Interview with Steve prior to the festival (taken from Q Magazine #142):

Glastonbury must mean a lot to Pulp?
It was certainly a big event for us in 1995. It still seems the main thing that altered our career.

It was quite a story, the headliners camping out backstage…
Yes, though not by choice. It was only that we were standing in for the Stone Roses at the last minute so all the hotels were booked and for some reason when we got their slot we didn't get their rooms.

What's your approach this time?
It's a subject of great discussion in the band. We had reservations because there's a problem of living up to the past. We want to avoid comparisons. But we're a different band anyway with Russell gone. I hope it’s a concert where people will see how we've changed.

Do you see Glastonbury as a chance to relaunch This Is Hardcore since it hasn't sold so well?
It’s not our job to pander to the hit singles syndrome. And we didn't end up very happy after the Different Class experience.

The new songs are very intimate and subdued for a festival setting.
We can be intimate in ourselves. After that it's a matter of whether the audience wants to be intimate with us. But we've always worked quite well in big venues, partly because Jarvis taps into what people are thinking. As he did in 1995.

And when it’s time to play Common People?
I have mixed feelings. We have to play it in a way that people will believe it from us when we've just sold two million records. A song like that can smack of hypocrisy.