Bearded Theory 2026

Beans on Toast, Jess Silk, Amelia Coburn and GANS join Tarot Interviews for a Bearded Theory Festival 2026 podcast episode. Meet the festival fire crew, traders and everyday festival-goers too. Ready for some beautiful nonsense? Hit subscribe and discover which cards came up. Episode contains some strong language. Image: Beans on Toast, photographed by Finbarre Snarey. 

Tarot Interviews credits

• Host and producer: Finbarre Snarey
• Executive producer: Nicola Snarey
• Theme music composer: Amelia Lawn
• Cover art: Pamela Colman Smith
  
  

If you enjoy Tarot Interviews, you may also like Tarot DMs by Finbarre Snarey. A companion series where guests chat over messenger apps and draw three cards to shape the conversation.

If you're curious about the cards we use and want to find out more, visit The British Tarot Archive.

Disclaimer:
The Tarot Interviews podcast is intended for entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are their own and do not constitute professional, legal, financial, medical, or psychological advice. Listeners are encouraged to seek guidance from qualified professionals where appropriate.

Transcript

It's the most family-friendly and fun festival because the kids get to go feral and photo the mums.
Hello everybody, it's Beans on Toast here at Tarot Interviews, sat behind the Woodland stage at Bearded Theory Festival on Saturday afternoon.
Marvellous, marvellous. And you're here with Finbarre and you've got a deck of cards in front of you.
I am.
What we're going to do is we're going to take, you can shuffle these any which way you like.
Yeah.
Just don't destroy it. In fact, you can destroy them. This is my camera.
Can I predict what card I'm going to pull? Would you be impressed if I did that?
I would be flabbergasted.
Flabbergasted. I reckon I'm going to get The World card.
The World?
Yeah.
It's on. I mean, it's a 1 in 78 chance.
Exactly.
Like it. Okay.
I'll cut it in the middle.
Yeah.
And we'll go for The World card. I'll shout it to you without saying it's me. What's that? The Fool?
So what you've got here is you've got the Seven of Pentacles.
Okay.
So it's the card of industry. It's the card of hard work. This suit. I'm getting a lot of pentacles here.
What have you done recently that's been most challenging to spread the name of Beans on Toast?
Oh, I don't really set out to spread the name of Beans on Toast.
Do you not?
I mean, I stopped graffitiing my name around 25 years ago.
But you're a legend.
Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. I guess I see everything as part of one thing, if you know what I mean.
Like, I mean, I write songs. That's only what I'm doing. You know, that's what I would do to spread the word of Beans on Toast is, is write the songs and then put myself in a position where people can hear the songs.
And the name is just the sort of like, it's like the face of the songs, isn't it?
What inspires? I mean, when you wake up in the morning and you've got that little tickling in the back of your head, that's the beginning of a song.
Where does it come from and how do you tease it out?
For songs, I generally do, I don't actually sit down and write songs very often.
I find myself like, I sort of, not even purposely, but just the way that life works.
I sort of get charged, I sort of like haven't written for ages and I can feel them all inside me, like rattling around.
And then it's like, oh, I get a time to get one night.
I have a real, almost like a tradition that I go through in order for writing songs.
I write in the same notebooks. I only use blue notebooks. I need a certain amount of privacy.
I sit at the same desk. I smoke a spliff.
And I always, what I normally do is I'll have a thing I definitely want to write a song about.
I'll start writing that song and then I'll write a song about someone else.
Like the thing, the thought that comes there, the fresh one.
The ball's up, rolling.
Yeah, yeah. And I'll generally, my general thing is I'll write three songs in a seat.
Yeah.
And then, you know, certainly get them to a certain place and then you sit with them and they sort of iron themselves out over time.
So this is a kind of legacy. So when you give those songs to the crowd, what is it you're hoping they take away with them?
A t-shirt.
Like it. Like it. I mean, it's not The World, but it's a good card.
No, I can't tell you why I thought I was going to tell The World. Have you got time for a story?
Yeah, go ahead. No, I'd love to hear one.
So Stone Circle. I can't remember what year it must be. Maybe like 2003.
Yeah.
So Summer Solstice Stone Circle at Stonehenge. And because obviously they open up the stones for Summer Solstice.
So it's like this mental party. And I was there pretty much by myself. And I was like jollying around, high-fiving everybody, just getting involved.
And there was someone, this big guy doing, with like huge robes on, doing tarot on one of the stones. And I was just walking through thinking I was in like my own life movie.
And I turned around. Yeah, exactly. And I was like, I turned to a card, I pointed at it. And I went, it's The World. Turned it over. And it was The World card. And it was like, and everyone went, yeah. And I was like, grab the card. And I wandered off. And I was like, carried on with the night.
And then at like hours later, maybe six hours later, I'm sitting talking to this girl. And she went, oh, you're the guy that stole that guy's tarot card, aren't you? And I was like, oh, and I was like, I still had it in my pocket. And I was like, I don't think I stole it. I thought it was a gift.
But then I was like, no, loads of people are looking for you. And I was like.
They sent out the tarot mafia.
Yeah. And I went, oh God. And I looked, I was the guy still in the same place. I was like, I can't return it. And as I started returning it, people started hissing at me. And there was like, all the people with the robes will come out. I was like, shh.
Yeah, the druids will get you. I was like, fuck, what have I done? And I went up and I, and I walked up to the guy and I give him, I handed out a card and he went, I knew you'd come back.
Nice. And he ended up giving me a lift home.
That is perfect, mate. Thank you so much.
My pleasure. One more chance for The World card.
