Missing Download? Come back to the field with Festpod 90
Missing the noise, the people and the festival outfits? We can help with that.
Festpod 90 takes us back to Download Festival 2026, with Neill Wilkinson, Arran Prime and Rob Hemingway catching up with Paleface Swiss, Return To Dust, Self Deception, Rockin’1000 and RockFit. There are first-show reactions, big ambitions and a green Power Ranger very keen to find the Electric Callboy pit.
Your next favourite band might be in here
Paleface Swiss join us before their set, ready to make the most of a first-day crowd that still has some energy left. We chat about playing Download, what makes UK crowds different and the set they’ve put together for the festival. A gentle start to the weekend? Not on their watch.
Return To Dust have just played their first UK show, and there’s something lovely about hearing a band realise that people thousands of miles from home already know the words. We get into that reception, touring with YUNGBLUD and a van that had a worrying disagreement with the hill at Red Rocks. There’s also a conversation about AI creeping into music, artwork and videos, and why the band care about keeping things human.
Self Deception get a welcome that makes it fairly clear we’re already fans. They tell us how the ideas for their album ‘One of Us’ took shape during their busiest tour, why they stopped chasing perfection, and how they’ve squeezed their show into their shortest set yet. Their ambition? Back at Download on a bigger stage in 2029. It’s on camera now, lads.
500 musicians. One very big idea.
Fabio’s starting point for Rockin’1000 was wanting Foo Fighters to play his hometown. Most of us might have tried a hopeful comment on social media. He got a thousand musicians together to play Learn to Fly.
He walks us through what happened next, how the project became a live show, and what goes into planning for 500 musicians playing together. The musicians learn their parts at home before two full days of rehearsals together. Suddenly, organising a band practice doesn’t sound so bad.
Not your average fitness class
RockFit’s crew are here to explain why a fitness class set to rock and metal has become about much more than getting a sweat on.
We talk about making routines work for different people, welcoming nervous newcomers and finding friends who’ll come to gigs with you as well as classes. Not sure a fitness class is your thing? That’s part of the conversation too.
As the team put it: “The music gets them in, it’s the people that make them stay.”
There are also quite a lot of squats involved. They do eventually mention those.
And then there’s Download being Download
Between the interviews, a tiny duck changes hands for Festpod stickers, we meet a green Power Ranger with crowd-surfing ambitions, and the Moshpit Mime makes an appearance.
Brave choice for a podcast appearance, that. He doesn’t say much.
Put the kettle on, pick someone you’ve never heard before and come back to Download with us. You might find your next favourite band. No tent required.
Watch the full episode above or listen through your usual podcast app.
Recorded at Download Festival 2026. Tour, release and event plans discussed reflect the time of recording.
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