You know what’s easier than following around your fave pop stars, day in, day out, to see what they’re up to right that minute? Asking them. This month, we nab India Armstrong (bass) from overpass.
6:30am → I woke up to the sound of ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ blasting through the speakers of the ferry to the Netherlands. I’ve never seen people react so badly to that song as we all did in our cabin.
8:30am → We finally got off the ferry and started the drive to Groningen, where we were heading to play Eurosonic Festival. This was my second time in the Netherlands, the previous was a few months ago for a festival in Amsterdam. There is a really great energy here; I love seeing people on bike rides with friends; it feels like they’re living life right!
9:30am → We stopped at a service station cafe and I had a fresh mint tea and a cinnamon roll. We waited here for a bit whilst Elliot and I did an interview with BBC Leeds, talking about our upcoming EP and tour. We had also released our single Take It Or Leave It the day before, so it was great to get some radio play.
1pm → We arrived at the hotel in Groningen and had some time to kill before soundcheck, so Elliot and Jake got some sleep. As much as I’d love to be able to, I really can’t nap, so Max and I caught up on some Traitors instead. At the moment, we hope Minah wins, but in general, I just love Claudia Winkleman.
6pm → At some point in the day, we had seen that we were playing in a venue called WeNutButter. This immediately raised some alarms because I have a severe peanut allergy, so we started googling this venue and found pictures of a big mural on the building with peanuts on it. At this stage, I didn’t know whether to panic or laugh, and I think I did a bit of both. It turned out that the venue just manufactured the machines to grind the nuts but not the actual nut butter itself, which is all a very contrived way of saying it was safe to enter the building. The scenario was so bizarre it felt like someone was conspiring for my downfall.
7pm → We arrived at the venue, which was such a cool place, thankfully with no chance of imminent death via peanut for me.
8pm → The festival recommended a restaurant called Salmagundis for dinner, where we had some lovely food. I was obsessed with the decor in there – fairy lights, monsteras, green tiles, Persian rugs – heaven!
9:30pm → I got ready for the gig backstage. It was a pretty late slot but the room was full which always makes me excited to play. Jake was on aux in our dressing room playing The Technicolours and Wolf Alice.
12am → The time between going onstage and leaving the venue is always a bit of a blur for me because so much happens. It was a really fun gig; it’s so cool to play in a totally new city and still see people singing along! Afterwards, we ended up in a bar called The Crown and were all very happy when Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ came on.
2am → By this point we were back in the hotel, debating whether we should wake up in time for the buffet breakfast the next day. Elliot and Jake made the bold plan of waking up at 7am, eating, and then going back to sleep (surprise, surprise, that didn’t happen). I went to bed looking forward to the fact that I wouldn’t be woken up by Bobby McFerrin again – at least, not until the ferry home.
Taken from the March 2025 issue of Dork. overpass’ EP ‘Dependent’ is out 28th February.
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