We take a look at the final line-up, stage times and speak to Benefits, Cholly, Doops, Skunkworm and The Dazed Minded who are all on this years line-up.

Whilst there is another music festival in Reading that tends to grab all the social media views, ‘Are You Listening?’ Festival is the one that really deserves the local love. Every year some of the finest new talent in the country (and beyond) takes part alongside new and veteran local artists, many going on to explode into the national consciousness a year or two later. This is your chance to be in on the ground floor and in the know before anyone else does. Attendance highlights include Idles, The Amazons, English Teacher, Fat Dog, Billy Nomates, Alfie Templeman, Bob Vylan, Lambrini Girls, Matt Maltese, The Big Moon, Shame and Antony Szmierek amongst many others. Special props to the 2023 Friday night Festival Warmup that featured Dream Wife, Divorce and Heartworms on the same bill! Even Self Esteem was due to play, however it was on the Covid doomed 2020 line-up. A range of musical tastes are represented so there is genuinely always something for everyone.

Here is the final line-up for 2025:

Tickets are still available from: https://areyoulistening.gigantic.com/are-you-listening-festival-tickets

Friday Night Warm-Up

Kicking things off in style on Friday are Yaang. Backed by the NME and BBC Radio 6 this Manchester punk trio with a sampler have a reputation for high energy live shows. Check out ‘Airport Barfight’ to get a sense of what they are all about. Mandrake Handshake describe their music as ‘Flowerkraut;’ a mix of Krautrock, art-pop and psychedelia. Their debut album dropped in February and is well worth a listen.

Friday’s headliner is of course a brilliant Irish band because you can’t move without hitting one in the music scene right now. Sprints are a bit garage rock, a bit punk and a whole lot excellent. They have an incendiary live reputation, and this could be the highlight of the whole weekend (though there will be much competition).

Saturday Venues and Stage Times:

Are You Listening? Hub (AYL? Hub):

This is the on the day wristband exchange, box office, information centre and only outdoor stage area located in the Market Place in central Reading.

Ben Marwood	12:00 – 12:45	Local singer songwriter and AYL? veteran.
Kah’Nya	13:15 – 13:45	Genuinely exciting, pop leaning, young singer songwriter. Moved from Zimbabwe to the UK a couple of years ago.
Henjila	14:15 – 14:45	Young pop leaning artist with the potential to be massive, hints of Yaeji and Beabadoobee.
Ma Bessie	15:15 – 15:45	Blues and jazz classics mixed with original material.
Harmonic Motion	16:15 – 16:45	Upbeat electronica.
Cholly	17:15 – 17:45	See below.
Oh Dear	18:00-18:30	Gorgeous pop leaning indie.
Tracks and Grooves	In between the live bands	Reading based DJ.

We spoke with Cholly ahead of her AYL? Hub performance:

Reading Indie Life: For anyone not familiar with your work, what is your backstory, and how would you describe yourself as a musical artist?

Cholly: My mum used to play the piano a lot and I also saw an episode of Teletubbies that featured a girl playing the violin. I became obsessed with the violin and my parents encouraged me to learn to play, buying me my first violin for my 6th birthday. I was a very anxious child, frequently having meltdowns after school. My Mum got me some CDs, ambient and classical music, as well as an Enya album. She encouraged me to sit with my eyes closed while imagining stories and pictures to the music. This was something I would do a lot from then on, whenever we moved house or country, whenever I was in the car on a long journey. Later on, I got into electronica, techno, trance, drum and bass, and experimental electronic music. I made my first song with chopped up vocals as the main instrument in 2012. My Dad encouraged me to upload it to BBC Introducing and to my surprise, my local radio featured it on their show. I’ve learned a lot since and have had to make changes over time. Chronic repetitive strain injury has limited how much time I can spend playing instruments now. Although I incorporate them into my music, they’re not often the main focus because it hurts to play. Instead, I like to take sounds from around me and use those as instruments, changing their pitch and adding effects, playing with space. I’d say I make experimental electronic pop at this point. 

RIL: I don’t think you have ever played in Reading before? 

Cholly: I have never played in Reading before! I’m looking forward to my first Reading gig. 

RIL: What can the ‘Are You Listening’ audience expect from a Cholly performance?

Cholly: I will be performing some recent tracks of mine including ‘Pockets’ but also songs from previous EP ‘The Daydream’ and my album ‘Anomaly’. I will be remixing tracks live and a lot of it will be improvised. 

