Interview with Gavin Fowler of

Genre: Bluesy Melodic Rock / Pop

Members: Gavin Fowler (Bass), Elle Roberts (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Alan Richardson (Lead Guitar, Vocals), Moneer Seify (Drums, Percussion)

Frontwoman: Elle Roberts

I Am Aquitaine is a “Bluesy Melodic Rock” band from London. They met through the London live music circuit, playing in other bands but then deciding to come together and form their own band in 2014. They started gigging around February 2015 and have been increasing in popularity ever since.

I am a musician and teacher. I’ve been playing music in bands since I was about 18 so quite a long time now, about, 12 years, maybe? No, longer than that. I’ve been playing quite a long time and I teach theatre and drama so I do a little bit of performing and acting as well.

I can play guitar, bass, ukulele and very basic keyboard but my instrument in the band is the bass guitar. The first instrument I ever learned was piano and then my first kind of proper instrument that I actually still play properly is guitar.

I’m a big, big fan of Tom Waits. I love his kind of dark, carnival-like sound. He’s very experimental as well. I’m a big Beatles fan, I’ve always loved The Beatles, The Rolling Stones…

When I was younger bands like Oasis, Kula Shaker, Green Day, big influences on me. Now, I’ve just started getting into the Arctic Monkeys, which I know is a bit late but I like their new stuff, and some of their older stuff. I really, really love Queens of the Stone Age as well, I can’t stop listening to them at the moment.

My love of music comes from my dad who is a musician, not a professional musician but he’s always played music and so that influenced me a lot. And yeah, he kind of, educated me really on bands and music and a lot of my influences are because of him I think.

We’ve played a lot of London venues and we’ve started playing a lot of venues in different parts of the country as well. Over the last year, we’ve tried to build up as many gigs as we can whilst also building up our repertoire of songs. We’ve played Newcastle, Sunderland, Wales, a lot around Kent and a lot around London.

It was a pub in Hackney and the night was called Broken Lights. It was on a nice stage, [there were] a couple of other really good bands, it was good. It was a learning curve really, because once you play live you realise what needs to happen with the songs, so it was really helpful. We’d arranged the songs up to that point and worked on ‘em but it was useful after that because we knew what worked and what didn’t. Yeah it was a good gig, it went well.

We’re not at the moment. We would like to be and we’re aiming towards that. I think at the moment, in this day and age it’s better to (and you have to) do a lot on your own. We’ve managed to have CDs made and release our EP on iTunes and make our own music video quite cheaply really, I mean we’ve spent money on it but we’ve done it at a very reasonable budget. I think it’s better for bands to do as much as they can independently before getting into a contract with a record label because it’s important to know what you can achieve. If you can do it on your own, all anyone from a record label is going to do is help you expand and grow but if you go straight to a record label without having achieved anything you’re kind of at the mercy of them and whether they can do anything for you or not. I think it’s better if a band can already have something viable that they’ve already started and developed, and that’s what we’d like to do.

We’ve got an EP coming out on Friday the 4th and we’re doing a launch at the Monarch in Camden so we’re playing on Friday night and we’re selling our EP which is coming out on iTunes as well and on CD. There are snippets of it on Soundcloud that you can listen to for tasters. We’ve got a single from that that we’re also going to release in the new year, and we’ve got a music video for that single.

Our long term career goals as a band are to start playing on the festival circuit, get some big festivals booked to make ourselves viable really, business wise and to get a tour booked, start touring and eventually take over the world.

We do, we’re on Facebook and we’re on Soundcloud. Snippets of our EP are up on Soundcloud and some of our older demos, and we’ve got a Facebook page. We should have a website soon, it might be up actually let’s have a look! Yeah, we’ve got a website now. This is the first time I’ve seen this!

I Am Aquitaine are booked to play at Roadtrip & The Workshop on Old Street, London on the 14th January 2016. To book tickets, visit www.roadtripbar.com.

