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Punk duo lead singer Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "without regret" about his "death, death to the IDF" performance at the festival and asserted he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Disputed Exclamation and Political Responses

The vocal music pair sparked widespread controversy when they led audience chants of "down with the IDF," pointing to the IDF, during their summer performance. This chant was censured by Glastonbury and Britain's leader Keir Starmer, who described it as "shocking hate speech."

Following the incident, the band was released by its agency UTA, and the US government cancelled the artists' visas, compelling them to cancel a planned North American tour.

Interview with Louis Theroux

During his first public discussion after the Glastonbury performance, the musician, whose birth name is Pascal Foster, spoke on The Louis Theroux Podcast. After asked if he would do it all again, he responded:

"Oh yeah. Like what if I was to perform at the festival 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 duo encountered was "small compared to what people in Palestine are going through."

Regarding the Protest's Importance

"I don't want to exaggerate the significance of the slogan," he elaborated. "That's not what I'm trying to do, but if I have the Palestinian people's support, these are the individuals that I'm advocating for, these are the individuals that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Oh, because I've angered some rightwing politician or some conservative media?"

Surprising Response and Broadcaster Comments

The musician said he was surprised by the outcry sparked by the exclamation, and stated that members of the broadcaster staff at Glastonbury told him on the same day that the performance was "fantastic."

However, the corporation's ECU later determined that the network's airing of the show breached content guidelines in regard to offense and offence.

Vylan informed the host there was no sign of a dispute in the moment: "It didn't feel like we left stage, and everyone was like [gasps]. It's just normal. We leave stage. It was normal. Nobody thought anything. Not a soul. Even crew at the BBC were like 'It was fantastic! We loved that!'"

Response to Damon Albarn

The musician also hit back at Damon Albarn, who called the chant "a major misstep I've seen in my life" and characterized Vylan as "marching in tennis gear."

His reaction was "disappointing" and "lacked self-awareness," he said.

"I just want to say that labeling it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that somehow the views of the band or our stance on Palestine's freedom is unplanned," he stated.

"I strongly object with the term 'goose-stepping' being used because it's typically associated around the Nazis," he continued. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is offensive. I think his answer was appalling."

Intent Behind the Chant

After asked what he intended by the chant "Down with the IDF," the artist said the chant itself was "insignificant."

"What is important is the situation that persist to permit that chant to even take place on that platform. And I mean, the circumstances that are present in Palestine. Where the Palestinian people are being slain at an alarming rate. What matters about the slogan?" he said.

"The phrase rhymes," he noted: "'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. Perfect chant."

Denial of Antisemitism Allegations

Vylan also rejected claims from the Community Security Trust, a monitoring and Jewish community safety group, that their set led to a spike in antisemitic incidents recorded later.

"I don't think I have caused an hostile atmosphere for the Jewish people. If there were large numbers of people acting and saying 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I might go, oh, I've had a bad effect here," he commented.

Comparison with Different Artists

When he said he felt the band had been criticised more heavily than different artists for speaking about the situation, Theroux brought up the Irish band Kneecap, who have also faced criticism for their approach to pro-Palestine messaging.

"That's an interesting one," he said, "since as with all things ethnicity becomes a factor in that we are an more convenient target, seriously, than others are because we are inherently the opponent."