Julia Massey and the Five Finger Discount are all about stardust. They also love magic. And they love to play music! This is why their upcoming appearance at the Timber Outdoor Music Festival in Carnation, WA is so beautiful. Fits them like a glove. We got a chance to reach out to Julia, Dom and Geoff and ask them One Super Important Question about the upcoming summer festival.

Jake Uitti: What are you looking forward to most playing Timber this year?

Julia Massey: Playing an overnight festival always has something magical about it and we haven’t really had an experience of playing one yet.  Wait, I take that back.  We have – but without going into too much detail, let’s just say I’m looking forward to being served more than a hamburger, and not worrying about our equipment being ruined by sand and dust!  Timber is for real and we’re stoked to play it!  Another thing I’m looking forward to is the stargazing.  The idea of playing a set under the constellations, or a beautiful sunset, sounds pretty romantic.  But if I have to narrow it down to the single thing I’m looking forward to most, it’s gotta be the campfires!

This line-up this year is pretty humbling to be a part of.  I’m lucky to have caught our friends in the Smokey Brights and Cumulus before (and can’t wait to catch them again), but I have yet to experience Tea Cozies or Damien Jurado and I’ve been meaning to for a while now.  What I love about festivals is that, for me, it’s like going to a huge convention like Comic-Con, where I get to sample, download, and be inspired by people who are interested in the same subject as I am.  In this case, it’s live music.  It’s one of the best ways to be influenced artistically.  Also, I can’t wait to hear Charles “Screaming Eagle of Soul” Bradley.  Because, obviously.

Dominic Cortese: I think I’m most excited to just take the whole scene in. Camping, swimming, playing and seeing music on a stage that’s buried in the sea of trees that surrounds it, music by camp fire, all the amazing people I get to spend the weekend with, WARM AIR. That whole picture along with the sounds of electric guitar and drums all weekend?! It all just seems like a summer fantasy camp – which happens to be particularly exciting being that it’s the dead of winter right now.

As far as bands I’m most excited to see, I think I’m pumped about the locals. Smokey Brights, Cumulus, Lonesome Shack. I’ve seen all these bands a bunch in clubs around the city, and loved it. But put those bands in the setting I described above, and it makes me think that their music is going to come alive in a new and spectacular way! If you’ve ever heard the argument that music can be totally subjective based on everything that’s happening around you when you hear it, that’s what I’m talking about (i.e. a song becomes an instant favorite because you got eight hours of sleep, had coffee and breakfast, are hanging out with some new special person in your life, and you have the stereo cranked driving along Highway 1 on a summer day. Compared to – you hear what could be an amazing song, but you’ve been sick for a week, it’s cold, you haven’t slept well lately, had to go into work on your day off, and now the car stereo only plays out of the back left side speakers). Timber! just kinda seems like that perfect environment to experience music and to be totally overcome by how amazing these bands are. I may be putting this whole thing on a pedestal with too many expectations of greatness – but I like hype.

Geoff B. Gibbs: I’m pretty un-hip; when it comes to the music scene in general, I’m not really in-the-know. I’m pretty notorious in the band for my use of the phrase “I’ve never heard of them” or “what’s that festival?”. And, much to my embarrassment, Timber! was no exception… At first, I was excited simply because it sounded like a great gig, and I love playing with Dom and Julia. But the more I’ve learned about the festival, the more excited I’ve become. There are so many amazing artists that are going to be there, and I get the unique opportunity for my first real experience of them to be live, in a beautiful area, surrounded by great people. The fact that we also get to play has become more the cherry on top than the sole purpose of going. Also, I’m excited to push Dom into a body of water of any kind, and he said there would be swimming. Oh, and Charles Bradley is a hero.

Tickets for Timber are on sale now. Check here to buy them, and to see the great lineup for this year’s festival!