Who are President, the mysterious unknown band playing Download Festival?
Earlier this week, Download Festival announced a handful of new acts joining their coveted lineup this year, one of which included a new, previously unheard name—President. There are no details about this band or project, nor are there any real indications of who might be behind it, save for the one description provided by Download: “No names. No past. No distractions. Only the mission ahead.”
While this almost puts to bed any speculation about the members being parts of other established bands, like the most obvious deduction—Sleep Token—fans entered a swarm of speculation when, around the same time, an Instagram account appeared with several inexplicably cryptic posts, each with equally as head-scratching captions, like “Join the campaign”.
The similarities to Sleep Token are easy to spot. They are also headlining the festival this year for the first time and have hinted at their own projects recently, drawing undeniable parallels with the new mysterious campaign surrounding President. One of the videos on President’s Instagram also includes a song that sounds suspiciously like a distorted rendition of Sleep Token’s ‘Alkaline’, plus the fact that the first post was uploaded around the same time that Sleep Token began teasing a new project on TikTok.
However, considering the push for anonymity and Download’s proclamation that the band have “no names” and “no past”, it’s difficult to call whether this new enigmatic band will, in fact, have ties to the heavy metal band or whether it’s all a ruse to generate similar interest, playing on parallels to generate hype knowing that their audiences will get excited by the prospect of another masked outfit—of which there is plenty of space for.
Who is performing at Download Festival?
Despite their anonymity, however, President will be kickstarting their careers on an incredibly high level, joining this year’s Download lineup alongside some of the biggest names in rock and metal. Alongside headliners Sleep Token, they will be sharing the spotlight with Green Day, Korn, Spiritbox, Sex Pistols, Within Temptation, The Darkness, and many others.
The festival recently announced President’s involvement alongside a handful of others, like Palaye Royale, Kids in Glass Houses, and Shinedown, signalling their first venture at the ideal moment when metal and rock fans are gearing up for the biggest event in the genre. Hinting at the diversity on display, senior Download booker Kamran Haq also expressed their excitement at having something for everybody while hinting at “more surprises to come”.
While it’s clear the appetite for masked and nameless bands in the metal community remains strong, it’s uncertain whether President will, in fact, have any pre-existing ties to any other act on the lineup or whether this is merely a product of well-thought-out marketing efforts backed by reputable managements and labels. All we know for sure is that people are itching to know their next move.