Strength.
Nah. I'll say that.
What we need today, isn't it?
I'll say that.
Thank you so much, mate. Cheers.
Can we just get a quick Vox Pop from you about the Bearded Theory Festival?
Why I love the festival? Because you can be as stupid as you like and no one cares. It's fantastic.
And what are you wearing right now?
I'm wearing the Mr. Banana outfit. We are with Papa Shangu, who are on stage at Maui Waui at 10 o'clock.
And if you've never seen it, you wouldn't believe it.
Excuse me, folks. Could I just give you a quick interview for a local podcast where you pull out a tarot card,
and look at the tarot card and ask you a question based on what you get. It's just about the festival itself.
Yeah, fab.
I'm Gav, and I'm at Bearded Theory because we thought it would be fun, and it's turned out to be so.
So what I'm hoping to achieve today is more of what I've achieved for the past three days.
Uh-huh.
Which is?
Enormous amounts of drinking and good vibes.
If I had my bottle in my hand, I'd salute to that and drink.
You dress differently to the other campus here. Who have you come as?
Well, not really come as anyone, just...
Your glorious self.
That's my Sunday best, you know.
Well, I am wearing some Haute Couture by Chanel.
Well, it's a little black number.
A little black winged number.
Yes, there's wings. They're held on with what can only be described as a sex harness.
Uh-huh.
Then there's just lots of other, like, velvet coats and stuff that's really inappropriate for a...
That jacket is seven degree.
Fine.
Well, this was my wedding coat.
Oh, really?
Yes, we put holes in it to accommodate the wings.
Oh, and the helmets.
Yeah, there's horned helmets as well, I should explain.
And those are apparently came from, like, Pink.
Her...
They, like, hired a venue packed area in Wakefields and left a couple of helmets behind.
And our mates stole them.
So, we got them.
So, this is, I think, Jerry's helmet.
I'm not sure what Jerry's is.
Yeah.
I mean, luckily, this will be going out in a couple of days, so you can make your get away.
Yeah, yeah, no.
We've never met.
I'm honest, I think Pink's doing all right.
She can forward a couple of helmets.
We have made them better.
Yeah, yeah.
Mellish.
Yeah, they didn't have teeth on when you...
No, no, they didn't.
I mean...
Oh, really?
They were covered in beads instead, it was there.
They were like plastic practice helmets.
Oh, I see.
So, you've dry brushed them.
Have you just added extra...
There's been dry brushing and a lot of air-dry clay.
Oh, I see.
Yeah, it looks incredible.
We'll have to take a picture of this.
There are lights.
There's lights?
Yeah, there's lights in the horns, but you might not be able to see them.
No.
Yeah, yeah.
That's incredible.
Pick any card.
Yeah.
And you have...
Ba-ba-ba-bum.
It's another pentacle.
It's all pentacles.
The only suit I'm seeing at the moment is pentacles.
You've got the King of Pentacles.
Right.
So, it represents someone who is basically sat on a pile of riches.
Someone who is kind of at the peak of their game.
Someone who cannot be stopped.
It's just so very much like...
Yeah.
It's like you feel like a lottery winner.
It's a bit like when you first hear, I feel you by Depeche Mode.
You know, you're just strutting through the street.
King of Pentacles, I'm going to ask you, what are you proud of today?
These wings.
These wings?
Yeah.
I mean...
Describe them to me.
Well, they are...
I like how you're looking round over your shoulder and they just keep moving out of your eye line.
They haven't been tested out in actual outdoor conditions.
Okay.
It turns out they are very receptive to the slightest breath of wind.
I see.
My things.
Will you be climbing a tree and jumping as baby birds do?
I won't even think I'll need to.
I think I'll just...
Slightest, like, rise in wind and I'll just be swept away.
A cart wheeling off down the place like a beautiful kite.
Fantastic.
Hi, I'm April Dixon.
We are here to have a lovely time at Bearded Theory.
I think the best band we saw was Adult DVD.
We know a friend who is actually a keyboard player in it.
He was brilliant.
It was so, like, awesome.
So no favouritism at all.
No at all.
But they were surprisingly good.
We didn't expect them to be quite that good.
We never actually heard them before.
And, yeah, he's a very sweet guy and suddenly he's really cool on the stage.
And we're like, oh, wow.
Excellent.
You get to see his true self.
Exactly, yeah.
And it was at the Meadows and it was filled.
Absolutely.
First band of the day.
Wow.
Absolutely filled.
So we're very proud of them.
And again, like your partners in crime, you're dressed unusually.
Can you describe your outfit?
Well, I've come as an angel.
Oh, you're an angel.
I have gold.
Of course.
My wings are a little bit floppy, but maybe a little fallen angel.
I am slightly sweltering from the amount of face paint I have on.
I'm hoping it shines the sun out instead of actually burning me.
I do say Lucifer was the brightest star.
Yes.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
You are.
You're looking fantastic.
And again, I love this coat.
I'm getting coat envy here.
I must say.
This is my haute couture.
It has wings for when I dump the real wings.
And do real angels have studs on their shoulders?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Excellent.
Right.
Pull the card.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Oh, Two of Swords.
Two of Swords.
That indicates a certain mercilessness.
Okay.
So, pentacles represent earth.
This represents air.
It represents truth.
And of course, the symbolism of the sword is something that once started, cannot be stopped.
We'll basically cleave whatever gets in your way.
But here you have someone who is blindfolded, meditating on a particular issue, and then ready to do combat.
It's almost like dueling with yourself.
What big decisions did you have to make over the last couple of days?
