The Sheffield rocker reaches out to those playing Glastonbury: “Good luck to everyone that does it, but I’ve done all that shit.”

“I’d rather do these gigs at Graves Park and say something to the people of Sheffield and South Yorkshire than do Glastonbury, which has become meaningless to me. I got offered a lot of money to play there and I turned it down because it doesn’t have any meaning. All of the political sides of it seem to have been whitewashed and airbrushed over. The Rolling Stones are playing and that just seems weird to me if you think about what it’s supposed to be and what it’s become.”

“It’s not just Glastonbury… I don’t like the whole corporate festival thing. I’ve done V Festival with Pulp and as a solo artist and I hated every minute of it. It’s just nasty and not what I’m about – I want something a bit more free and organic.

“I want the audiences to feel included rather than trapped. They’ve paid for the privilege to be trapped in a field and marketed to. What the fuck is that all about? I won’t be there. I’ll probably be in a place I love. I love the British coast – it’s fucking awesome.”

Gigwise interviews Richard Hawley about why he prefers gigs at Graves Park, Somerset House, and Camp Bestival to Glastonbury.