EXCLUSIVE: Fat White Family Singer On Splendour Ejection: “We Don’t Go Around Starting Fights”

Following claims that UK outfit Fat White Family were ejected from Splendour In The Grass last Friday, frontman Lias Kaci Saoudi has today exclusively told theMusic that while they were indeed escorted from the site under police escort, the alleged reasons behind the eviction are false.

It was yesterday alleged that, following the band’s afternoon set at Splendour, the South London-founded group were seen with police and the singer says while that is true, it was simply because a friend of his in the band’s party, who he had not seen in five years, had become too intoxicated.

“There was some drunkenness generally, but nothing fantastical or out of order,” Saoudi says.

“No one was on drugs. We were in Australia for a day, it’s notoriously hard to get drugs here anyway.

“Eventually one of them got too drunk and he fell asleep and I put him in our backstage room, which was a little bit messy, like any backstage room five hours into a festival. 

“It hadn’t been smashed to pieces, it hadn’t been shat on, it hadn’t been pissed on, hadn’t been spray painted, none of this had gone down.”

Saoudi claims that Splendour organisers called the police because of his friend’s intoxication.

“I’m not sure what the laws are in that particular region of Australia. There was a little bit of a debate, there was no swearing or anything involved with our interaction with the police,” he explains.

“They told us that we all had to leave the festival then and there immediately under police escort because my friend was drunk,” adding that he believes management considered them guilty by association.

“The police were more concerned about the wellbeing of my friend, as were we,” he says.

“When the festival came down and told us we all had to leave as a matter of course, I could have kicked off at that having to travel 7000 miles to play a show there. I wanted to enjoy having a drink and a party with everybody else there. I didn’t have any animosity towards anyone there.

Saoudi rejects any claim that the band were aggressive towards anyone on the day.

“Our band do not go around starting fights with people,” he insists.

“Sure, we like to party, sure, we like to go out and take drugs sometimes…but we are not in the business of making people feel nervous or anxious in that capacity. “

The hugely popular performer says that being forced to leave the festival under police escort was “harsh, to say the least”.

“But I swallowed it whole and my only concern is where my friend was going to be put,” Saoudi continues.

“Now, why he wasn’t just taken care of and we were sent off our own way…I don’t know.  [The Splendour organisers] took a disliking to us I think from the moment we walked in there. I think they took offence to the fact I took all my clothes off onstage. But I’m an artist, I’ll do whatever I want…they know what they’re booking when they hire the band. It’s something that I’ve done on multiple occasions.

“A couple of our party might have said a few swear words in the direction of the festival organisers and production staff, but you’ve gotta take in mind that these guys have just flown 7000 miles to play this party and now they’re being asked to leave and they haven’t actually done anything wrong…that’s naturally going to happen.”

The singer further dismisses any allegation that they trashed a fellow Splendour band’s dressing room, insisting that they were given leftover beers from the group who were leaving the event site.

“We had two riders in our dressing room,” he says.

“We didn’t go anywhere near their dressing room.”

Given their memorable, yet controversial trip the country, Saoudi says his time in Australia has been “the best experience playing shows I’ve ever had”.

“I absolutely loved it and I would gladly come back,” he says.

When asked would they consider playing at Splendour if invited in the future Saoudi replies, “Sure, I’d play that festival again as long as they give us a little bit more of the time of day.”