RIL: Is there anyone you are hoping to catch before or after your own set?

Cholly: I haven’t yet looked into everybody on the line up but I would love to see Mandrake Handshake. I am going to be listening to the artists in the lineup in my car while I commute on the lead up to the festival! 

RIL: If you could sample any sound in the world, what would it be?

Cholly: That’s a big question. I couldn’t possibly pick one sound! I also use quite a lot of sounds that most people would consider mundane, like the sound of a washing machine. I love using thunder and I think it always sounds quite unique. I have recorded that before and stretched it out, then played with transients until it sounded glitch, adding overdrive to distort it for example. 

RIL: What’s the strangest object you’ve turned into music, and did it surprise even you?

I mentioned the washing machine before. I thought the original recording of it was quite musical and I could visualise a lot to it so I put it in my song ‘The Daydream’ – have a listen and see if you can hear it. I also recorded myself hitting a pot with a wooden spoon. The pot had water in it and I wobbled the pot after hitting it to add a bit of a vibrato to the sound. This sound became the song ‘Between’. It’s even used in the bassline. I don’t think I’m ever surprised at what can be made out of anything, because I enjoy it so much and do it all the time! 

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The Face Bar

300 capacity venue that has seen some excellent gigs over the years. About a 14 minute walk from the AYL? Hub.

Skunkworm	14:45 – 15:15	See Below
Benefits	15:45 – 16:30	See Below
Pej	17:00 – 17:30	Intelligent local guitar band.
Truck Violence	18:00 – 18:30	Intriguing Canadian band mixing hardcore, folk and all sorts of other elements.
The Pink Diamond Revue	19:00 – 19:30	Like Death in Vegas put through a dystopian sci-fi 1950s blender.
Alien Chicks	20:00 – 20:30	Exciting post-punk London trio.
Thick Richard	21:00 – 21:30	Experienced performance poet.
AK/DK	21:30 – 22:15	Synth/drum duo mixing influences from the 80s through to LCD Soundsystem.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw	22:45 – 23:30	Thoroughly talented, barely 20 somethings, generating rave live reviews wherever they go. Will appeal to Black Country, New Road fans and many more.

Benefits mix noise, hip-hop, industrial rock, electronica, garage and an angry (and often hilarious) social media feed to create something simultaneously poetic, punk and danceable. Benefits took the time to speak to us before going out on tour.

Reading Indie Life: It has been a few weeks since your new album Constant Noise came out, you must be delighted with the response to it. 

Kingsley Hall: Yeah absolutely!! Was thinking about this the other day and it’s not often that an act from our neck of the woods gets the sort of recognition we’re getting, it’s really humbling. That this weird little album that we recorded on our own in bedrooms and kitchens on a miniscule budget is getting plaudits from music magazines that you can buy in Smiths is genuinely amazing.

RIL: How different will the tour for Constant Noise be compared to taking Nails out on the road? 

Kingsley: The obvious difference is that there’s only two of us now! It’s just me and Robbie and a load of machines with buttons, previously we’ve had drummers and other musicians and it probably felt and looked more like “a proper band”, more conventionally punk rock. We’re still punk but we’re trying to get you to dance now, not just deafen you.

RIL: You are coming to Reading for the Are You Listening? Festival. Have you ever played in Reading before, or do you have any connection to the Reading and Leeds Festival as either an artist or a punter? 

Kingsley: Hmmm connections to Reading. My niece used to play in goal for the Reading youth team? She’s an awesome keeper!! She moved from liking Frozen to football in an instant, an instant that I didn’t realise I missed as my brother lives down south and I stayed up north. One Christmas I got her a “Frozen outfit” as a present as I was told she loved that movie. Turns out she didn’t really love the movie anymore and certainly didn’t want to be dressed as Olaf the snowman. Other than that way back before you were all born in 2009 I played the third stage at Reading Festival in my old band sandwiched between Pulled Apart By Horses and Marina and the Diamonds. Had a great time.

RIL: What can Reading expect from Benefits appearance at the Festival? 

Kingsley: A more fun show than you think

RIL: There is an exciting line-up of fresh talent for ‘Are You listening?’ Is there anyone you are hoping to catch before or after your own set?

Kingsley: Absolutely LOADS. I’m obsessed with Joshua Idehen for instance, the guy is awe inspiring, real life affirming stuff. But there’s so many cool artists on the bill, SO MANY! It’ll be nice to see AK/DK again after stumbling into them in Rotterdam last year at Left of the Dial Festival and rambling on at them about the state of the music industry for hours over crisps. Hope they forgive us for boring them silly.

