Ahead of this summer’s Green Man festival, scheduled to take place later this month, we are presenting a series of preview pieces here at tQ, centred around some of the artists that you’ll be able to catch at this year’s event.
In the previous edition of the series, Metronomy’s Joe Mount told us about how he first attended Green Man as a punter with his now fiancée, and also shared a little detail about the more personal nature of the band’s latest album, Small World. Today, all eyes are on Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus, who first played at Green Man a decade ago while the duo were touring their 2011 album Whokill. Below, she talks about her memories of that first gig at the event, and also shares her favourite record from the extensive back catalogue of the label to which Tune-Yards are signed, 4AD.
In addition to Tune-Yards, this year’s Green Man will also welcome the likes of Kraftwerk, Beach House, Metronomy, Katy J Pearson, Mary Lattimore, Low, Jenny Hval and Parquet Courts to its site, among many others. The festival will take place from August 18 to 21, 2022. Find more information here.
Can you tell us about the first time you ever went to Green Man?
Merrill Garbus: I don’t remember the year but it was the Whokill tour, so 2011 or 2012… just looked it up and it was 2012, so this will be our 10-year anniversary! I remember mud, of course, and glorious sun poking through clouds, wellies, and trekking up a mighty hill to find a savoury pie. Green Man has always held a magical feeling in my body whenever I think of it. Wales is magic, and the people who find their way to that festival make it a glorious, life-affirming place to perform.
What is your favourite Green Man memory?
MG: See above, mud and pies up the hill! Honestly all of my memories of Green Man are tinged with the taste of builder’s tea. So: tea and milk, and some more tea and milk.
Who are you looking forward to watching at Green Man this year?
MG: I really like Porij so hoping to catch them… also Torres and Arooj Aftab. We did a remix for Metronomy so it will be great to see them live. All of this is contingent upon whether our little nine-month-old babe will let us do anything else but play.
Your long-time label 4AD belatedly celebrated its 40th anniversary last year with a compilation of covers that included your own take on The Breeders’ ‘Cannonball’. What would you say is your favourite 4AD-released full-length album though, and why?
MG: I mean, that Breeders album is probably the one. That sound really changed my perception of what music could sound like, and certainly what women playing music could sound like. And here I am, trying to keep pushing that. So thank you, Breeders!
