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The lead singer Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "not regretful" about his "death, death to the IDF" act at Glastonbury and asserted he would "do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Disputed Chant and Political Reactions

This vocal music duo ignited widespread debate when they led crowd chants of "death, death to the IDF," referring to the IDF, during their June performance. This slogan was condemned by festival organizers and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who labeled it as "appalling hate speech."

Following the incident, the band was released by its agency UTA, and the American state department revoked the members' visas, forcing the duo to cancel a scheduled North American tour.

Conversation with Louis Theroux

During his first interview after the Glastonbury show, the musician, using his real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, spoke on The Louis Theroux Podcast. After asked if he would do it all again, he responded:

"Oh yeah. Like suppose I was to perform at Glastonbury again tomorrow, definitely I would do it again. I'm without regret of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

The artist added that the backlash the band faced was "minimal compared to what people in Gaza are experiencing."

Regarding the Chant's Importance

"I aim not to exaggerate the significance of the slogan," he elaborated. "That's not what I'm attempting to do, but if I have their backing, they're the people that I'm advocating for, they're the people that I'm speaking up for, then what is there to regret? Oh, because I've upset some conservative official or some rightwing media?"

Surprising Reaction and BBC Feedback

This artist claimed he was surprised by the uproar sparked by the exclamation, and stated that members of the broadcaster employees at Glastonbury told him on the same day that the set was "excellent."

Yet, the broadcaster's ECU subsequently found that the network's airing of the performance violated content guidelines in regard to harm and hurt.

Vylan told the host there was no sign of a dispute in the immediate aftermath: "It wasn't like we left stage, and everybody was like [shocked]. It felt normal. We come off stage. It was normal. No one thought anything. Not a soul. Even crew at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We loved that!'"

Response to Damon Albarn

The musician also responded at the Blur singer, who labeled the protest "a major misstep I've seen in my life" and described Vylan as "marching in tennis gear."

Albarn's comment was "letdown" and "showed no self-awareness," he remarked.

"I just want to say that categorising it as a 'spectacular misfire' suggests that in some way the views of the duo or our stance on Palestine's freedom is unplanned," he explained.

"I strongly object with the phrase 'goose-stepping' being used because it's only used around the Nazis," he added. "That's it. And for him to use that wording, I think is offensive. I think his answer was appalling."

Intent Behind the Slogan

When asked what he intended by the phrase "Down with the IDF," Vylan clarified the chant itself was "unimportant."

"The key issue is the conditions that exist to allow that protest to even occur on that stage. And I mean, the conditions that exist in Palestine. In which the local people are being slain at an alarming rate. What matters about the chant?" he said.

"The phrase rhymes," he added: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, right? … We are there to entertain. We are there to play music. I am a songwriter. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Ideal chant."

Rejection of Hate Speech Allegations

Vylan also denied assertions from the CST, a watchdog and Jewish community safety organisation, that their set contributed to a spike in anti-Jewish events recorded later.

"I don't think I have created an hostile environment for the Jewish community. If there were many individuals of people acting and saying 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I could go, oh, I've had a negative impact here," he said.

Comparison with Other Bands

As Vylan mentioned he felt the duo had been criticised more heavily than others for speaking about the situation, the host brought up the Ireland-based group another band, who have likewise encountered backlash for their method to pro-Palestinian advocacy.

"That's an interesting one," Vylan said, "since as with everything race comes to play a part in that we are an more convenient villain, no pun intended, than others are because we are already the enemy."