What do you see for the future of Split Festival?
I'd like to think it could be keep growing. But the other thing is to not take your eye off the ball and try and maintain what you've built up and if they can subtly take it up a notch, then great but if it's the same as this year, with a real blend of acts from outside the region and acts very much from Sunderland and the surrounding area then that's the key, as long as they keep that balance. If it was only bands from Sunderland and Newcastle it would almost feel quite limited whereas the Split they talk about is really important to them, as long as they maintain that and kind of attract a few more quality people from outside the area it will continue to be a success.
Paul Smith, Maximo Park

How do you want this to progress to year three with Split?
Well, I hope we can expand the audience and fill the space at Asbrooke which is quite a big space. I think its three and a half acres which is quite a size so if we can fill that it's time to move on. So we have got a lot of ideas about how to take it to the next level. I think ultimately it'll be about getting headline bands out of the region which will bring in more people. Though I feel Split is very much a platform for local music, for bands that deserves something to aim for, which we've never had before until last year through Split. I say to young bands, if you want to play Split, keep practicing, then get better and get a fanbase and then you'll be playing to thousands of people next year and that's the dream. We love to see bands come back and see their progression. Sunderland deserves a celebration of its culture, music culture and that's what Split’s all about.
Barry Hyde, The Futureheads

It's very special to play in front of our home crowd because we don't get to play in Sunderland very often. The last time was a year ago and it means a lot. I was worried about how the crowd would respond to us because it's been a while since we played for them. But it's nice to hear the crowd sing our songs back to us. We've all put our fair share of graft into the music scene over the years here in Sunderland. It's nice to see things moving forward we have our own festival now in Split and it has grown and keeps growing. We'll ask our friends' bands to play and it's so much more of a successful event.
Frankie from Frankie and the Heartstrings

There's a lot of great bands been playing here at Split and Barry Hyde and everyone have been instrumental in putting Split on. I think it’s amazing. One of the problems with bands stuck up here is good gigs, there's a lot of good gigs to be had, but like high profile gigs which maybe would put you in front of people who normally wouldn't watch you. So it's nice for a festival to be in Sunderland and which showcases a lot of new bands. It's important that Sunderland have got a festival cos there are a lot of Sunderland bands who deserve to play the gig they need to play and Split gives them that. I'd play Split Festival every year.
David Burn, Detroit Social Club

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