RIL: Every week there seems to be a new story about a venue or band that is struggling in the current economic climate. How challenging is it to run a music tour right now?

Kingsley: Very challenging BUT it’s important not to feel too defeated by it all. If we all give up or just continue to moan about it the game is lost. Stay positive and fight, come up with creative answers to difficult questions!

There is some disagreement over the next question. Kingsley suggests something a bit more “Smash Hits” would be good. Whilst more than old enough to be aware of it, Reading Indie Life jumped straight to reading The NME so we farm the rest of the interview out to AI!

Copilot AI: “Smash Hits was known for its quirky and irreverent questions, so they might ask Kingsley Hall something like: 

Kingsley: Firstly, stop using AI, tut tut tut.

Copilot AI: If you could scream one lyric into the void and have it echo forever, what would it be?”

Kingsley: You know when Freddie Mercury did his “day ohhh” call and response thing in Wembley Stadium for Live Aid? Let’s have that on an eternal loop  as its interactive and will keep us all entertained as we contemplate flinging ourselves into the abyss.

Copilot AI: What’s the most punk thing you’ve done this week—besides existing?

Kingsley: I took my six-year-old daughter to her first proper football match at the Riverside Stadium to watch Middlesbrough beat Plymouth. More punk than the Sex Pistols reboot I’m sure you’ll agree.

RIL: Thank you so much, good luck with the tour.

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We traded emails with young guitar band Skunkworm ahead of their Facebar set.

Reading Indie Life: For anyone not familiar with your work, what is your backstory, and how would you describe yourselves as a band?

Skunkworm: We are Skunkworm, we come from the English suburbs with a taste for cranberry juice (Aldi’s own). We are influenced by the vagueness of post-punk and the raw emotion of hardcore, I guess. 

Reading Indie Life: I believe you guys have played in Reading quite a few times before? How local are you?

Skunkworm: We are pretty local, we’re from Woking, Wokingham, Bracknell and Yateley, respectively, we like playing Reading, it’s got a real culture of things.  

RIL: What can the ‘Are You Listening’ audience expect?

Skunkworm: The audience can expect bass, guitar, vocals and drums, arranged (sometimes) in harmony. We sometimes do forward rolls as well. 

RIL: Are you looking forwards to anyone on the AYL? bill?

Skunkworm: Yes! We’re looking forward to: Man Woman Chainsaw, Doops, Alien Chicks, Y and Yaang. 

RIL: What is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you at a gig?

Skunkworm: The craziest thing that ever happened at a gig was probably me (the singer) falling onto some glass and not realising for about an hour that I had bled all over my jeans.

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Sub 89

600 Capacity club and live music venue hosting Saturday headliners Big Special.

Doops	16:30 – 17:00	See Below.
Black Fondu	17:30 – 18:00	Enigmatic experimental rapper.
Shelf Lives	18:30 – 19:00	Highly backed electroclash-punk duo.
Coach Party	19:30 – 20:15	Isle of Wight indie-rock quartet.
Big Special	21:00 – 22:00	Punk pair exploring the bleak and beautiful honesty of a nation in an ever-growing state of depression.

Saturday headliners Big Special come from the Black Country and make a soulful brand of punk that is danceable around the edges. ‘Black Dog/White Horse’ is a great track. They will be well worth watching.

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Andrew Bingham from Doops kindly answered some questions.

RIL: What is the Doop’s story and what is your sound all about?

Andy: We are a relatively high energy sort of shoegaze – meets post punk 3 piece – blending a melting pot of different influences. We’ve been around a few years and all hail from the Berkshire area – with a couple of members coming and going over the years – this feels like our most solid lineup. Our songs tip toe from more aggressive riff-led tunes to mellow(er) sci-fi tinged  slow-builders. We’ve honed a tight but basic live show – no frills, no backing tracks, just the good old fashion guitar / bass / drum / words combo.

RIL: I believe you guys have previously played the festival?

Andy: I think this our 5th time at it?! But maybe only the third ‘proper slot’ – we did a last minute ‘drop out slot’ one year and did the Friday Warm Up’ another – that warm up was great as we opened St Laurence Church preceding Divorce & Heartworms. They’ve all been great though – but we can’t seem to make it past about 7pm on the lineup, but at least each time we’re onto a bigger stage!

