As thousands gathered in the desert for the first time since last year’s epic two-weekend festival, so did Blur, who have been very selective with their live shows, but admitted they couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to play Coachella once again.

“We got a phone call at about 10 o’clock at night,” Blur’s DamonAlbarn said of getting the Coachella offer before bandmate, AlexJames added, “Which is not normally a good thing when it’s management calling at 10 o’clock at night.”

Albarn continued, “[They] were like, ‘Do you want to do Coachella this year? You have five minutes to decide.’ We were just like, ‘I know we said we weren’t going to do anything, but we’ll do one more.” Added James, “This was just a wonderful opportunity, the greatest show on earth. It’s the biggest festival on the planet — if I wasn’t here, I’d have FOMO.”

Playing the fest again, “It's completely different in a way and completely the same,” says Albarn. “When I think when we start playing again, it's just exactly the same as it was at the first for me,” Alex adds. “I think it's important not to think about it too much, really,” Damon says, especially when you're sort of carrying your past revue. You know, some of the songs we play are like 30 plus years old now.”

On the idea of feature films being made about the band, (an idea which appalls Albarn,) one being a documentary of the return of Blur, Alex explains, “It's eight years since we last did anything, you know. Even when we actually split up, it didn't take that long to kind of get it together. So, there was a certain amount of kind of jeopardy, potentially, at the beginning, like trying to make a new record at this stage of your career. Most bands don't even like each other 30 years in, let alone make a half-decent record. I suppose there was a lot to play for… if you like, the band it's a good watch. We filmed the shows at Wembley.”

“I never thought I'd love Wembley,” Damon adds. “First night was great, and then next day, I didn't want to do another gig. I really I was trying to find reasons to cancel it. I was sort of sitting in a hotel at Wembley Park… just watching all these people coming in, and it's like, ‘Well, I can't cancel that, and actually it was like maybe the best. It was weird. I was like, really not into going on stage -- and then I was on stage -- and it was one of the ones [you won't forget.]

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Nicole Alvarez

As thousands gathered in the desert for the first time since last year’s epic two-weekend festival, so did Blur, who have been very selective with their live shows, but admitted they couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to play Coachella once again.
“We got a phone call at about 10 o’clock at night,” Blur’s Damon Albarn said of getting the Coachella offer before bandmate, Alex James added, “Which is not normally a good thing when it’s management calling at 10 o’clock at night.”
Albarn continued, “[They] were like, ‘Do you want to do Coachella this year? You have five minutes to decide.’ We were just like, ‘I know we said we weren’t going to do anything, but we’ll do one more.” Added James, “This was just a wonderful opportunity, the greatest show on earth. It’s the biggest festival on the planet — if I wasn’t here, I’d have FOMO.”
Playing the fest again, “It's completely different in a way and completely the same,” says Albarn. “When I think when we start playing again, it's just exactly the same as it was at the first for me,” Alex adds. “I think it's important not to think about it too much, really,” Damon says, especially when you're sort of carrying your past revue. You know, some of the songs we play are like 30 plus years old now.”
On the idea of feature films being made about the band, (an idea which appalls Albarn,) one being a documentary of the return of Blur, Alex explains, “It's eight years since we last did anything, you know. Even when we actually split up, it didn't take that long to kind of get it together. So, there was a certain amount of kind of jeopardy, potentially, at the beginning, like trying to make a new record at this stage of your career. Most bands don't even like each other 30 years in, let alone make a half-decent record. I suppose there was a lot to play for… if you like, the band it's a good watch. We filmed the shows at Wembley.”
“I never thought I'd love Wembley,” Damon adds. “First night was great, and then next day, I didn't want to do another gig. I really I was trying to find reasons to cancel it. I was sort of sitting in a hotel at Wembley Park… just watching all these people coming in, and it's like, ‘Well, I can't cancel that, and actually it was like maybe the best. It was weird. I was like, really not into going on stage -- and then I was on stage -- and it was one of the ones [you won't forget.]
Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Nicole Alvarez

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Blur at Coachella 2024

Bud Gough, Eric Wilson, and Jakob Nowell of Sublime joined host Kevan Kenney before their Coachella weekend 2 set, and looking back on the emotional reunion performance, Kevan tells them he heard “tears were shed” in the crowd. Although Jakob admits, “I don't think it was that bad.”