Oh, I've had to make so many decisions that I've just chosen all the wrong things.
What to wear?
What to bring?
I've had to buy clothes here because I just can't imagine being hot when I'm cold.
So, we packed.
I brought jumpers.
I brought a lot of trousers.
And it's going to get colder.
So, those are big decisions that I've done the wrong way.
But yeah, I think generally, I'm always making my big decisions.
I'm always striving forward and cutting through the chaff.
So, I quite like that card.
Excellent.
And it's one of those cards as well that just make a really good tattoo.
It would.
I don't have any, but maybe.
Yeah, same.
I'm a white canvas.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hi, I'm Jess Silk here with Tarot Interviews at Bearded Theory.
Very warm Bearded Theory.
It's absolutely sweltering here at the moment.
And I'm wilting myself.
I did have a parasol, but it's gone, unfortunately.
How are you driving?
I'm hot.
I'm very, very hot.
We have been slowly rotating.
My mate bought a couple of umbrellas.
So, we've been rotating those around the tables.
That's a good call.
You've got my deck of tarot cards in your hand there.
It's the Rider Waite Smith 1909.
It's one of my favourites.
It's been a little bit festivalised, so it's certainly not pristine.
So, don't worry about dropping them or anything.
And, yeah, if you just want to give them a shuffle, pull out a single card,
and I'll ask you a question based on whatever you get.
The Wheel of Fortune.
Oh, gosh.
Okay.
Okay.
So, what's that card saying to you, apart from somebody had cheese before their dreams?
Yeah, it's a very strange-looking compass, it looks like to me.
I'm going with that.
It's all right.
So, The Wheel of Fortune, of course, you've got the unpredictability,
you've got the indecisiveness of life,
you've got the fact that you could be standing at a crossroads,
it turns out to be, well, all the spokes of a wheel.
Today, what is the best opportunity that you've come across so far
once you've been at this festival?
Ooh.
Well, if you're talking today, I had a very good tip-off earlier
as I was sat outside the tea tent that Frank Turner was playing in the woodlands.
So, yeah, that was a bit of a curveball that I wasn't expecting,
that I was very glad I managed to get in in time.
He's one of my absolute favourites.
I've got a tattoo on my arm.
Wow.
Yeah.
So, that was it.
Yeah, I heard it was Frank Turner, and I thought I misheard,
so I missed that gig, unfortunately.
Yeah, it was very last minute.
I think somebody dropped out at the very last minute,
and he happened to be there.
And I think him and Ten Shed shared a set.
Okay.
So, oh, yeah, see all my mates.
We generally tend to park at the tea tent
and just spend all weekend just catching up with people
that I've not seen in a while.
It's really nice.
I'm recording now.
Yeah.
So, let me just put that in my pocket.
You look amazing, by the way.
Big Bad Wolf and Little Dead Riding Hood.
Little Dead Riding Hood.
Okay.
Right.
Oh, so that is the Five of Swords.
The Five of Swords.
The Five of Swords.
Okay.
We just had a sword over there.
It's very interesting for the fancy dress.
So, it represents air.
It represents truth.
It represents action.
Okay.
So, with the Five of Swords we've got here today,
I'm going to ask you, why are you here?
Why are we here, George?
We're here to have fun.
And to do lots of...
How do we let fans know if you like them?
If they're good.
What do we do?
We do really big...
High bouncing.
High bouncing.
Excellent.
So, you can always tell George, if George likes a band,
by the increasing amount of air around him
as he wildly bounces and people protect their beers.
And what's the determining factor?
Is it vibes?
Is it the sound?
Is it the show?
What is it that attracts you?
It's the brain tickles.
The brain tickles.
If they tickle the brain, then...
Yeah.
Who have we liked best so far?
Who did you see in the woodland yesterday that you really liked?
Mr. Bruce.
Mr. Bruce.
Oh.
He liked Mr. Bruce.
Lovely to meet you.
Thank you so much for your time, guys.
Cheers, George.
Thank you. Bye.
Thank you.
I didn't know really any of the artists coming here, but I like that it is so left-leaning.
There's so many...
I love seeing so many people of the older generation that are wearing anti-fascist merch
and really anti-racist, anti-transphobe stuff.
And it's just so...
This is like the one festival where I've been like, oh, this is like really safe and really
cool and everyone's really cool.
I just...
Yeah.
That's why I like it.
Perfect.
Hello.
All right, chaps.
What are you going to see?
Yeah, we've all...
I just wondered if we're going to go and get ourselves some lunch and things.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
How's it going?
How's all the podcasting going?
It's going wonderfully.
I've just met so many people.
Everyone here is bansanated.
Don't let us get drunk.
There are your cards.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
So there's no right or wrong way to shuffle them.
No, no.
And if you could tell me your name and why you're here.
Okay.
So I'm Lou and I'm a trader here.
You're a trader.
So yeah, so this is my store.
Excellent.
I'm selling tie-dye clothing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I come every year.
I've been coming for nine years now and I love it.
It's one of my favorite festivals.
Well, for nine years you would have to, wouldn't you?
And can you just tell me about your business?
Yeah.
So I tie-dye clothing.
So I lock myself in my workshop all year round.
And for nine months of the year I'm making all of my stuff.
And then for three months of the year I'm allowed out.
That's a good behavior.
And I get to go and speak to people.
You have the Death card.
Okay.
I've got death.
Okay.
So I don't know much about tarot.
But I do know that a Death card is not as bleak as it seems.
No.
I mean what you have there is you have obviously you have a noble upon a horse but the noble himself is dead.