RIL: What can we expect?

Andy: We purposely haven’t played in Reading for a while so we can work on new tracks and give people a fresh taste of songs off some new material from our debut album. It kinda depends on the crowd though, if it’s filled with people who know us we may head into the uncharted territory of new material, but if it’s fresh faces we’ll probably panic and revert to the safety net of tried and tested material. But yeah, very much loud instruments, at least one new track, awkward stage banter – no pyro unfortunately, might try a backflip.

RIL: Who are you looking out for at the festival?

Andy: This years lineup really delivers. Very excited for bands like Alien Chicks, Yaang, Honeyglaze, Makeshift Art Bar, Shelf Lives, Coach Party, the Big Special & Sprints along with local mates PEJ and The Dazed Minded (apologies if we’ve missed anyone out – not seen the final lineup yet).

RIL: What else are you up to this year?

Andy: We’ll be releasing a single in June and following up with our Debut album in the autumn.

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South Street Arts Centre

Theatre, comedy and music venue. 220 standing capacity or 140 seated. About an 8 minute walk from the AYL? Hub.

Nostromo	19:00 – 19:30	Jazz fusion group.
Paige Kennedy	20:00 – 20:30	Alt-pop artist and producer.
White Magic For Lovers	21:00 – 21:30	A new vehicle for Thomas White of the Electric Soft Parade evoking a range of stunning 1960s artists.
Anna Erhard	22:00 – 23:00	Like the lovechild of Wet Leg and Fiona Apple (though really should call Wet Leg the lovechild of Anna Erhard as she was putting out music first).

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Purple Turtle

One of the longest running independent bars in Reading and champion of all types of live music.

House of Women	14:15 – 14:45	Impressive all female alt-rock five piece.
The Dazed Minded	15:15 – 15:45	See Below.
Magnolia	16:15 – 16:45	Like a more aggressive version of English Teacher or Black Country, New Road.
Human Interest	17:15 – 17:45	Nods to a range of 70s influences including T-Rex and Lou Reed via Iggy Pop and The Kinks.
Tukan	18:15 – 18:45	Belgian band mixing post-rock and electro.
Makeshift Art Bar	19:15 – 20:00	Belfast Noise rock electronic quartet.
CLT DRP	20:30 – 21:15	Electro punk renegades. Pronounced Clit Drip before you embarrass yourself at the venue.

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The Dazed Minded are singer-songwriter Beth Atkinson, bassist Tamara Williams , lead guitarist Alex Perkins and drummer Hannah Bowles.

Reading Indie Life: As a local Reading band, you must be excited to be invited onto the bill for the ‘Are You Listening?’ Festival?

Beth: Hell yeah! It was so great to get the invite so soon. We were happy to get something so quickly and to be on a line-up with some great bands.

RIL: Is there anyone else that you are hoping to catch?

Hannah: Doops!

Beth: Doops, of course. We actually recorded with the drummer of Doops. So ‘Oh Boy’ and ‘Harder To Ignore’ which are out now on Spotify has a little bit of the Doops magic in it. I’m looking forward to Coach Party. I’ve seen them a couple of times, so it will be nice to see them in Reading again.

Tam: I’m looking forward to catching Paige Kennedy, Y and Sprints hopefully. That would be great, and some one new.

Alex: I’m looking forward to CLT DRP, they’re pretty cool, got some cool guitar sounds.

RIL: For anyone not familiar with The Dazed Minded what is your backstory?

Beth: This band started about a year ago. We’ve been gigging since November. Me and Tam have been playing since way before then trying to find a band. So it’s actually really nice to have these guys (gestures to Alex and Hannah). Our first single came out in November, and we released another single last month. We are continuing to write music and record it, and you’ll have some new stuff soon. Keep an eye out as we have loads of gigs coming up; Reading, London, Guildford

Tam: Swindon

Beth: If you fancy a trip to Swindon we’re playing an HMV store. But Obviously Are You Listening? is the big one coming up and we’re really looking forward to doing it.

RIL: How would you describe yourselves?

Beth: We would describe ourselves as indie-sleaze, garage rock. Actually, I’m going to put some words in front of that. Female fronted, indie-sleaze, garage rock. The female bit is really important, sorry Alex!

Alex: (shrugging) It’s alright.

Hannah: Honorary female.

RIL: Your first single, ‘Oh Boy’ was recently used on Made in Chelsea. That must have been pretty mind blowing?

