You know what’s easier than following around your fave pop stars, day in, day out, to see what they’re up to right that minute? Asking them. This month, we nab Martha Daniels from Alien Chicks.
6am → I wake up in a panic, wondering if my bandmates Joe and Stef have managed to wake up in time. We have an early flight to Vienna for Waves Festival, and they were at a party until 4am the night before celebrating English Teacher's Mercury Prize win (this is a much more glamorous 24 hours than we would normally have). I call them a few times, and there's no answer. I pack my bag, get ready, and practice some vocals in the shower in case Vienna is going to have to be a one-woman show. Eventually, Stef answers the phone and says he's about to wake Joe up (this is a daily routine for Stef, as they live together and Joe sleeps so deeply that his alarm doesn't wake him up).
8am → I get to the airport and find the boys asleep in a café. We plan in great detail for the inevitable argument we would have to have with Ryanair because we always buy only one seat for two guitars, which apparently goes against their policy.
9am → We get to the Ryanair check-in desk, and the steward immediately tells us we have too many bags. We go into great depth explaining the difficult plight of poorly paid musicians in the modern music industry and also our decision to save the planet by only buying one seat for two guitars. We are rewarded with a £65 extra bag fine and a threat of removal from the airport. We board the plane praying that festivals in Austria have free beers and food.
1pm Austrian time → We get to Vienna and are already 20 minutes late for our soundcheck, so we jump in a taxi (another financial mistake) and get a great view of the city on the drive to the venue. It's sunny, and the buildings are very grand and pretty. None of us have been to Vienna before. Joe calls his grandma to show her the city and she says in her sweet Welsh accent that it's a very lovely place and it's very exciting that he's there with his band.
