Harley Young talks to Tom and Joe about Gary the gorilla and Stockport’s best building ahead of their upcoming Wythenshawe park gig
On August bank holiday weekend, Stockport fivepiece, Blossoms, will be taking over Wythenshawe Park for the biggest headline show of their career. The all-day outdoor concert will feature support from Inhaler, Shed Seven, The K’s, Seb Lowe and recent ‘To Do List (After The Breakup)’ collaborator Findlay who will kick the day off with her band TTRRUUCES.
Singer Tom Ogden (T) and Drummer Joe Donovan (J) took time out of their busy schedules to chat to our Assistant Publisher Harley Young (H) ahead of the big gig. Here’s what they had to say.
What can fans expect from your set at Wythenshawe Park?
J: Choreographed dances.
T: You say this every time…
J: One day we’re going to go there. We’re pretty close.
T: I think it’ll be our best set yet. We’re incorporating the album visually into this set, on a bigger level. We’ve gone through it all with a fine-tooth comb. We really care about our live sets, we don’t just write the set and think ‘well that’s it, we’ll just do what we did last time’. We always think about how it flows and stuff, so I think it’s probably going to be the best one yet. And it's a bank holiday.
Are you going to throw any curveballs in there, do you reckon?
T: It’s hard when you’re going into your fifth album. You want to play a few singles from that and then there’s the songs from your back catalogue which you can’t not play. You can’t be too self indulgent and think ‘oh, we’ll play this random B-side’.
J: You also don’t want to go on stage for like two and a half hours either.
T: Yeah, you want to keep people wanting more.
We can’t think of a better way to spend a bank holiday than in Wythenshawe park with Blossoms. But what other parks do you think would make a great outdoor music venue?
T: Woodbank Park. They do Rockstock there already, but I think they could take it up a level with a proper big festival. We’d love to do a show there.
J: You know where we should [play]? Lyme Park.
T: Lyme Park would be class.
J: Yeah, with the cage behind it? How good would that be?
T: Is there a flat enough bit, though?
J: You could make it happen. Do it at the bottom of the hill and make it like an amphitheatre vibe.
Sounds like a plan. So, the question everyone wants to know the answer to…Will Gary be there?
J: Gary’s his own man, y’know what I mean? No one tells Gary where he’s going.
T: It’d be a shame if he wasn’t there.
H: Yeah, he’d be a bit tight if he didn’t come to support you.
J: Gary decides where he wants to go. Have you ever met him? He’s a geezer. His eyes are beautiful. I proper love him. I hug him daily. I love climbing up him and sitting on his head.
T: [Laughs]
H: Er, alright…cool.
Who came up with the album artwork for Gary?
T: It was my idea.
How did you decide who was going to be each letter?
T: Originally I was the ‘R’, but my height was taking the word too far up whereas Joe is a little bit smaller.
H: Ah, so you ended up being the curly bit of the ‘G’ instead?
T: Yeah, I went down to be part of the ‘G’.
J: I was initially the ‘Y’ because I’m smaller. Maybe that was the problem, me being next to you.
T: Maybe.
H: Miles is just having a laugh.
T: All of us had to hold these yoga positions for a good few hours for the shoot and Miles was just standing there.
H: He looks a bit like the kid in the school play who’s forgotten his lines but is still having a great time.
J: That is Miles, to be fair. I think he was the one that moaned the most as well.
We heard someone nicked the ‘Welcome to Stockport’ sign with your name on it. Has anyone come forward yet?
J: No.
T: We put a shoutout on the podcast ‘cos we found it funny.
J: We don’t condone it. Have you been near it?
H: Yeah, it’s high up.
J: It is high up innit? So I don’t know how they got it.
T: It was planned.
H: It’s orchestrated, definitely.
J: I like the idea of people sitting down at a pub table like The Blossoms right, and they’re in the corner, in the nook with a plan of how to steal it. Someone walks past and they quickly squirrel the plans away. Then they get in the car and conduct the heist.
T: Have they drilled it off, do you think?
