This Is Guernsey

By Globe reporter Natalie Harrison

YOUNG KNIVES are sharpening up their act on tour before hitting the Guernsey stage this Sunday.

Speaking from Belgium, just hours before the geek-rock band’s Vooruit gig, bassist Tom ‘House of Lords’ Dartnell said he had never been to Guernsey before, but had enjoyed watching John Nettles in BBC1’s Bergerac. Wrong island, Tom.

‘Yeah, I realised that when I said it,’ he says.

‘But Guernsey – it’s a bit posh, isn’t it? I like a bit of posh.’

And quite quaint, he’s told.

‘And I like a bit of quaint,’ he says.

So what can festival-goers expect from Tom, lead singer and guitarist brother Henry and their drum chum Oliver Askew? (In case you were wondering, Tom is nicknamed House of Lords because he always has the final say, according to his band mates.)

‘We’ll play a fair bit from Superabundance [the band’s most recent album] and a bit of earlier stuff.’

The indie threesome, ever enamoured with the eccentricities of English life, will return to the UK for a handful of dates before hitting the road abroad again.

Despite the fact it’s early days for Guernsey Live, Tom’s positive that if there’s a high turnout, it should be a good do.

‘As long as people come, it should be good,’ he says.

‘The festivals that seem to work are the ones that have a nice atmosphere.’