I have been dipping in and out of Pop Cop and Radar Scotsman sites and the comments underneath the articles about the T Break stage all day and at 6.13pm, I can’t hold it in anymore.

When I first discovered the line-up for T Break I was actually really happy. I am going to start by saying that I feel quite confident sitting here writing this and supporting the line-up decision made by the judges and the festival. I am not a massive fan of T in the Park something died after the first five years inside me, but at the same time if a band I love are going to get on the bill or one of my mates then I have to admit then I am going to be pretty chuffed about it.

The line-up for this year is as follows:

• Aerials Up
• Boycotts
• Cancel the Astronauts
• Carnivores
• Church of When the Shit Hits the Fan
• Conquering Animal Sound
• Crayons
• Discopolis
• Otherpeople
• Fatherson
• Lady North
• Marrik Layden Deft & Scatabrainz
• PAWS
• Reverie
• The Lafontaines
• United Fruit

Ten of these bands have been either featured, played, put on live by Podcart. Bands such as United Fruit, Conquering Animal Sound, Lady North and Paws we have followed closely over the last year or so and we have seen a magnificent progression.

United Fruit are one of the most blistering bands I have seen live. They are ferocious, unrelenting and their music screams at your body till your flesh feels like falling off. Conquering Animal Sound have produced one of our top albums of the year and are two individuals that astound us. It scares me how good they are going to be in even a year from now. Lady North I saw just last week and they are intricate, precise, melodic heroin. They freeze this look of joy on my face and I could quite easily go and see them live every single night. PAWS, well what can I say? We did a live show with them in Captains Rest and they made me feel like I was back in my Sonic Youth tee with the holes in the sleeves and my cassette player with its worn paint and the faint taste of Moroccan Black on my breath.

Carnivores and Otherpeople were part of the recent Mix_Up_Mayhem night at bloc that Ally Burton and Kirstin Lynn (both Podcarters) put on and they were extraordinary. The energy they have is sublime and they are talented fuckers to boot.

The Lafontaines are a novelty. They take music by the balls and comedy is their forte, having seen them at Lo Fi studios Christmas party a couple of years ago I was both pissing myself laughing, but in awe of their performance.

Fatherson and Aerials Up are fairly new into our listening stream, but they have impressed me and again, they deserve to be on the list.

The other bands I have only heard yesterday and today, Discopolis are absolutely stunning and out of the bands I don’t know on the list they are the ones that are sparking my interest the most.

I have seen comments flying about with statements such as ‘same old haircuts, dodgy Scottish accents, lot of pish’. I guarantee that half these people have not even listened to a semi-quaver from these bands nevermind a full song. One poster being a Black Eyes Peas fan, yeah, I know right?

We spend an incredible amount of time keeping up with these bands, some may think we don’t give a toss after we have played a track and move onto the next, but this is bullshit. We do keep an eye on them and it makes me especially proud to think at one point or another we have been able to associate ourselves with them.

There has also been the argument about geographical location. Who the fuck actually looks at a band and says ‘right I am not picking them as they are from Dundee’! As someone that represents artists outside of the central belt, location was the absolute last thing I was thinking. I am not going to sit here and say I know how the judging process works, but I do know a lot of the judges. I may not respect the opinions of all of them, however the ones that I do know and have had the pleasure of conversing or even working with I know they have integrity. Fuck it, maybe we should invite them on a podcast to have their own say?

If you are in a band and are having a good old winge about this then just stop right there. There are plenty of things you can be doing to get your music out there and festivals are not your be all and end all. Get your recordings done, do your PR properly, get gigging as much as you can and if a festival doesn’t pick you for it’s line-up so fucking what? It is a once a year thing when you could be gigging all year round! Just have a wee think about it. Plus the whining makes you look pathetic and needy. That really isn’t the persona you want to give off when ultimately you are doing it for the love of playing music? Yeah, thought so.

Ultimately, these bands work bloody hard and each of them deserves to have their spot. What would the year be without the annual T Break bitch fest, it has just really struck me that this year it has been crippling. Leave your judgements for the days of the festival…..that will be the decider.

Halina x