“It was more of a sound check really though because we didn't have a sound check,” Eric says of the first weekend’s set. “But as far as the crowd, [it] was insane.” For his part, leading up to the double weekend performances, Jakob had been hinting to fans that the band had been putting in a lot of time practicing to make it all just right. “Everybody wishes it could be a little bit tighter,” he explains, “but I was so happy just having fun playing with everybody up there. It was a good time.”

“This week's gonna be even better, I think because now, like me personally, I kind of got my jitters out a little bit and now I'm just excited to go up there and just enjoy the experience for what it is and got a bunch of good feedback from everybody,” Jakob says. “I'm just so overwhelmed by the huge support,” he adds. “Everybody seemed to really love it and [it] makes me happy.”

Known to incorporate nostalgic sounds and ideas in his own band, Jakobs Castle making the transition to front Sublime came easily he explains. “I just try to learn the material faithfully, still put my little twist on it, but I try to do the best I can with singing, make sure I'm in key and everything like that. But I think it's just so amazing how many different, cool musicians that Sublime is influenced [by] and that whole era of music in general. I mean, so many people out here at this festival, both young and old, and using different elements from that era -- that's what really blows my mind.”

“With my work in Jakobs Castle, it's like kind of going back and cherry-picking all the cool stuff that I see and trying to re-blend it all together. When I left my old band Law, I went on this huge mission to try to just increase my ability with singing and writing and that sort of thing, and I think that totally translates to the stage. I treat it like a gig and being like, ‘OK, I'm gonna take this seriously, rehearse every night, and try to do the best possible job I can do.’”

Don't miss Kevan Kenney's full interview with Sublime above, and stay tuned for more of KROQ's coverage from Coachella 2024.

Bud Gough, Eric Wilson, and Jakob Nowell of Sublime joined host Kevan Kenney before their Coachella weekend 2 set, and looking back on the emotional reunion performance, Kevan tells them he heard “tears were shed” in the crowd. Although Jakob admits, “I don't think it was that bad.”
“It was more of a sound check really though because we didn't have a sound check,” Eric says of the first weekend’s set. “But as far as the crowd, [it] was insane.” For his part, leading up to the double weekend performances, Jakob had been hinting to fans that the band had been putting in a lot of time practicing to make it all just right. “Everybody wishes it could be a little bit tighter,” he explains, “but I was so happy just having fun playing with everybody up there. It was a good time.”
“This week's gonna be even better, I think because now, like me personally, I kind of got my jitters out a little bit and now I'm just excited to go up there and just enjoy the experience for what it is and got a bunch of good feedback from everybody,” Jakob says. “I'm just so overwhelmed by the huge support,” he adds. “Everybody seemed to really love it and [it] makes me happy.”
Known to incorporate nostalgic sounds and ideas in his own band, Jakobs Castle making the transition to front Sublime came easily he explains. “I just try to learn the material faithfully, still put my little twist on it, but I try to do the best I can with singing, make sure I'm in key and everything like that. But I think it's just so amazing how many different, cool musicians that Sublime is influenced [by] and that whole era of music in general. I mean, so many people out here at this festival, both young and old, and using different elements from that era -- that's what really blows my mind.”
“With my work in Jakobs Castle, it's like kind of going back and cherry-picking all the cool stuff that I see and trying to re-blend it all together. When I left my old band Law, I went on this huge mission to try to just increase my ability with singing and writing and that sort of thing, and I think that totally translates to the stage. I treat it like a gig and being like, ‘OK, I'm gonna take this seriously, rehearse every night, and try to do the best possible job I can do.’”
Don't miss Kevan Kenney's full interview with Sublime above, and stay tuned for more of KROQ's coverage from Coachella 2024.

