The Backfires Talk Governors Ball and New Album “Stardust”
Written by Ash Schnoor on August 7, 2026
A year ago, The Backfires were pulling in triple-digit crowds on their first headline run behind This Is Not an Exit, watching rooms that used to be empty fill up town by town. This year, they played the Governors Ball on a bill with Wet Leg and Dominic Fike.
The New York band, equally British and American in makeup, released This Is Not an Exit last January and spent the year touring on it before landing one of the bigger festival stages of their career. They brought Double Standard along as tourmates, and they’re already looking past the festival slot toward a new single, “I Want You,” which pulls its imagery from Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas.
I caught up with the band backstage at Gov Ball to talk about building a festival set, watching a fanbase go from strangers to people who know every word, and what’s coming next.
ASH: Who were you most excited to see on the lineup, other than yourselves?
THE BACKFIRES: Wet Leg, probably. And Dominic Fike, or Geese.
ASH: How did you approach building a festival set list, as opposed to a tour set?
THE BACKFIRES: We thought about what people would want to hear. That ended up being the first four singles from our last album, the first two singles from the new one, and our most streamed song. The greatest hits, basically. That’s all it takes.
ASH: You’ve built a really loyal fanbase over the last few years. Was there a moment it started to feel real?
THE BACKFIRES: I think it was our first album, *This Is Not an Exit*, which we put out last January. We got to tour the US behind that record, and we’d go to some town we’d never played before, or one we had, and there would be over a hundred people there. People showing up early, saying hi at merch. That tour was the first time it felt like, wow, something’s starting to happen. And any time you see people singing lyrics and you don’t recognize them, that’s a specific feeling. Like, they actually put in the work to listen to the music.
ASH: If you guys were stranded at Gov Ball overnight, who would survive the longest?
THE BACKFIRES: Honestly, I think all of us would survive. It’s not exactly a barren landscape, we’re in Queens. There’s a lot of stuff around, you’d just have to break in somewhere. I think we’d outlast everybody here. We’d work as a team. When we’re in dire straits, we come together.
ASH: “Super 8” sounds a little cinematic. If it were the soundtrack to a movie, what would we be watching?
THE BACKFIRES: An action movie, maybe a spy film. I’d say Paris, Texas. And that actually loops into our next single, “I Want You,” which references that movie directly.
ASH: Last question. What’s your dream festival lineup, living or dead?
THE BACKFIRES: Queen headlining. Pink Floyd, that’d be trippy. The Beatles, and I’d double down on that one, because any chance you get to resurrect someone you kind of have to take it. So John Lennon one night, George Harrison another night, and then the full Beatles on a third. Notably no solo set for Paul, because he’s still around. He can do whatever he wants, he does it all the time.
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