安迪·科平 (Andy Copping) 为 Sleep Token 的“下载节”头条广告辩护：“这是一支值得提升的乐队”

在接受 NME 采访时，科平谈到了导致他做出这一有争议选择的原因：“看到他们在过去两年中的迅速崛起让我想，‘这是一支值得提升的乐队。’”

Despite Sleep Token‘s recent rise to fame, their status as one of the three headliners for next year’s ‘Download Festival‘ has left some scratching their heads. The band’s rapid ascent began with the viral success of singles from their third studio album “Take Me Back To Eden” on TikTok.

尽管 Sleep Token 最近声名鹊起，但他们作为明年“下载节”三大头条人物之一的地位却让一些人摸不着头脑。乐队的迅速崛起始于他们的第三张录音室专辑《带我回到伊甸园》中的单曲在 TikTok 上的病毒式成功。

However, while the group have enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity over the past year, complete with a sold-out arena tour and a move to RCA Records, some fans believe other bands are more deserving of the coveted headlining slot.

然而，尽管该乐队在过去一年中人气迅速上升，演出门票全部售完，并转至 RCA 唱片公司，但一些歌迷认为其他乐队更值得获得令人垂涎的头条新闻位置。

Those individuals made their voices heard on social media following the announcement yesterday (November 12th). Now ‘Download Festival‘ founder Andy Copping has addressed the decision.

昨天（11 月 12 日）宣布这一消息后，这些人在社交媒体上发表了自己的声音。现在，“下载节”创始人安迪·科平 (Andy Copping) 已就这一决定做出了回应。

Speaking with NME, Copping explained what led him to make the controversial choice.

科平在接受 NME 采访时解释了是什么导致他做出了这一有争议的选择。

“It was seeing their meteoric rise over the last two years that made me think, ‘This is a band that deserves to be elevated. They’ve got a sold-out arena tour in a couple of weeks’ time, which we already know will be a sight to behold.”

“看到他们在过去两年中的迅速崛起让我想，‘这是一支值得提升的乐队。他们将在几周后举办一场门票全部售完的竞技场巡演，我们已经知道这将是一个值得一看的景点。”

He continued:

他继续说道：

“I think it’s important for the festival to bring new bands through to headline. Back in the day, I did it with Slipknot. I did it with Avenged Sevenfold and Biffy Clyro. In 2023 we did it with Bring Me The Horizon. Now, every one of those bands across the world is perceived as a festival headliner.

“我认为让新乐队登上新闻头条对于音乐节来说很重要。以前，我用活结做到了这一点。我和《七重复仇》和比菲·克莱罗一起做过。 2023 年，我们通过《Bring Me The Horizo​​n》做到了这一点。现在，世界各地的每一支乐队都被视为音乐节的头条新闻。

That’s what I felt this time with Sleep Token. It feels like we’re the first major festival that’s taken the bull by the horns and gone, ‘OK, it’s time. Its Sleep Token’s moment’. I know it’s going to be amazing for them, amazing for the festival and amazing for the fans.”

这就是我这次使用睡眠令牌的感受。感觉就像我们是第一个不畏艰险的重大节日，然后就走了，‘好吧，是时候了。这是睡眠令牌的时刻”。我知道这对他们、对音乐节、对粉丝来说都将是令人惊奇的。”

He later added of the pressures of running a festival of this scale in the modern age:

他后来补充道，在现代举办如此规模的节日所面临的压力：

“The festival has to evolve because people’s tastes and people’s expectations evolve all the time. The festival will die if we don’t move with the times, so we have to be innovative. We have to see what’s going on across social media and analyze the way people are consuming music in the TikTok age.

“这个节日必须不断发展，因为人们的品味和期望一直在变化。不与时俱进，节日就会消亡，所以我们必须创新。我们必须了解社交媒体上正在发生的事情，并分析人们在 TikTok 时代消费音乐的方式。

All of that is super important. Luckily, we’ve put together a very wide and varied young team who are giving input into what they feel the festival should be. We also talk to the fans all the time and ask them what they want to see. We seek out feedback on what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong. From that, we’ve found a formula that’s been working for us.”

所有这些都非常重要。幸运的是，我们组建了一支非常广泛且多样化的年轻团队，他们正在为他们认为的节日应该是什么样子提供意见。我们也一直与粉丝交谈，询问他们想看到什么。我们寻求有关我们做对和做错的事情的反馈。由此，我们找到了一个对我们有效的公式。”

Last year’s ‘Download Festival‘ felt the impact of social media due to a campaign waged by several bands that were booked to play the fest. Various artists, including the likes of Scowl, SPEED, Pest Control, Dying Wish and more all took to protesting the event and withdrawing from the bill in light of the involvement of Barclayscard being a primary sponsor for the event.

去年的“下载音乐节”受到了社交媒体的影响，因为几支乐队发起了一场活动，并预订了音乐节的演出。鉴于巴克莱银行是该活动的主要赞助商，包括 Scowl、SPEED、Pest Control、Dying Wish 等在内的众多艺术家都纷纷抗议该活动并退出该法案。

Those artists above took issue with Barclays‘ financial involvements in the facilitation of weapons used by Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. In response, ‘Download Festival‘ parted ways with Barclayscard.

上述艺术家对巴克莱银行在以色列与哈马斯战争中为以色列使用武器提供资金支持提出了质疑。作为回应，“下载节”与巴克莱银行分道扬镳。

As for Copping‘s stance on the growing need to elevate younger artists to headlining status, he’s certainly not wrong. Metal and rock have experienced a general decline in mainstream interest over the past two decades, with festivals now often being left to lean on tried and true evergreen artists to anchor their bills.

至于科平认为日益需要将年轻艺术家提升到头条地位的立场，他当然没有错。在过去的二十年里，金属和摇滚乐的主流兴趣普遍下降，音乐节现在往往只能依靠久经考验的真正常青艺术家来维持他们的收入。

However, with the generation of guaranteed headlining artists slowly beginning to age out, there’s been a growing concern of the lack of suitable replacements to eventually take their place. It’s a worrying situation that Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson publicly lamented earlier this year.

然而，随着一代有保证的头条艺术家慢慢开始老化，人们越来越担心缺乏合适的替代者最终取代他们的位置。铁娘子歌手布鲁斯·迪金森今年早些时候公开哀叹这种情况令人担忧。

He cited several reasons as being potential factors in the situation, including the financial risks promoters face in taking a gamble on newer artists, the overall greed of the music industry, and a shrinking amount of smaller venues that allow artists the chance to build themselves up.

他列举了造成这种情况的潜在因素有几个原因，包括发起人在押注新艺术家时面临的财务风险、音乐行业的整体贪婪，以及允许艺术家有机会发展自己的小型场馆数量的减少。 。

Next year’s ‘Download Festival‘ will take place at June 13th-15th at Donington Park in Derby, UK. The initial lineup announcement also includes sets from Weezer, Bullet For My Valentine and many more.

明年的“下载节”将于 6 月 13 日至 15 日在英国德比的多宁顿公园举行。最初公布的阵容还包括《Weezer》、《Bullet For My Valentine》等的套装。