Sublime at Coachella 2024

John Nolan and Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday dropped by backstage to chat with KROQ’s Megan Holiday, a fan who has been telling all her friends about the band after first hearing them years ago at the age of just fifteen. That word-of-mouth from Megan and countless others certainly worked out well for the band, now celebrating 25 years after their debut, Tell All Your Friends, performing two epic weekends at this year’s Coachella festival.

“We ended up naming the [first] record that because it worked,” says Adam. “Shaun [Cooper] would burn them in his basement at his parents' house, and we called them the ‘Tell All Your Friends demos,’ because we hoped people would tell all their friends, and then they did. And we were like, ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’”

With the release of their eighth studio album, 152, this past October, Adam reveals that number has actually been included on every one of their albums ever since, as a kind of easter egg for their biggest supporters, “So they know that we're always thinking about them,” he says. “It's this exit in North Carolina. There's this little stretch of highway to where 85 and 40 come together and they form one highway, right? I grew up in a small town in High Point, North Carolina… so all the shows, you had to go up to Chapel Hill and halfway there, because that's where the colleges are. Halfway there, there was a stop, Exit 152, and then these guys were nice enough to just let me stick it on everything.” John adds, “There's a picture of the actual exit on the back of the [Tell All Your Friends] album, and, it was also sort of a coincidence, someone at Victory [Records] made the design for the cover, which happened to be like a highway with a sign... It all just sort of naturally moved into that 152 sign on the back and then from then on, every album.”

Now 25 years since their inception Adam says, “I feel like this little kid, it doesn't feel like any of that time has passed. I can't believe we get to do this,” he adds, although heading into weekend two of Coachella, “nerves are still at an all-time high for me.” John says his jitters are doing better than the last weekend, partly because of how weekend two’s vibes seem to be much more chill. “Even just kind of meandering about,” he says, “it feels like everybody's like, ‘Oh, we got this, we did this last week.’”

Speaking on the resurgence of the Emo scene with events like Emo Night and When We Were Young seeing massive success, although he says TBS “doesn't have anything to do with it," Adam believes “that's what's beautiful about it… Because that can exist, and bands like us can also exist, and we're just all a part of one another. One of the things I love so much and that I just feel so lucky is that I feel like I've found my people and we've gotten to grow up together, just through the shows and the whole thing. It was a big part of us, you know,  so it's cool that's doing well -- and that means we get to do well too.”

Don't miss Megan Holiday's full interview with Taking Back Sunday above, and stay tuned for more of KROQ's coverage from Coachella 2024.

John Nolan and Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday dropped by backstage to chat with KROQ’s Megan Holiday, a fan who has been telling all her friends about the band after first hearing them years ago at the age of just fifteen. That word-of-mouth from Megan and countless others certainly worked out well for the band, now celebrating 25 years after their debut, Tell All Your Friends, performing two epic weekends at this year’s Coachella festival.
“We ended up naming the [first] record that because it worked,” says Adam. “Shaun [Cooper] would burn them in his basement at his parents' house, and we called them the ‘Tell All Your Friends demos,’ because we hoped people would tell all their friends, and then they did. And we were like, ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’”
With the release of their eighth studio album, 152, this past October, Adam reveals that number has actually been included on every one of their albums ever since, as a kind of easter egg for their biggest supporters, “So they know that we're always thinking about them,” he says. “It's this exit in North Carolina. There's this little stretch of highway to where 85 and 40 come together and they form one highway, right? I grew up in a small town in High Point, North Carolina… so all the shows, you had to go up to Chapel Hill and halfway there, because that's where the colleges are. Halfway there, there was a stop, Exit 152, and then these guys were nice enough to just let me stick it on everything.” John adds, “There's a picture of the actual exit on the back of the [Tell All Your Friends] album, and, it was also sort of a coincidence, someone at Victory [Records] made the design for the cover, which happened to be like a highway with a sign... It all just sort of naturally moved into that 152 sign on the back and then from then on, every album.”
Now 25 years since their inception Adam says, “I feel like this little kid, it doesn't feel like any of that time has passed. I can't believe we get to do this,” he adds, although heading into weekend two of Coachella, “nerves are still at an all-time high for me.” John says his jitters are doing better than the last weekend, partly because of how weekend two’s vibes seem to be much more chill. “Even just kind of meandering about,” he says, “it feels like everybody's like, ‘Oh, we got this, we did this last week.’”
Speaking on the resurgence of the Emo scene with events like Emo Night and When We Were Young seeing massive success, although he says TBS “doesn't have anything to do with it," Adam believes “that's what's beautiful about it… Because that can exist, and bands like us can also exist, and we're just all a part of one another. One of the things I love so much and that I just feel so lucky is that I feel like I've found my people and we've gotten to grow up together, just through the shows and the whole thing. It was a big part of us, you know,  so it's cool that's doing well -- and that means we get to do well too.”
Don't miss Megan Holiday's full interview with Taking Back Sunday above, and stay tuned for more of KROQ's coverage from Coachella 2024.

