It's been a busy few weeks at TGE HQ putting all the final touches to this year's festival to make it the best one yet but we managed to find some time to squeeze in a quick chat with the boys from Tall Ships.

1. Hello Tall Ships, we can't wait for your show at The Great Escape this year, how does it feel to play a festival in your hometown?

Exciting and convenient. As teenagers, the Concorde 2 was the venue we would go to watch all our favourite bands. It was also where Jamie and I went to our first ever gig, so it holds a very special place within our hearts and to be headlining there is a pretty big deal for us. It'll be fun as well to have a few friends in the crowd giving us grief and a couple of our mums grinning at the back wearing their Tall Ships t-shirts, both (hopefully) full of pride....

2. We heard you had Van trouble the night before your European Tour, other than that shaky start how did the tour go?

Yeah that was a nightmare. The van blew up the night before we were meant to be heading out to Paris so we had a pretty sleepless night trying to find another. But we got out there, the shows were busy, we met some lovely people and played some incredible venues. We played a disused cigar factory in southern Holland (We went exploring after the show. It was pitch black and it had these huge cavernous rooms with such dense, oppressive and endless reverb. It was pretty incredible.) We also played a beautiful Swiss town called Nyon in this 2000-year-old cave,where before the show, we had dinner on the shore of lake Geneva. It really was a special 2 weeks.

3. We have your debut album, Everything Touching, on repeat in the office, and so do a lot of people by the looks of things, are you pleased with the response so far?

Absolutely. When we recorded the album we really had no idea whether many people would actually hear it, let alone, actually like it. So to have released it and for it to get the incredibly warm and enthusiastic response from people that it got was a pleasant surprise. For me, making music is such a personal and inwards looking thing. You're so close to the songs that you kind of lose any sense of whether they are any good or complete rubbish, so when someone comes up and says that they have learnt your guitar parts or their wife walked down the aisle to one of your songs it's nice to know that something you've created has effected or moved somebody else in a positive way.

4. You've toured extensively over the last few months, are you looking forward to a summer of festivals?

Definitely. It'll be a nice break from the intensity of touring. Rather than having to drink every night, we can just squeeze it all in to 3 nights over the weekend. We've got a fair few coming up and we always take a couple of friends away with us to each one, so its looking like its going to be a good summer.

Don't miss Tall Ships perform at Concorde 2 on Saturday 18th May. Tickets are on sale HERE.

Check out the new single "Phosphorescence' below: