Latitude: Shed Seven’s Rick Witter on the ‘happy problem’ of writing a festival set list

Virgin Radio

25 Jul 2022, 10:48

Latitude Festival took place at the weekend, with a bunch of amazing acts taking to the stage in the Suffolk countryside. Our very own Jayne Middlemiss was there to chat to some of the artists backstage, including Shed Seven, who played a belting set as special guests on Saturday.

The York band have been smashing out anthems since the Britpop days of the 1990s, and frontman Rick Witter told Jayne that festival season is a busy time. “We played Tramlines in Sheffield. We played yesterday, and then a four-hour drive down here yesterday, that turned into about a ten-hour drive because of diversions,” he said.

“Festivals are good, because you get to do a hard weekend and then you get a few days to recover, because that’s always just as important, the recovery process.”

When Jayne asked how the band keeps on living the rock and roll lifestyle, over three decades after they formed, Rick exclusively told Virgin Radio: “I think it’s very important to uphold those kinds of laws that, when you join a band, you’re expected to do. I’m 50 this year… I feel about 22, honestly. I’ve got children who are older than how I feel.”

Speaking about playing a special lunchtime set at Latitude, Rick said: “This is the problem we have with a festival set, because we’re playing for an hour, so that equates to ten songs. So it’s very difficult for us. It’s a very fortunate problem, but we have discussions on what we can’t play, because there’s no time. 

“So, what do we drop? It’s a happy problem to have. It’s miles better than having a set where you think, ‘Well, we’ve not got enough songs to fill it!’”

When Jayne asked Rick how he prepares for a show, he said: “I shake my hips and pace. I do an awful lot of pacing.”

Watch the full interview here:

Catch up with all the goings-on at Latitude Festival 2022 with Jayne Middlemiss via the Virgin Radio app.