DC track?
MT: Probably Thunderstruck. That actually was one of the first ever songs I learnt on guitar.
DL: Good luck tonight Matt – look forward to seeing you later on.
MT: Thanks.