Ahead of Signature Brew bringing the beers to Handmade Festival 2019, we caught up with some of the most exciting bands on the lineup to have a quick chat about beer and music.

One of the bands we're most excited to see are Leicester's own Kermes, who previously helped us brew our International Women's Day Beer, Queen Bee. Guitarist and vocalist Emily Rose Teece fills us in on the band's we need to catch at Handmade and serves up some punny beer names…

Who are your tips for other bands to catch at Handmade Festival and why? 

Emily Rose Teece, guitar/vocals: "The lineup this year is fully amazing and there’s loads of really great bands, so it’s hard to narrow it down – I’ll be making a point of catching itoldyouiwouldeatyou and Martha, who released my fave albums of 2018 and 2019 respectively. Also really exciting to see Do Nothing, I've had their two singles on repeat for months now and there’s no one else in the east mids right now who’s really doing what they do."

If you were going to make a beer for your band, what kind of beer would it be and why?

Em: "I don’t know enough to use correct terminology here so go easy on me, but something with a lot of yeast in the finished product… a hefeweizen maybe? Look i said go easy on me okay, just so we could call it Yr Yeast, after our song Yr Beast. All credit to Handmade Festival organiser John Helps for this pun, which incredibly I did not manage to think of on my own."

What's the best local beer/brewery from where you're from?

Em: "Honestly, I’m not really aware of any small brewers in Leicestershire but, again, I’m no expert. Everards’ do nice stuff but it’s hardly a, uh, small business!"

Do you request beer on your rider?

Em: "We are nowhere near big enough to make rider requests, haha"

Handmade Festival takes place in Leicester on Sunday 5th May and features the likes of Metronomy, The Futureheads and more. Get tickets here.