Restless Natives fest kicks off today in Glasgow; Rolo Tomassi and more talk DIY in 2016

With shows from the likes of Future of the Left, The Hotelier and Ghostface, plus turns from up-and-coming local acts Spinning Coin, United Fruit, Tuff Love and many more the musical strand of Restless Natives promises great things. There's also special screenings of cult classic The Room, Fugazi's Instrument and Armando Ianucci's In the Loop, while food will be provided by some of Scotland's best independent retailers.

Ahead of the kick-off, we asked - in the spirit of the festival - some of acts playing what it means to be independent or DIY in 2016.

James Spence, Rolo Tomassi.

What does it mean to be a DIY / independent artist to you in 2016?

"It means the same it has since 2005! We've been reluctant to call ourselves 'DIY' for a while now though. Whilst there is a lot we do for our band we work or have worked with managers, press agents, booking agents etc. and to try wear 'DIY' as a badge would be doing a huge disservice to bands who function as totally DIY. Our independence is still of course incredibly important though and to be able to continue to create on our own terms and be involved in all aspects of being in a band means a lot to all of us."

Considering Restless Natives’ ethos [the festival is completely DIY and aims to generate income for the local community], how does it feel to be part of the inaugural event?

"It's a real honour! The festival is clearly incredibly ambitious and I have tremendous amounts of respect to all those involved, firstly, for assembling such an amazing line-up and secondly for making it much more than just another one wristband, multi-venue metropolitan festival."

Evan Weiss, Into It. Over It.

What does it mean to be a DIY / independent artist to you in 2016?

"To me, it means to be able to make decisions for yourself. Not having to ultimately answer to anyone but yourself. Being unwilling to compromise ideals or beliefs (creatively or otherwise) and be able to function at your own personal comfort. This is the path that (for me) allows me to sleep at the end of the night and know that we were at the helm of every function IIOI works within."

Considering Restless Natives’ ethos (the festival is completely DIY and aims to generate income for the local community), how does it feel to be part of the inaugural event?

"It's awesome! All of my favorite festivals IIOI has ever done have all been generated in the same fashion. That handwork and passion doesn't go unnoticed."

Stuart Galbraith, United Fruit

What does it mean to be a DIY / independent artist to you in 2016

"We never wanted to make music if it wasn't going to be true to ourselves, so keeping that control is the biggest thing for us. The whole point of being in a DIY or independent band is that you do things on your own terms. That's never changed from the time that DIY was coined. The only things that have changed are the means in which you do it. It's as important now as it was 40 years ago. People are pissed off with a lot of things at the moment and being an independent artist is the only way they can voice it."

Considering Restless Natives’ ethos (the festival is completely DIY and aims to generate income for the local community), how does it feel to be part of the inaugural event?

"It's an honour. To be asked to be a part of it feels great. It's been set up for the right reasons and there's no hidden agenda. Glasgow has needed something like this for a while - it's a hugely cultural city and the festival is bringing a lot of different types of people and media together which is really great to see - It's not just a day of trekking about town going to see bands. It'll take people to parts of city that they might not have been before and communicate with each other. That seems to be what it's about - bringing people together, so we're in."

Restless Natives begins today in Glasgow and runs until Sunday 15 May across various venues. Ticket information and schedule can be found on the festival website.