Coachella is arguably the most hyped festival of the year in the United States. Stoner doom legends Sleep were offered a slot playing next year's festival. But, guitarist Matt Pike said the band turned it down.
They'd rather play Roadburn Festival instead. The Netherlands stoner-doom fest was happening at the same time and ultimately Sleep decided that their time would be better spent performing to people that actually wanted to see them.
Pike tells Metal Hammer:
“We love that festival [Roadburn] and we love Walter [Hoeijmakers] who puts the festival on. We sorted it so far in advance that, at present, that’s the only thing that we have planned for next year. We aren’t even booked anywhere so far, so there’s lots of scheduling that we need to do… but we actually turned down Coachella because of Roadburn!
“Coachella actually pays more, but fuck that, we want to do Roadburn! I see Coachella as a new kind of Lollapalooza, and it’s an odd thing for us to be involved in – although it would have been good press, I guess. There’s actually this clause for it that says you can’t play anywhere else for six months after it – so fuck that! I’ll make more money if I don’t play it and I’ll be happier at Roadburn!
“It’s special, and it’s always been special; the people that go there, the people who put it on, it’s very real. I go there and just wander around and make sure I try and see every band there that I want to see, and believe you me, there are always a lot of them!”
It's pretty wild to me that Sleep is even on Coachella's radar at all. Maybe next year!
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksUAdCpf-PM][/youtube]
