“MUSIC has this incredible way of uniting people, even when there is so much hatred and evil going on around us.”
When Mark King, vocalist and bassist of 1980s pop heavyweights Level 42, arrived back home to his London flat on Saturday, June 3, little did he realise that he would be walking into the middle of a terrorist attack.
“We’d just played in Canterbury that day, and I was being dropped off to my flat in Borough Market, and of course all hell was breaking loose around me,” he explains.
“I got into the safety of my flat which is just a few blocks away from the Market, and I just sat and listened to all the sirens and the helicopters. It was like being in a warzone.
“But the British people have this incredible way of coming together, the One Love concert in Manchester on Sunday night was a great example of that, it was two fingers up at those people, those lunatics, who are trying to destroy our way of life.”
Mark and his band are right in the middle of a UK tour with fellow 80s superstars UB40 and The Original Wailers, before Level 42 head off to play the Rewind festivals over the summer.
Mark says: “It’s like a reggae sandwich, with us in the middle, our music isn’t reggae but it’s working, we’re having a great time.
“It’s great being out on the road, the UB40 guys are brilliant, and Level 42 are as tight as ever. We are at the top of our game, and we’re hoping that people will come out and see us when we play Rewind.”
The band all playing all three dates: Rewind Scotland at Scone Palace in Perth on Saturday, July 22; Rewind North at Capesthorne Hall in Cheshire on August 5; and finally Rewind South at Temple Island Meadows in Henley-on-Thames on August 19, something which Mark is very much looking forward to.
“We played in 2010, then again in 2014, so there seems to be a bit of a pattern forming,” he jokes.
“But the line-up looks incredible: Thriller Live, my friends Tom Robinson and Nick Heyward will be there, the Village People… you know that everyone will be dressing up as the Village People, I may even dress up like them as well, I’ve got a hi-vis jacket somewhere!”
Rewind Festival is becoming something of a pilgrimage for 80s superstars, a place for them to relive their youth and to catch up with old friends, and Mark is no different.
He says: “It’s a brilliant festival, everyone has so much fun. There’s a sense of escapism to Rewind, everyone dresses up and has a great time, you can forget about your life and who you are for the weekend.”
But there is one aspect of the 1980s which Mark regrets coming back into fashion: dungarees.
“I saw Fearne Cotton and Sara Cox wearing them recently, and I’ve got to say they are some of the most unflattering items of clothing someone can wear.
“I remember when they were first fashionable, and the girls from Bananarama were wearing them, there was a lot of androgyny back then, but you couldn’t tell if you were chatting up your future wife or the local painter-decorator!”
But fashion faux pas’ aside, Mark sounds genuinely excited when he is talking about performing for the Rewind crowd.
He continues: “I think everyone needs a festival like Rewind every once in a while, the news is so depressing at the moment, with these attacks and everything else going on. Music is so pure and has this way of uniting people, especially British people. We have that Blitz spirit that is hard to find anywhere else, and it makes me very proud.
“I love Rewind, my family loves Rewind, it’s a great excuse to get dressed up, be a bit silly and forget everything else that is going on.”
Tickets for Rewind South are on sale now from £59.50. For more information, the full line-up and to buy tickets visit www.rewindfestival.com/tickets.