And you have the people in front of him sort of either asking for forgiveness or possibly praying.
But it's a card that basically with the rule the same.
It's the great leveler.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because death unfortunately comes to us all but you know it's the life that we enjoy.
It's part of the price.
So with the Death card that we have here I'd like to know what it is here that you feel most in common with your fellow festival goer.
Okay.
Well quite simply the best thing for me about festivals is that you can go back to being your true authentic self that not necessarily would be on a high street or in an office.
And you really sort of get to strip people back to the person that they are in the centre.
The person that they are authentic.
Excellent.
Yeah.
There is certainly a kind of almost like a I don't want to say a childishness but not an innocence but a kind of a trueness.
Yeah absolutely.
And you see it on the build up to festivals.
People get nervous about certain things and you know what they're allowed to wear.
What you know what they're allowed to do.
And quite simply everybody accepts everyone for who they are and people are encouraged to be their true selves.
So working in the trade that you're in do you see people come here and almost sort of like shed their skins.
They come in wearing you know unsuitable wear and then come out wearing your glorious colours.
Yeah absolutely.
And there are some more validating than others.
It's really yeah it's it's my store's a really safe space for everybody and it's really nice to see sort of trans people or or people who are sort of experimenting with gender to try different looks.
And it's really lovely when somebody tries on I don't know a dress or something they wouldn't usually wear and they're genuinely smiling from the inside.
I love that.
Hello I'm Amelia Coburn.
I've just played the woodland stage at Bearded Theory.
Had an absolutely amazing time.
I play storytelling songs mainly.
A lot of them are kind of taken from the darker underbelly of things.
So I call myself a folk goth.
Although I'm not really a goth.
I just like things macabre and morbid.
So Amelia when you're here what kind of energies what kind of vibes do you get here in the woods?
In the woods.
I think it's one of my favourite places to be in the woods.
I recently recorded a music video and it was like a sort of fairy tale tea party right in the middle of the woods which I really enjoyed doing.
I feel like it's a very calming presence being around trees and nature.
You never feel bad after you've been in greenery do you?
And I think just being surrounded by music as well it's like the best of both worlds.
You've got music and nature.
Yeah it's got that kind of I don't know there's just something relaxing about having as you say that kind of foliage that verdancy around you.
And I just look around and I can see dragonflies as well.
Yeah.
Either that or it might just be floaters after not sleeping properly.
But one landed on me during the set and I thought that's cute and it's like crawling up my top and it was really annoying me.
So I did actually I messed up one of the songs because of the plumbing dragonfly.
Oh gosh it.
Well we've got the cards here right.
So.
Yeah.
I see you moving away from them like they're emanating some kind of cosmic power.
Evil force.
Which they may be I mean they are magical cardboard.
Exactly.
I'd like you to shuffle them and just draw out whichever card you like.
Can I put this mic down?
Not very.
Not the best shuffler.
Yeah.
If some of them fall out they'll announce themselves.
And look.
It's another bright.
Every single card that's come out today has been a pentacle.
And they've all been different.
No no.
No we'll stick with this one.
Okay.
So Four of Pentacles.
What does that say to you?
He looks like he's got a bit of money or something actually.
It looks like coins.
That's what it looks like.
Yeah.
He looks really happy.
Is it not happy?
Can be.
I mean all of these cards are almost double-sided in the sense that.
You know there could be good outcomes and bad.
But this is a card of someone who is very much at a crossroads in terms of not knowing quite where to invest their time.
Somebody who doesn't know either to invest their time, their money.
But it's something that you can give out to the world.
And it's something that is a finite resource.
What is that finite resource for you?
Oh.
In what way?
So when you're performing, when you're composing songs, when you're at a festival, what draws from your battery and how do you replenish it?
I think it's funny because it's such a double-sided coin for me performing.
I love performing and I think I get my most confidence on stage.
But on the other side of that coin, I was a really shy kid.
And I really shy.
I still am.
I wouldn't say shy, but I'm very insecure.
And I get anxious in big social situations.
There's like big crowds and things.
So it's like everyone, when they meet me, they can't believe that I've landed into this job where I perform to thousands of people every week.
But it kind of feels like that's my call.
And even though sometimes it's not really me.
And as much as I've loved this, I can't wait to get home and see my cat and go for a walk in the country on my own.
So I think that's what I do.
I need this.
I wouldn't be able to live without performing and doing these gigs and meeting everyone every day.
But I also need to make time in the week for just myself.
And I'm quite solitary in that way.
So I think it's just balancing my own time.
And like, yeah, I really like being alone in nature.
Yeah, no, it makes sense.
And can I ask what the cat's called?
Barbara.
Barbara.
Why Barbara?
Well, we adopted her.
She was called Love Stuffing.
And I love stuffing.
But I was like, I'm not calling my cat Love Stuffing.
Miss Stuffing.
Yeah, that sounds like a drag queen name.
It does, yeah.
Love Stuffing.
So I thought, she looked like a Barbara.
She's an old lady.
We adopted her quite old.
And I really like pets with human names.
My boyfriend's got a dog called Brian.
So I feel like Barry, Brian, Barbara, Beryl.
Doug.
Doug, yeah.
I don't have a lot of B names.
But yeah, Gary.
Yeah, no, my cats are named after.
We've got one called Dios, which I think means walnut flavoured in Hungarian.
And by ugly means sweet roll in Hungarian.
In Hungarian?
Yeah.
Are they Hungarian cats?
Don't think so.
I've spoken Hungarian to them.
I don't understand.
And I've got a little old guy called Bexley who hopefully is still with us by the time
I get back from the festival.