Hannah: It was really cool. Really cool.

Alex: It was pretty good.

Beth: It was great. It made us watch an episode of Made In Chelsea which is questionable. It was mental to hear ‘Oh Boy’ on national TV.

Hannah: E4 none the less.

RIL: If you could time-travel back to the Noughties, which indie anthem would you steal and claim as your own?

Hannah: ‘Bohemian Like You’ by The Dandy Warhols. I wish I’d wrote that song very much.

Alex: ‘Helicopter’ by Bloc Party. I think that has one of the best riffs of all time.

Tam: There’s a couple from The Libertines. I think it’s between ‘Up the Bracket’ and ‘Can’t Stand Me Now.’ One of those two.

Beth: Likely Lads by The Libertines is fucking great as well. Libertines are like ultimate indie-sleaze as well. I was about to say that’s all we could aspire to be…

Tam: Without the heroin.

Beth: Yeah, without the heroin.

Tam: Or the other addictions.

Beth: I don’t want to be Pete Doherty, bless him. Mine is ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ by The Arctic Monkeys. I reckon they shaped the noughties and the new indie movement going into the 2010s.

RIL: What new music have you been enjoying so far this year?

Beth: We’ve made a playlist!

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St Laurence Church

350 standing capacity. Very close to the AYL? Hub.

Y	12:45 – 13:15	Impressive genre blending indie-funk.
Ziyad Al-Samman	13:45 – 14:15	Whilst he may give off Borat vibes there are some excellent disco party tunes.
Honeyglaze	14:45 – 15:30	More English Teacher than English Teacher and very good in their own right.
Dog Unit	16:00 – 16:45	Electronic music played by a rock band, or post-rock you can dance to.
Joshua Idehen	17:15 – 18:00	Spoken word artist, poet, musician, and mainstay of the jazz and electronic scene. You must hear, “Mum Does The Washing.”
Nathan Fake (Live Set)	18:30 – 19:15	A legend in the realm of live electronic music.
Master Peace	20:00 – 21:00	Indie sleaze remade into something modern and fresh.
Tigers on Vaseline	In between bands	Indie/electro/retro /alt pop DJ.

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Milk

Apparently, they have over 100 different types of rum! The late night Are You Listening? venue with DJ sets running through until 2am.

Will McCrea Trio	17:45 – 18:15	Formed at Reading University jazz trio.
Paul Vinyl	18:15 – 18:45	Local DJ with a wide range of tastes.
Josh Roberts	18:45 – 19:15	22-year-old guitarist and his band.
Paul Vinyl	19:15 – 19:45
Bethia	19:45 – 20:15	Exciting R & B/pop talent.
Paul Vinyl	20:15 – 20:45
MIÉTTE	20:45 – 21:30	Techno inspired electronic dance music.
Tracks & Grooves	21:30 – 22:15	Reading based DJ.
Means of Production	22:15 – 23:00	Electronic duo from Oxford.
Mat Carter	23:00 – 23:30	House/techno/electro DJ and more.
Nathan Fake (DJ set)	11:30 – 01:00	Electronica, techno, and ambient music.
Mat Carter	01:00 – 02:00

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Advice for First Timers

Three key things to keep in mind. 1) Allow time to get between some venues. Facebar to South Street Arts Centre is the biggest gap and takes about 20 minutes to walk between. Most are a lot closer. 2) There are more tickets out there than spaces at any venue so if you are super keen on one of the bigger names you might want to get down a bit earlier to guarantee a spot. 3) There will be great things clashing, accept that wherever you end up you are going to have a very good time.

6 to watch

Beyond the top names on the bill here are 6 acts from the A-Z listing worth checking out. 6) Ziyad Al-Samman: We have fallen in love with this deranged collection of disco bangers since checking out everyone on the line-up 5) Alien Chicks: Impressive genre hopping post-punks. 4) White Magic For Lovers: Giving us one of our biggest clash headaches. Up against Big Special but Reading Indie Life are huge fans of The Electric Soft Parade and Tom White and his husband Alfie’s new outfit have already released some amazing tracks. 3) Y: Huge amounts of energy are exerted in the live arena by this genre mashing indie-funk outfit. 2) See at least one of Bethia/Kah’Nya/Henjila. All three could be massive chart acts in the future. 1) Truck Violence: This late addition Canadian Band have a really intriguing debut album in ‘Violence’ and it suggests they would be very good live.