Taking Back Sunday at Coachella 2024

Drummer Adrian Young of No Doubt dropped by the KROQ trailer prior to the band’s weekend two reunion set, telling host Kevan Kenney “This No Doubt thing has been a friggin’ whirlwind! At times it's been overwhelming because it's been so many years and the response was 1,000 times better than we expected.”

Adrian adds, “It's interesting to live suburban life for so many years as a dad and just as a at-home engineer producing records, and scoring movies, and just being a kind of a studio rat, to go back to this life for a couple of weekends… It's f***ing weird.”

It didn’t take long to adjust to his new environs though, Adrian admits. “Coming out of the middle of the audience in itself is a weird experience,” he says of how they chose to take the stage. “You know, looking at Tom and Gwen, Tony, Steve, and Gabe and just feeling the energy that happens when the six of us step onto a stage is something that I just have never felt in anything I do. To be a part of that team again on stage and connect with this many people is almost better than sex.”

The whole reunion started off, Adrian explains, “more like a zoom thing… that was different for us, but that's kind of normal for everything these days, you know, post COVID. But the process was pretty similar to the old days and it was super smooth and fun and everybody was engaged. It took very little time for it to feel like home,” he says. “To not play together for nine years and then step in front of 100,000 people or whatever the number is out here is… It's really something that I've had a hard time wrapping my head around. Being a suburban dad and then stepping out and doing that with my bandmates… it's been overwhelming, and that's an understatement.”

Don't miss Kevan Kenney's full interview with Adrian Young of No Doubt above, and stay tuned for more of KROQ's coverage from Coachella 2024.

Drummer Adrian Young of No Doubt dropped by the KROQ trailer prior to the band’s weekend two reunion set, telling host Kevan Kenney “This No Doubt thing has been a friggin’ whirlwind! At times it's been overwhelming because it's been so many years and the response was 1,000 times better than we expected.”
Adrian adds, “It's interesting to live suburban life for so many years as a dad and just as a at-home engineer producing records, and scoring movies, and just being a kind of a studio rat, to go back to this life for a couple of weekends… It's f***ing weird.”
It didn’t take long to adjust to his new environs though, Adrian admits. “Coming out of the middle of the audience in itself is a weird experience,” he says of how they chose to take the stage. “You know, looking at Tom and Gwen, Tony, Steve, and Gabe and just feeling the energy that happens when the six of us step onto a stage is something that I just have never felt in anything I do. To be a part of that team again on stage and connect with this many people is almost better than sex.”
The whole reunion started off, Adrian explains, “more like a zoom thing… that was different for us, but that's kind of normal for everything these days, you know, post COVID. But the process was pretty similar to the old days and it was super smooth and fun and everybody was engaged. It took very little time for it to feel like home,” he says. “To not play together for nine years and then step in front of 100,000 people or whatever the number is out here is… It's really something that I've had a hard time wrapping my head around. Being a suburban dad and then stepping out and doing that with my bandmates… it's been overwhelming, and that's an understatement.”
Don't miss Kevan Kenney's full interview with Adrian Young of No Doubt above, and stay tuned for more of KROQ's coverage from Coachella 2024.

Blur at Coachella 2024

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