But he's just a rickety old dude.
He's about 16 or so.
Bless him.
And he's got a little tuxedo belly.
I love that.
And he looks so wise.
Love that guy.
Okay.
So which bands do you recommend at the festival that I go see after this?
After this?
Well, I'm a big wedding present fan.
When I first started playing music, they were David Gedge of the wedding present.
He really supported me.
He got me on his festival.
I supported him in Paris and I lived in Paris.
So I'm definitely going to go see the Weddolls.
And my dad's here with me, even though he's gone to the match now.
I've been seeing half the festival to see the Borough game at Wembley,
which is fair enough.
Middlesbrough?
Yeah.
Yeah, that's where I was born.
Was it?
Yeah.
James Cook Hospital?
Or North Tease?
Do you know?
No, it was actually Gisborough, but I lived in Middlesbrough.
I'm from Munthorpe, so right close to Gisborough.
Munthorpe, yeah.
Yeah, that's madness.
In fact, next week I'm going to a festival in Redcar,
which is like a Renaissance festival.
Really?
Where you can dress up as elves and dwarves and wizards and all that nonsense.
And it's in Redcar.
Get me there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What's it called?
Wildwood, I believe.
Wildwood.
Yeah.
With a Y, of course.
Yeah, it's got a thing.
Nice.
Amelia, thank you so much for this.
Thank you for having me.
My name's Aaron, and we're part of the fire crew.
We make the fire.
Yep.
We maintain the fire.
And for as long as they'll keep having us back, we'll keep going and doing our bit.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
It's your fifth year.
It's my fifth year.
My fifth, yeah.
Doing the same thing.
Yeah, yeah.
So, yeah.
You guys provide marshmallows as well, do you?
You know what?
Do you know what?
I do have some back at the tent tomorrow.
Wow.
Late shift.
You might get it.
I've got the mega marshmallows.
Two to four we're on, so yeah, we have got some more.
I might have one spare.
Right.
Can we have a look at the card?
Yeah.
And, ooh.
Ace of Swords.
Ace of Swords.
Turrion.
Oh, right.
Okay.
So, Ace of Swords.
Are you familiar with the Ace of Swords at all?
Not particularly.
No, you do do my Turrions sometimes.
I read Turrions.
Ah.
I left them at home, though.
What we've got there is, I mean, typically it's the Ace of Spades.
Are you familiar with the mythology around the Ace of Spades at all?
Not particularly.
So, it's a card that represents air out of the four elements.
It's basically the epitome of that particular suit.
And it's a powerful card.
It's a card of no nonsense.
Has there been a situation here where there has been danger?
Has there been a situation here where you've had to intervene in danger?
Yeah, you know what?
Good old Nick.
Nick the Wizard.
Yeah, he gets a little bit magical and thinks it's a great idea to jump into the fire spontaneously with no shoes on.
He looks like Merlin, honestly.
He looks like Merlin.
He looks like a wizard.
We know him outside of this.
He's a little wizard that he hops on like there's no warning.
We know him outside of this festival and he's always off as rocker and he's always misbehaving.
When it comes to the camp, we keep a close eye out.
You do have to tell him sometimes, say, Lord Nick, you've got to come out of there because we want to come back next year.
You burn yourself or die.
They don't have us back.
Yeah, it does that a lot.
Hello, my name's Helen.
I'm from Truly Crumptious.
We make homemade crumpets and we're at Bearded Theory in a festival field.
And you're on Tarot Interviews, the podcast, talking to me about, well, absolutely scrumptious gorgeousness.
I saw a sign just out there and it lured me in like a siren song.
Who does your signs?
It's a collaboration.
It's a collaboration.
But mainly my friend Tissie.
Yeah.
And then Freya did the sexy people who munch crumpets.
Oh, no, you can say that.
You can say it.
To which my son saw that and goes, but that means that people who don't munch crumpets aren't sexy.
And I was like, yes, that's exactly what that means.
So you must munch more.
Munch more crumpet.
There are your cards.
I think that one's just jumping out, isn't it?
Yeah.
Just jump there, the one that points the more.
Yeah.
So you take it out.
What?
Page of Wands.
Got wands?
Okay.
The page is somebody who has big dreams and especially the Page of Wands.
So wands represents fire, represents inspiration, represents vitality, vim, vigor.
All of those words, beginning with V.
And it's a very, it's a very positive card.
You can't get much more positive.
But it is also possibly a little naive, possibly somebody who doesn't know quite where their limits are and has yet to discover them.
So that's the Page of Wands.
That's just what it is.
That probably isn't you at all.
But Page of Wands is going to get me to ask you a question like, what have you done at Bearded Theory that you've never done before?
Have I done a bit?
To be fair, managed to scrounge a tin of mushrooms.
I've never had tinned mushrooms.
Do you know what?
I loathe, apport and despise mushrooms.
I would rather eat so many things on God's green earth than mushrooms.
Because they're not quite an animal.
They're not quite a vegetable.
They're like a little gribbly thing somewhere in there.
And they're sort of pallid and swampy.
So they're not my thing.
But some people might really like tin mushrooms.
However, at Bearded Theory, saw Phil Hartnell.
Phil Hartnell from the Orbital.
Right.
At half past one in the morning.
I have never done before at Bearded Theory.
And I got up for breakfast.
Can't you?
I know, right?
That was marvellous.
I hope he enjoyed it.
He looks like he was enjoying himself.
Right.
Right.
Who's feeling chatty?
Oh, James, I reckon.
Yeah.
When you interviewed me.
How familiar are you with tarot cards?
