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SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER, AND AT THE TOP OF THE BILL FOR 2022 ARE SOME NEW FACES, SOME FAMILIAR. WE SPOKE TO BEN BARLOW, DERYCK WHIBLEY, GEORGE PETTIT AND WADE MACNEIL FROM HEADLINERS NECK DEEP, SUM 41 AND THIS MONTHS' ROCK SOUND COVER STARS, ALEXISONFIRE, TO FIND OUT WHY IT MIGHT JUST BE THE BEST YEAR YET.

- JAMES WILSON TAYLOR JACK ROGERS

Deryck, this is your first time appearing at Slam Dunk, but you must be very conscious of what a huge deal this is in the UK.

Deryck: "I am! We were on the bill a few times and it couldn't happen, so we've been trying to do this festival for years now and we are finally going to do it. So yeah, we are very aware of it, very excited about it. Obviously we love the UK and I'm coming back for the first time as a British citizen now, too. My whole family's from England and I've been trying to get my citizenship for a while. It finally went through, and I'll be there with a British passport this time."

It must almost feel like a bit of a relief knowing that this show is finally happening, and that you're returning to live shows in general.

Wade: "There's something that we can do when we play live where we lock up and get into it together, like really playing together, because we know what it means to play together. It's a place you can't arrive at unless you have played 600 shows. When that is happening, those moments, it's really special. It's taken us 20 years to get there, but I think that's really cool. It feels great to be back at it, because I feel better about the band than I ever have. We want to travel and get back to being a band with some songs that we are proud of. I think we are going to be able to continue to grow. I think we really shattered the final walls of what we can and cannot do now. Musically we can do whatever we want, and that's very exciting, especially when it comes to getting on stage and destroying everything at Slam Dunk. It gives me ideas for the live show and things we can differently, and I feel very lucky."