J: Must have. I’ve robbed a sign before in my youth - my mum wasn't happy - and that was hard to get off that. I was there for a good few minutes.
@blossoms In this week's Pubcast ‘Frank Evans For That’ we get a tip-off of the location of our stolen ‘Home of Blossoms’ sign, once located on Portwood roundabout in Stockport 🕵️🪧#podcast #funnyvideos #podcastclips ♬ original sound - Blossoms
Since we’re on the topic of Stockport…Stockport Pyramid or the Hat Museum?
J: Hat Museum.
T: See, I’m Pyramid. I like the madness of the pyramid. I know what you mean, there’s more history to the hat museum, but my initial reaction was the pyramid.
J: Have you been to the Hat Museum recently?
T: No, not since I was a kid probably. You know what, I take that back. The pyramid’s abandoned… there’s nothing going on there.
H: There’s meant to be an Indian restaurant opening there soon, right?
J: You know why I support the Hat Museum instead? Because there was meant to be eight pyramids, but they ended up building one and it didn’t take off the way they wanted it to. So they only stuck with one.
T: I know the real answer is the Hat Museum, but there’s just something about the pyramid which is strange.
Jaffa Cake or Mini Roll?
J: I’d have to go with a Jaffa.
T: Yeah, you can get a good chocolate cake elsewhere.
J: There’s nowt like a Jaffa Cake.
You’re going to be releasing some covers alongside this new album. What are your favourite covers by other artists?
J: I love Arctic Monkeys’ Girls Aloud cover. That's old school.
T: Love Machine?
J: Yeah, that’s the first one that jumps out to me. I love the way he laughs in that.
T: I liked when Oasis used to do Cum on Feel the Noize by Slade. That reminds me of being 16 and watching the videos on YouTube.
J: Yeah, that’s a classic.
If you weren’t in the world’s best band, what would you be doing instead?
J: [Pointing at Tom] You’d 100% be a video editor. If you weren’t that would be a travesty.
T: Thank you. Yeah, I’d try and make films and edit videos.
J: Normally people only have one talent but you definitely have two. I reckon you’re as good at video editing as you are songwriting. Whereas me, I’m a jack of all trades and a master of none.
T: You’d be fine. You’d do something. Out of everyone, I wouldn’t be worried about Joe.
J: Yeah, I’d be there somewhere in the stratosphere. I’m one of those people…
H: Too many hobbies?
J: Oh, if you looked in my garage you’d be like ‘What is wrong with you?’ It’s my ADHD. One day I’m into leather craft then sewing, then something else. It’s insane. I basically throw a load of hobbies at the wall then whichever one sticks, that's what I’ll do for the month. Drums has always stayed though.
T: We’ll that's because -
J: Was it forced? [laughs]
T: Well you ended up in a band and did alright, didn’t you? So that hobby stuck. It could’ve been just one of those hobbies…just a drum kit in the corner of your garage.
J: I think if the band split up I’d probably stop playing the drums. I love being in the band but I don’t know if I’d sit down and play drums afterwards. I don’t know because I’m not in that situation. I’m also terrified of getting bored of drums. I’d hate that. Because I absolutely love it. It’s just an irrational fear of mine.
It’s been a pleasure, lads. Last question; If you had to take Gary on a night out in Manchester, where would you go? Other than Gorilla, of course.
T: Well he’s gonna have to go where he can get in, because he’s massive.
J: He’s eight feet tall with a fibreglass heart.
T: Yeah, there’s a height restriction. I’m trying to think of where there's got a big grand opening…
J: We could get him in the Albert Hall. We might be able to tip him in The Ritz.
T: Yeah, that’s tricky that innit. You’d have to have a few of you. I’d take him to a gig at the Albert Hall.
J: You’d have to stand at the back. You’d be fuming wouldn’t you if he was in front of you?
If you'd like to see Blossoms’ (and potentially Gary) this August bank holiday weekend, grab your tickets here quick. You can also catch New Order, Johnny Marr and Roisin Murphy the day before. Tickets here.
Follow Harley Young on X @Harley__Young
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