Yeah.
I am familiar.
Excellent.
Not for a long time.
For a good over 20 years.
Right.
Well, it's Dex from 1909.
This is our fifth year at the festival.
Yeah.
And Karen, who's Fanny.
I am.
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
Fanny.
I'm Finbarre.
I'm Finbarre.
And Greg.
Hi, Greg.
Who's Robin.
Hiya.
Yeah.
Is it your first time at this festival?
My first time at this festival as well, yeah.
I've never been.
It seems that you can never leave as well.
Because most people have been coming here five, ten years.
Yeah.
It's like something from the Wickerman.
Yeah.
He says, holding tarot cards.
Yeah.
Can you tell me a little bit about your characters as well?
Because I've never seen the show.
So.
I know.
I'm sorry.
It's a BBC sitcom show.
Yeah.
Ghost.
And it starts off with this youngish couple.
Probably in their early, mid to late 20s, I'd say.
Yeah.
Right.
They're trying to make ends meet.
And then they're getting contact by a solicitor to say that.
Alison.
Alison.
Inherited a house.
Inherited a house.
Inherited a house.
Yeah.
Great mansion.
Button house.
Yeah.
Button house.
So they go and see this house.
And when they're in there, they walk in.
Of course, our characters can see her and her boyfriend or her husband.
They're all like, I'm going to get them out.
So.
So I'm Mary.
Yeah.
And I was burnt at the stake.
I'm so sorry, Mary.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
And.
Scorchio.
If you happened to pass through my body, you would smell the burning happening.
So the, um, eventually Alison got pushed out through a window, hit her head.
Yeah.
Long story short.
Yeah.
She woke up and she could see all the ghosts.
Got you.
And they ended up bonnet.
It's very funny.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I am Pat Butcher or Pat for sure.
Oh Pat.
Excellent.
Excellent.
I'm clearly shot in the arrow.
Oh yes.
I'm really sorry to see that.
Okay.
So we've got your cards.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And you've shuffled them well.
Yes.
And you might be feeling energies from one card or another, or you might just drop them on
the floor or just don't eat them.
Don't eat them.
Flip it over.
Let's see.
I'm saying this because everybody, everybody today is either picking pentacles or swords.
And weirdly, the Goths are all getting the swords.
Yeah.
And people who look like more regular types are getting pentacles.
Are you familiar with what King of Pentacles represents?
No.
So pentacles is earth, very much what we're standing on right now.
Yep.
And it represents pleasures of the flesh.
It represents materialism.
It represents gain, investments, putting in the hard yards, that type of thing.
And King of Pentacles is someone who is someone who's obviously benefited from a lot of hard
work.
So what hard work have you been putting into this festival recently that isn't costume related?
Getting my van ready because the electric decided to go.
Yeah.
Tell me about the van.
What kind of van is it?
So we got a camper van.
And we wanted to basically change our fridge to something that would work better.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I unclogged that one, put in a newer one, and then the rest of the electric stopped working,
including the water, the plug.
And I spent the last couple of weeks, every spare bit of time trying to get at least something
working for us to enjoy.
Didn't work, but we got a fridge.
Yay!
We got a fridge.
And somehow you've gone from absolute misfortune to glory.
To glory.
I know.
It's amazing.
It's really, really, really made my day.
I'm here, babe.
I'm Richard Salisbury.
I own Reforged Blacksmiths.
I run a full-time blacksmith business and also do come to festivals and teach and show
people what blacksmithing is.
I need to ask you because this is something I'm really curious about.
Who wakes up in the morning and goes, I'm going to be a blacksmith?
I'll watch one video.
So that was it.
How long ago was the video?
It was, we were on holiday, weren't we?
Yeah.
We were on holiday.
Just, yeah, just a video just on YouTube.
And that was it.
I just needed to have a go.
That is incredible.
I went on one experience day and that led to more experience days.
And to buy and afford and then quitting my job and training at Hereford to be a traditional
blacksmith.
And what is your kind of your bread and butter?
What is it you do most of all?
I like doing lots of flowers.
Roses are good.
Just projects.
Whatever comes in.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Well, your assistant here is shuffling the cards.
Can you get your name?
Oh, Becky.
Becky.
Yeah.
Right, Becky.
So you've got the cards here.
Now, as you say, we've got dirty hands in the equation.
So we're going to pick these remotely.
So you point at whichever card you'd like.
I'd say that one there.
And then we'll choose the card and find out what it is.
Oh, The Fool.
My absolute favorite.
I'm actually wearing that pendant today.
Excellent.
So what vibes do you get from that card?
Just out of interest.
Just quite happy.
It's a happy card.
Exactly.
That's true last night.
All right.
Right.
So The Fool is one of new beginnings.
It's one of taking the plunge, which is really interesting about what you just told me there.
What was the most gratifying or the most fulfilling part of just throwing everything aside and starting something new?
It's just the making of things.
Just having an idea and then just creating it.
And then having something that you've made.
Yeah.
How did the ideas come to you?
Did they just pop into my head?
Really?
So you'd see something.
Yeah.
And then think, I'll have a go at that.
Or if you did this to it and that to it, you'd get something completely new.
Okay.
And is it the sort of the tactile part of forging something with your hands?
Is it knowing that you've done it yourself?
What is it that really appeals you to sticking with this and thinking, right, I'm a blacksmith now?
It's just little puzzles.
Everything's a little puzzle.
So it is, though.
How does it go together?
So you could think of an idea, but then you've got to sort of build it backwards in your mind.
Yeah.
And break it down to its parts and then put it back together and get what you want.
Okay.
