MPF Band Spotlight: Uniforms [Interview]

It’s all gone a bit MPF mad here at Shout Louder HQ. There are so many great bands that we don’t know where to begin! To help you make the most of the festival, we have spoken to a handful of the bands we’re most excited to see. Even if you’re not coming to MPF, there’s plenty to learn and enjoy.

We will be posting every other day in the lead up to Manchester Punk Festival. Check out the full series here.

Band Spotlight: Uniforms

MPF 2018 marks a special appearance for Uniforms, who took a break in 2014 and have only just returned for a handful of shows. Hailing from Dundee in eastern Scotland, they’ll be treating us to some gritty, melodic punk rock to close off the festival on Saturday. They have incredibly good energy live, so it’s worth pacing yourself over the weekend to make the most of their afterparty set.

We spoke to frontman Derrick Johnston, who also heads up respected Scottish DIY label Make-That-A-Take Records to find out more.

Why should people come check out your set at Manchester Punk Festival?

Obviously people are not compelled to come and see us but should they choose to do so, they’ll be guaranteed some heart-on-sleeve rapid punk rock goodness, a dose of hefty real talk and a half hour of nae messin’ bangers.

We’ve been having loads of piley-ons recently, it’s actually a private Uniforms ritual that we’ve been indulging in publicly for the first time, so it’s not outwith the boundaries of possibility that we’ll have a pop punk piley at MPF.

Which bands are you most excited to see at the festival, and why?

The line-up is just jaw-droppingly good. I’ve been friends with the MPF troops for a long time now and I’m so proud of everything that they achieved. It’s also very exciting to be sharing the bill with some MTAT troops and we’ll be down the front for Goodbye Blue Monday, PMX and Forever Unclean for sure. I never thought I’d see the day where our band would be on a bill with Propagandhi. The Copyrights are my quite possibly my favourite pop punk band on earth and I couldn’t be more excited to see them in the UK for the first time.

You’ve been to Manchester Punk Festival before as Tragical History Tour – what was the best thing about last year?

It was an absolute privilege to play last year in between friends ONSIND and Billy Liar. The whole thing was tremendous and a testament to the will and passion of everyone involved in making it happen. Petrol Girls made the hair on my neck stand on end and watching Paint It Black in a massive club was quite the intense experience. It felt like a family reunion to me, an opportunity to catch up with people we’ve met over the years of involvement in the UK punk scene who are rarely all in the same place. Did you even go to the punk fest if you weren’t sitting in the gutter with the crust punks.

You organise Book Yer Ane Fest in Dundee. Has organising your own punk festival made you reconsider the way you act as an attendee?

Beyond being a benefit festival, we started Book Yer Ane Fest because there were literally no fests up here that focused on the kind of things we were interested in, so the answer is both yes and no I guess. The changes in my behaviour and conduct have very little to do with whether or not I organise a festival but for the fact I don’t drink booze any more. Organising a festival is a massive ballache and I have both the utmost respect and deepest sympathy for those who choose to do so. Like BYAF, I know that MPF is a labour of love but you can’t put a price on community.

What your top tip for having the best time at MPF?

Hydration is key, eat all the rad vegan eats, mindful moshing is possible, buy records.

Propagandhi or Iron Chic?

Do they clash? Uniforms formed on the way back to Dundee from an Iron Chic show so sentimentality would say them, but I’ve seen them more recently than I’ve seen Propagandhi, to whom my heart belong.

If MPF was the olympics, which festival sport would you win gold in?

Ban the olympics.

Check out Uniforms on Facebook and Bandcamp.

Uniforms will be closing Manchester Punk Festival at The Bread Shed at 01:20 on Saturday – make sure you check them out! Consult the MPF Clashfinder for more details.

Check out our full series of Manchester Punk Festival related articles: