Of all the big names that played at Coachella a couple of weekends ago – Prince, Portishead, Jack Johnson, you name it – only one band could claim itself to be part techno, part punk, part rave, part hardcore ... and part British. Hertfordshire's Enter Shikari played a headlining set on Saturday, thrilling the masses with their barrage of guitar and synthesized sounds.

The band's Rob Rolfe and Rou Reynolds – two of the humblest musicians you'll ever meet – caught up with Buzznet while resting up for their set. The two lads talked about how they started their band in a supermarket, why it's OK to live in the moment – and you, Buzznet reader!

Buzznet: Who have you guys seen so far?

Rob Rolfe: Aphex Twin was awesome. Wicked.

Buzznet: I'm not sure if you knew this, but your band has a strong following on Buzznet. What is it about your music that translates to our readers?

Rou Reynolds: I guess the energy that young people have. Our music has [a] feeling [that] you can get down to [and] dance. There are all sorts of ways you can get into it. It's also very lighthearted, easy to listen to – you don't really have to concentrate to appreciate it. We're not like Dream Theater, where it gets complicated.

Buzznet: How young were you when you decided you wanted to make music for a living?

Rolfe: I was about 12. I remember, actually: I was with my mom shopping at a supermarket, and I ran into [Reynolds] with his dad. I was like, "Do you want to be a band with me and [fellow bandmember] Chris [Batten]?"

Reynolds: We started playing covers like Oasis, Led Zeppelin, Blur, Stereophonics – lots of stuff from the late-1990s. It wasn't until later on, when [bandmate] Rory [Clewlow] joined the band, that we changed our name to Enter Shikari.


[Click the image above to view a gallery's worth of Shikari pics from Coachella.]

Buzznet: What does that name refer to?

Reynolds: It means "The Hunter" in Indian. The first time I heard about the name was from my uncle. Later, I saw the word in that video game "Shikari Warriors," and it just stuck.

Buzznet: Any particular bands you want to see?

Rolfe: Pendulum was pretty awesome last night, and I'm glad I got to watch Goldfrapp as well. Not too sure about later. Yesterday was the best day – well, apart from us headlining tonight. [He laughs.]



Buzznet: What direction do you see your music heading toward, and where will your songs be in the next five years?

Rolfe: We've never pronounced ourselves in any particular genre, so I just tell people to make their own minds up. I just think music should be positive rather than go in a [specific] direction. It can be bad when people specifically write music to get on charts.

I've got no idea where we'll be in five years, but we are writing our next album, and we'll be doing a lot of touring next year. Other than that, sometimes it's just hard to figure out what we'll be doing next week.