That's a very intellectual way of approaching it.
Because I was thinking, I don't know, you might think that Natal has a particular character or feel to it or something like that.
But you're approaching it like, I don't know, in the same way that I would do Sudoku.
That is absolutely incredible.
And what are your favourite pieces that you've got here today?
The roses are good.
Or flowers are good.
Yeah.
I'd say that's what they are.
I always like sort of flowers.
And that's a fine...
Is it a Spitfire?
Yeah, it's a Spitfire.
So that's a little bit more sort of...
You draw it and then I've got like a CNC plasma.
It cuts it out.
What's a CNC plasma?
I don't know what that is.
So it's a plasma cutter so you can just cut shapes out with it.
Yeah.
And we've bolted it to a milling machine for wood.
Like wood.
And then it's a wood router with a plasma cutting head which will cut steel.
So you've gone from a YouTube video to that?
Yeah.
I love it.
My name's Jasmine and I'm here with Graft, a graffiti workshops company from Bristol.
Okay.
What kind of a workshop is a graffiti workshop?
Well, we make three different types of things.
We're doing festival posters with spray painting, spray painted bunting or name tags so you can make your tag for your temp.
Okay.
So if I saw a band that I fell in love with and I wanted some kind of memory to take away with me, is that something that you would offer?
Yeah.
Make your own merch.
Nice.
Best kind of merch.
My name's Heather.
Heather.
And what kind of evening are you having today, Heather?
Very good evening.
What have you just seen?
A Skunker Night Z.
Yes.
And Getaway something.
I heard a bit of them and I quite liked them but I only caught the last song unfortunately.
Right.
What I'd like you to do, we've got the Rider Waite Smith there.
Yeah.
Pick a single card.
Yeah.
Whichever card you like.
And I want to ask you a question based on that card.
There you go.
Lovely.
So you've got the Nine of Pentacles.
You've got a lady in some kind of ornamental garden.
Resplendent.
She's got a little bird just there.
She's living the life.
Okay.
So I want you to tell me, what's the last thing that you spoiled yourself with?
Just bought a camper van.
I've had it two weeks.
Yes.
And I've come to my fifth Bearded Theory and I came in my own van.
Lovely.
Does that have a name?
Audrey.
Audrey.
Okay.
And where's going to be your next adventure?
Anglesey.
Oh, what's in Anglesey?
My best mate lives in Anglesey, but it's beautiful.
I've got the beach, I've got dogs, you've got the forest, then you swim in, me and my van,
open the doors.
Yeah.
Beautiful.
I've wanted a book for 15 years and I find you went, for fuck's sake Heather, get it.
Can I spout on your podcast?
Of course you can.
Of course you can.
But I was like, do it already.
And then as soon as I said do it, Audrey appeared.
Yeah.
And then I bought Audrey.
It's destiny.
Yes.
Lovely.
So yes, a perfect answer for your question.
Thank you so much.
Okay.
So who wants to go first?
I'll go first.
I'm Ewan from Gans.
I play drums and sing.
And this is Thomas.
Hello.
I'm Thomas from Gans.
I play the synth, sing and play the bass.
Fantastic.
Right.
And here today you've got cards in your hand.
You can answer me a question.
But first of all, how are you feeling today?
Feeling really good, man.
Like it's literally, we got here probably about 20 minutes ago and stuff like that.
And already like the, the crowd's really filling up in that stage.
It's just open.
Listen to, spend on this, grandma's hands.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we got cowboy hunters on before us.
So really looking forward to seeing them because I heard they're really good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Weird serendipity.
Like we played the exact same stage last year.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, life brings these circular moments that keep happening to us.
So it's very strange.
It's like fate.
It is.
Such is fate.
Right.
Speaking of fate, you've got the cards there, sir.
That's a good transition.
Yeah.
Is that smooth?
Why am I picking just a random one?
It's like I've done this before.
Okay.
Oh, right.
Oh, you double teaming the cards.
That's allowed.
That's fine, mate.
Sure.
I mean, these are a festival deck.
You know, you can do what you like with them.
As long as you don't eat them.
Are you ready to look?
I'll let you look first.
I'm going to look.
Okay.
What have we got?
Hang on.
Tell you what's that up.
All right.
You've got the Page of Pentacles.
So, what's that saying to you?
What vibes do you get?
What vibe am I getting from that?
I'm getting almost like a wizardy vibe kind of thing.
You know what I mean?
Like, he's got a nice tunic on it.
Is that a pentagram that he's got in the middle?
Yeah.
Well, I think it's supposed to be a coin as well.
It depends.
I think the French call them denier.
Okay.
Maybe we're aligned with the elements today.
Yeah.
It's weird as such that we've just recorded some music.
And in the studio that we recorded in, the producer had designed his studio in the shape of a pentagram.
Serendipity.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
He was a super auspicious guy.
You know.
And they're a very cosmic human being.
So, he'd regularly, if you feel in certain ways, whatever, you know.
Like, he's very in tune with the pentagram and the elements.
So, maybe it's a sign that today's our day.
Yeah.
And that we are at a balance and we've been given the elements to go and play some rock and roll.
Blow some minds.
What does that mean?
So, well, it's a symbol of, this is to do with material pleasures.
Oh.
Like, oh, pleasures of the flesh, maybe.
It could be financial.
Don't know about that one.
Let's go back to pleasures of the flesh.
Page of Pentacles.
It's someone who is possibly naive, but it's somebody who is aspirational.
Sounds like us.
Somebody who has big dreams.
Okay.
Where do you expect this will take you?
