Mark Chadwick, singer with eco-warrior rock rebels Levellers.

What's this, Mark? Your band is playing York Barbican Centre next Friday without a new product to promote? Some mistake surely.

"No, we're just doing this tour because we can. People come just to enjoy the music they know, and there's been a very jubilant mood."

How does it differ from past Levellers' shows, such as last November's Barbican visit?

"We're playing what we want to play at the moment. The last tour we were touring the Green Blade Rising album, and to be honest fans just want to hear what they like - and that's great with us because market forces are not what we're about and never have been."

What have you been up to in 2003?

"After that tour at the back end of last year, we toured again in April, and we ran our Beautiful Days festival. This was our first year, a three-day festival at Escot House, near Exeter, in Devon, and we plan to do it every year from now on."

As the festival organiser, describe your idea of a crack summer festival?

"Beautiful Days is our version of Cropredy Fairport Convention's legendary annual festival in Oxfordshire, and having done every festival ourselves, we've taken out all the bad elements and kept all the good elements".

What are the bad elements?

"Ripping people off with bad food, bad acts, bad performances. With Beautiful Days, the food is excellent, the topography of the site is excellent, and we give people excellent acts, like old reggae stars and new up and comers. This year we played an acoustic set on the Saturday and a full show on the Sunday, and we had Lee Scratch Perry on the bill. Next year, we're hoping to have Jimmy Cliff. This festival is about roots music, with well delivered performances."

What does 2004 hold in store for the Levellers?

"We're going into our studios in January, looking to bringing out an album in late spring or early summer. God knows how many albums we've done now!"

In your 15th year together, have you any ideas up your sleeve to keep your live shows fresh?

"We're thinking about the possibility of touring whole albums, like big bands used to do. You might get people who particularly liked an album coming to see us play all the songs from that old album. Levelling The Land would be a good starting point."

Levellers play York Barbican Centre, December 12. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets: £15 on 01904 656688.

Updated: 16:04 Thursday, December 04, 2003