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Punk duo frontman Bobby Vylan has stated he is "without regret" about his "anti-IDF chant" act at Glastonbury and declared he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Disputed Chant and Official Reactions

The vocal punk pair sparked widespread controversy when they led audience calls of "down with the IDF," pointing to the Israel Defense Forces, during their summer performance. This slogan was censured by festival organizers and Britain's leader the prime minister, who labeled it as "shocking hate speech."

After the incident, Bob Vylan was released by its representation UTA, and the US state department revoked the artists' travel documents, compelling the duo to call off a scheduled US and Canada tour.

Conversation with the Podcaster

In his first interview after the Glastonbury show, the musician, whose birth name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, spoke on a popular podcast. When asked if he would do it all again, he responded:

"Oh yeah. For instance what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, definitely I would repeat it. I'm not regretful of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

The artist added that the backlash the band encountered was "minimal compared to what individuals in Palestine are going through."

Regarding the Chant's Significance

"I don't want to overstate the importance of the chant," he elaborated. "It isn't what I'm attempting to do, but if I have their backing, these are the people that I'm doing it for, they're the people that I'm speaking up for, then what is there to feel sorry about? Well, because I've angered some rightwing politician or some conservative news outlet?"

Unexpected Reaction and Broadcaster Feedback

This musician said he was surprised by the uproar triggered by the exclamation, and asserted that staff of BBC staff at the event told him on the same day that the performance was "excellent."

However, the broadcaster's ECU subsequently found that the BBC's broadcast of the performance breached editorial guidelines in regard to harm and hurt.

He told Theroux there was no indication of a controversy in the moment: "It wasn't like we came off stage, and everybody was like [gasps]. It felt normal. We leave stage. It was normal. Nobody suspected anything. Nobody. Even staff at the broadcaster were like 'That was fantastic! We enjoyed that!'"

Reply to Damon Albarn

Vylan also hit back at Damon Albarn, who labeled the chant "one of the most spectacular misfires I've seen in my life" and characterized Vylan as "goose-stepping in sport gear."

Albarn's comment was "disappointing" and "showed no self-awareness," he said.

"I need to say that labeling it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that in some way the views of the band or our position on Palestine's freedom is unplanned," he stated.

"I strongly object with the phrase 'marching' being used because it's typically associated around the Nazis," he added. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is disgusting. I think his answer was disgusting."

Intent Behind the Slogan

After asked what he meant by the phrase "Death to the IDF," Vylan clarified the chant itself was "unimportant."

"What is important is the conditions that exist to permit that protest to even take place on that platform. And I mean, the circumstances that are present in Palestine. Where the local population are being killed at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the chant?" he said.

"Death to the IDF rhymes," he noted: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, would it? … We are there to perform. We are there to sing songs. I am a songwriter. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Ideal chant."

Denial of Hate Speech Claims

The musician also rejected claims from the CST, a watchdog and Jewish community safety group, that their set led to a spike in antisemitic events reported two days.

"I don't think I have created an hostile atmosphere for the Jewish community. Suppose there were many individuals of people going out and going like 'We made me do this'. I could go, oh, I've had a bad impact here," he commented.

Comparison with Other Artists

When Vylan mentioned he felt the band had been criticised more severely than others for voicing views about the conflict, Theroux brought up the Irish group another band, who have likewise faced criticism for their approach to pro-Palestine messaging.

"That's a notable point," Vylan responded, "since as with everything ethnicity comes to play a part in that we are an more convenient target, seriously, than others are because we are already the opponent."