Playing here at Bearded Theory, where will you go to from here?
Well, our logic is every time.
Manchester.
Yeah, Manchester later today.
Support the Pixies.
True story.
But spiritually, I'd say every time that we play a show, if we can connect with just one new person in the room, that's a new connection that we've made.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We desire that playing today here at the Temple of Rock and Roll that we will connect with at least one more person.
And that makes our lives.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
And in terms of like going back to the pleasures of the flesh, I'll talk more about the spiritual aspect.
Of course, this is very much grounded.
It is an earth card.
So, I'm looking forward to experiencing the festival.
Food, a few beers, drinks.
What's on the menu today, boys?
Oh, well, the thing is, because we do have the second show today, the beers.
Not so.
There's always the potential of a little of the fruits of the earth in marijuana form.
Who knows, to get through said day.
Will we have catering today?
I don't know.
I don't know if we'll enjoy that.
It's time-wise, isn't it?
I'm not sure whether we'll get a chance.
I'll get to hug my mom, if that counts.
Oh, that sounds creepy, actually.
It's not in that way, obviously.
I'll get to see my girlfriend.
I guess she's girlfriend.
That's definitely a pleasure of the flesh.
Yeah, but yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, I'm sure.
Well, I might have a little beer on stage.
You know what I mean?
A little something special afterwards.
A winning derby.
Yeah, exactly.
It's got to be done, isn't it?
Yeah.
Right.
And do you want to have a go, sir?
Sure.
Yeah.
Got the cards there.
Shuffle it into the deck, there.
I feel bad that I picked your card for you.
You can swap.
Yeah.
I love the way that you got that one extended.
That's how it do you.
That's how it look.
I don't know.
I've just looked at this.
How are we going to look?
That's fine.
Yeah, I know.
It's fine.
Okay.
Do you want to read that one out to me?
That may be the Ten of Swords.
Is it?
No, it's the Nine of Swords.
The Nine of Swords.
It's the long, dark night of the soul.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
So, not as good as the other one on my phone.
Yeah, that's fine.
Sorry about that.
I expected that.
Okay.
Okay.
So, this is a card of calamity, disaster, but it's due to lack of planning.
Oh, wow.
That sounds like someone that I know.
That's fine.
I probably just picked each of his cards.
You know what's incredible?
I can't even explain the context.
Actually, that's quite interesting.
Okay.
There's a doctor.
Me and Ewan have a dynamic that people probably would know quite well, and it's quite documented.
Basically, I've just been diagnosed, well, pseudo-diagnosed for OCD to be diagnosed for OCD with Ewan.
Generally, we are chaos and order.
Nice.
That's how we function.
Yeah.
It was incredible that I picked out the grounded card that I did.
Yeah.
And he picked out the lack of planning.
Generally, I'm future thinking Ewan's incredible present thinking, and that's why we work well.
So, how do you plan for these type of events?
How do we plan for these type of events?
Well, these days, traditionally in the old days, I always did all the planning for us.
However, these days, we've got a tour manager now, which is quite incredible because, you know, we never expected to be in a position where somebody would be paid to organize our lives, and it's made a big difference.
So, these days, mostly planning, looking after the body mostly.
That's how we plan.
Yeah.
We did 143, 147 shows last year.
Another 120.
Sorry, how many?
147.
Jesus.
And we've got another 120 odd this year.
So, we have to make sure that our knees and elbows are intact generally, and our mind alike.
Which venue most surprised you?
Which venue most surprised last year?
Last year.
I mean, we're super privileged, man.
We got to play, like, we played all over the world.
Played from, like, Serbia to, like, fucking Spain and everything in between.
Nice.
Yeah.
My favorite venue last year was Olympia in Paris.
Yeah.
Because, like, Aretha Franklin's played there and the Beatles and the Beach Boys.
So, we're not so much as surprised, more of an admiration for the place, you know.
Yeah.
Excellent.
I was going to say, I think my favorite venue that we played was probably, well, it was a festival, weren't it?
La Rue de Roque?
Oh, yeah.
St. Malou.
Yeah.
St. Malou.
Yeah.
And that was, that was, like, amazing.
Because it was just, like, like, it was, like, this sort of big stage.
It's a wicked festival.
Because it's just two stages.
And once the music finishes on one of, one then just turns around and faces the other one.
Right.
So, like, you had this massive crowd there and the vibes were just, like, everyone was just really enjoying themselves.
And it was, where was it? It was in, like, the middle of, like, some fucking.
Some fucking.
But, like, because, you know, I'm trying to think of what.
Castle.
Yeah, it was, like, a castle and shit like that. It was wicked, man. It was really cool.
Yeah.
And when you step off the stage today, how are you going to be winding down?
Uh, well, because we've got to go straight to Manchester, I think we have about 20 minutes before we've got to leave.
Yeah.
So, the way we'll wind down is by lifting heavy shit.
Yeah.
And then getting in a van and then driving up to Manchester and buying a second show tonight.
Well, that's your fault. Thank you for speaking to me today.
Well, thank you for speaking to you. It was wicked.
Everybody's friendly. You can talk to anybody. You feel as though you're with your kind.
So, how did you find this festival?
To be honest with you, I thought this was, like, Glastonbury, but made into something more small and beautiful and perfect, as if it was created in miniature.
And it's like you can walk just across, meet some friends, past people you've never met before and then end up chatting to them.
And it's not like Glastonbury, which you have to walk for miles upon miles and you feel like you're in a different district just to see a band.
There you go. Well done, mate.
You should put that in.
I think I should, yeah. I like that guy.
Tarot Interviews.