Festival Q&A: Sigma

The drum and bass duo are playing Liverpool International Music Festival and many other festivals this summer. Despite the festivals all offering something different, Cam Edwards tells Big Issue North why, for him, they’re all about the music.

What other artists do you draw inspiration from?
There’s not one person in particular. We listen to a wide range of styles of music. At the moment we listen to on the playlist a few Birdy tracks, then SG Lewis but that’s not necessarily what inspires us.

You quickly shot to fame when your song Nobody to Love reached number one in the UK charts back in 2014. What has been the biggest change in your lives since then?
The biggest change is probably the amount of work we’ve had to do since. It’s funny because you always assume that when you have success it’s going to be easy then, and it’s not – the workload just increases tenfold. It’s great in the sense that you’ve had success but you’ve also got to be prepared to knuckle down a bit if you want it to continue.

Tell us what you’ve been up to since last summer?
The album came out in December, we’ve had quite a few singles out. Then back in the studio. We have four live dates and then we’re getting prepared for the summer festivals and writing new music.

If you could collaborate with any artist dead or alive who would it be?
Michael Jackson, because he’s a legend.

Are there any collaborations in the works at the minute?
Yes, but I can’t tell you.

What festivals are you playing this year?
We’re doing Reading and Leeds, V Festival and Wireless. Then Parklife in Manchester, EDC in Milton Keynes and Isle of Wight Festival.

Who else are you excited to see at the festivals?
Always excited to hang out with people we know, like we’re friends with the guys from Chase and Status and a lot of the drum and bass lot like Fabio and Grooverider. Hopefully we’ll catch up and see SG Lewis as we’ve been listening to him quite a lot and potentially Birdy – that would be good.

What’s your best festival memory?
One of them would be going on the main stage with Paloma Faith last year at Glastonbury, which was pretty epic. Another highlight was Pukkelpop festival in Belgium last year. We played the main stage, which probably had around 70,000 people. We’ve had some great moments over the past year and there are so many packed into one small space of time.

What’s in your festival survival kit?
Usually painkillers of some sort for when you wake up with a bit of a hangover in the morning. Clean pair of socks that is always essential and then some hand sanitizer as you never know what germs you’re going to pick up and you never know when you’re going to wash your hands a lot of the time.

Apart from music, what should the ideal festival have?
All you need is music. I think it’s great when you have other options like a nice chill-out area and if you’ve got a moment you might have an indoor cinema but when are you going to do that? You go for the music.

Sophie Grace