Indietracks was an annual indie pop music festival at the Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, England. The main site was located at Swanwick Junction. Bands played in variety of locations, including a restored church, in a train shed, and on the moving trains themselves.[1] The event was staffed by volunteers, with the proceeds from the festival going towards the upkeep and renovation of the site and trains.[1]

Indietracks
A Class 141 Pacer at Indietracks 2016
GenreIndiepop
DatesJuly
Location(s)Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, England
Years active2007- 2019
Founded byStuart Mackay
Websitehttp://www.indietracks.co.uk/

The first indiepop event held at the centre was in April 2007, organised by steam train restorer Stuart Mackay. Indietracks was established as a two-day festival in summer that year.[2]

Reviewing the 2011 festival, Malcolm Jack of The Guardian described the artists as "so obscure you have to wonder if they've even heard of themselves". He writes, "Indietracks does little to dispel the notion of indie-pop fans being given to whimsy. It's the annual gathering of the twee tribe – think lovers of a broad church of outsider sounds from C86-inspired three-chord shambling to riot grrrl and anti-folk."[3]

The festival inspired compilation albums, released annually.

The 2020 festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In November 2021, the festival organisers announced that 2019's event would be the last Indietracks, citing the pandemic as a primary reason for the festival not continuing.[4][5]

Line-ups edit

 
The Hidden Cameras in 2014
Date Bands
24-26 July 2020 Event cancelled, but previously published line-up was: Los Campesinos!, Whyte Horses, Pip Blom, Rozi Plain, Shopping, Josie Long, Nervus, The Just Joans, Tigercats, Ex-Vöid, Erica Freas, The School, Otis Mensah, Martha Ffion, Fortitude Valley, Nadia Javed[4]
26-28 July 2019 The Orielles, Bis, Tracyanne & Danny, Kero Kero Bonito, Martha, The Spook School, Desperate Journalist, Big Joanie, Stealing Sheep, Withered Hand, Advance Base, Adult Mom, Peaness, Fresh, Cheerbleederz, Mammoth Penguins, Witching Waves[4]
27-29 July 2018 British Sea Power, Honeyblood, The Lovely Eggs, Dream Wife, Girl Ray, Sacred Paws, Darren Hayman, Even As We Speak, Haiku Salut, Amber Arcades, Boyracer, Gwenno, Happy Accidents, Wolf Girl, The Smittens, GHUM[4]
28-30 July 2017 The Wedding Present, Cate Le Bon, Martha, Joanna Gruesome, Shopping, Monkey Swallows the Universe, The Tuts, The Hearing, The Wave Pictures, Grace Petrie, The Hayman Kupa Band, Personal Best, Peaness, The Orchids, Kid Canaveral, Chorusgirl[4]
29–31 July 2016 Saint Etienne, The Aislers Set, The Spook School, Emma Pollock, Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern, The Lovely Eggs, Comet Gain, PO!, Red Sleeping Beauty, White Town, Haiku Salut[6]
24–26 July 2015 The Go! Team, Cinerama, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Colleen Green, Martha, Euros Childs, Lætitia Sadier, The Wave Pictures, Desperate Journalist, The Ethical Debating Society, Steven James Adams, The Darling Buds, Chorusgirl[6]
25–27 July 2014 Gruff Rhys, Allo Darlin', The Hidden Cameras, Dean Wareham, Joanna Gruesome, Withered Hand, The Chills, Spearmint, The Popguns, Sweet Baboo, The Spook School, The Just Joans, The Manhattan Love Suicides, Big Joanie, Wolf Girl[6]
26–28 July 2013 Camera Obscura, The Pastels, Still Corners, Helen Love, The Wave Pictures, Bis, The Brilliant Corners, The Tuts, The Ballet, The Lovely Eggs, Haiku Salut, Milky Wimpshake, The Wake, Tunabunny[6]
6–8 July 2012 The Vaselines, Veronica Falls, Allo Darlin', Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern, Stevie Jackson, Summer Camp, The Monochrome Set, White Town, Go Sailor, The June Brides, The Jasmine Minks, The Smittens[6]
20–31 July 2011 Edwyn Collins, The Hidden Cameras, Herman Dune, Crystal Stilts, Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Jonny, Withered Hand, Math and Physics Club, Help Stamp Out Loneliness[6]
23–25 July 2010 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Primitives, Slow Club, Ballboy, The Pooh Sticks, Tender Trap, White Town, Everybody Was In The French Resistance... Now!, Allo Darlin', Betty and The Werewolves, The Smittens, The Hillfields[6][7]
24–26 July 2009 Teenage Fanclub, Camera Obscura, La Casa Azul, Art Brut, Au Revoir Simone, Emmy The Great, Rose Elinor Dougall, The Manhattan Love Suicides, BMX Bandits, Lucky Soul, The Frank & Walters, The Smittens[6]
26–27 July 2008 The Wedding Present, Los Campesinos!, Comet Gain, Ballboy, The Wave Pictures, Darren Hayman, Harvey Williams, The Smittens, The Deirdres, Darren Hanlon, Shrag[6]
28–29 July 2007 Darren Hayman & The Secondary Modern, The Orchids, The Indelicates, The School, Bearsuit, Cats On Fire, The Bobby McGees, The Lovely Eggs, The Loves, Wake The President[6]
28 April 2007 Pocketbooks, Slow Down Tallahassee, Tottie[6]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Walsh, James (29 July 2009). "All aboard the festival bandwagon". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Mackay, Stuart (17 July 2009). "Indie pop mixed with steam trains? It'll never work …". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Jack, Malcolm (2 August 2011). "Indietracks - review". The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Indietracks Festival: Previous Events". Indietracks.co.uk. 11 September 2023. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Time to say goodbye – Indietracks Festival". Indietracks.co.uk. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Indietracks Festival: Previous Events". Indietracks.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  7. ^ Gourlay, Dom (30 July 2010). "Indietracks 2010: The DiS review". DrownedInSound.

External links edit

53°03′48″N 1°23′57″W / 53.0632°N 1.3993°W / 53.0632; -1.3993