Features

Eivør Pálsdóttir has a voice like an avalanche dressed in a spider web, and a gaze that doesn’t just meet yours but reaches out and grips you by both ears, with an anchor in your soul. We’re backstage at Download Festival, ahead of her much anticipated set to headline the Dogtooth stage. She’s just arrived - thirty minutes ago, to be precise - but already, the storm is stirring inside her.

We’re backstage at Download Festival, and under the warm glow of a glorious sun, spirits are high and riffs are even higher. For Eric Bass - Shinedown’s bassist, producer, and creative linchpin - festival sets are more than just a gig. They’re a proving ground.

Backstage at Download Festival, life has barely been better. The sun isn’t just shining, it's bathing us in its warm embrace, and we have just watched GORE. dominate the Dogtooth Stage like veterans of the industry. The American newcomers just came off the biggest show of their lives - their 22nd gig ever - and they already sound like a band plotting even bigger things.

Amongst the smell of warm cider, dry grass and feverish anticipation, Eicca Toppinen - towering cellist, founding architect of Finnish symphonic juggernauts Apocalyptica - meets us for a chat ahead of the band's performance at Download Festival.

It might have been the third day at Download but despite all the miles, all the hills, all the foot stompin’ and all the sunburn on my neck, Alien Ant Farm relit the fuse inside me as they tore up the stage like it was 1999. After their set BringTheNoiseUK waded through the chaos to catch up with the band's Dryden Mitchell and Terry Corso.

Unprocessed aren’t just riding a wave. They’re creating one and now they’re lighting it up one stage at a time. We caught up with them at Download Festival to find out more...

We caught up with vocalist Anthony Diliberto from Resolve while they were are on tour with Make Them Suffer. We discussed the current tour, their music, and all things sci-fi.

Before they played at The Road To The Great Escape at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut we caught up with Iona Lynch and Gavin Dawkins, from up-and-coming indie-rock band Cliffords.

We caught up with drummer Ben Maida from Thornhill during the band’s current North American headline tour. During our interview, we discussed how the tour has been going, their newly released album 'Bodies' and their musical evolution.

The truth is, Download is changing. Slowly. Carefully. But undeniably. It’s not just about what’s selling tickets now - it’s about building the scene, the industry, and the culture for the years to come. Because if we don’t, the future will be nothing but tribute acts and cover bands on the big stage. And that, friends, would be a tragedy.