With the dawn of Warped Tour 2016 upon us, we’ve decided to compile this handy guide on what to expect and how to make the best of your Warped experience.

You’ll want to arrive before the doors open. There’s no way around queuing but generally speaking, the earlier you arrive the shorter the queue which makes entering the venue less of a hassle (for you anyways, maybe not for that group of 10 that arrive at 6:45 for a 7:00 show. There’s always one). This will also help you get a good spot as you don’t want to be too far from the stage – but not too close either. Make sure to get plenty of sleep the night before so you can leave early enough.

Or rather, look out for the flag. See that flag by the main gates that says “Skip the Line”? Well right next to that is a ‘Feed Our Children NOW!’ tent. If you donate 3 cans of food, a used mobile phone or £5 to them, they’ll give you a wristband allowing you to wait in another, smaller queue that gets let into the venue first. This means you can get to the grounds a little later but still get into the venue early, and you’ll be helping a great cause at the same time!

Be ready the night before. You don’t want to risk being late for the show so please, pack your bag and leave it by the door! Know what shoes you’ll be wearing there. We all want to look good at a concert and shoes play a huge part in ensuring that, they can be what make or break an outfit – but remember! Comfort first, couture second. You could look like Beyoncé, but if after half an hour of waiting in line you feel like you’re going to need your feet amputated, you’re doing it wrong. Good fashion brands know how to make their shoes comfortable AND fashionable, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice one for the other. Eat breakfast. No, not that pack of gum your friend left at your house two days ago, or that open can of fizzy drink but actual breakfast. Toast, some eggs, porridge, cereal, all of the above. It’s the only meal you’re going to eat in an air conditioned place for the next 10 hours or so – cherish it! Buy water. One should be a fairly large bottle, but able to fit in your backpack. You won’t want to open this one as it’ll need to be sealed to bring it into the venue. You’ll be able to refill this once inside at water stations dotted around. You’ll also want to bring a smaller bottle, something you can drink from whilst waiting in line because trust me, queuing in line can be the hottest part of the day!

I mean the paper stuff not the plastic kind. Enough to buy food, drink and band merch because although there’ll be ATMs on the grounds to withdraw cash from, you’ll have to pay a small fee and that sucks. And be sure to budget your spending once you’re there so that you don’t end up leaving without something you really wanted.

It’s no use following these tips if you’re going to end up carrying 10 different things in each hand all day, ruining the fun for you. You’ll also get loads of freebies walking around the grounds all day, plus the merch and music you buy.

High heels, sandals or flip flops won’t make it through the day. You’ll want to wear some decent shoes, waterproof where possible.

I highly suggest Vans, although famous for their ‘Authentic Lo Pro’ range they actually sell shoes in hundreds of other styles, many of them perfect for such an occasion. As well as being comfortable, lightweight and durable, Vans shoes make expressing individuality as easy as ever, something which many festival-goers aim to do. Their broad range of styles means that you are guaranteed to find a pair that you like and thanks to their versatility, they look good with absolutely anything! Head over to vans.co.uk where they’re offering 30% off all items in their all-new summer collection! If you’re unable to grab a pair in time for the tour don’t worry, there will be a ‘Vans shoes tent’ at the tour this summer, so be sure to check it out!

You’d think that a city as grand as London would be home to more music venues and although it is to some of the world’s most prestigious venues, they are few in number. It is estimated that 40% of music venues in London have closed over the past 10 years, for a variety of reasons from complaints about the noise to making space for other structures such as train lines. Through all of this, the Music Venue Trust,  a charity which aims to “protect, secure & develop the future of Grassroots Live Music Venues in the UK” have been working to prevent the number of music venues being shut down from increasing. Here are the details about some venues in London which are still standing.

Electric Ballroom – Camden Town

The Electric Ballroom is a rock nightclub situated in the vibrant and eccentric town of Camden. Its location, two doors away from Camden Town tube station gives easy access to visitors travelling from all parts of the city. It’s hosted some of the world’s most renowned bands and artists.

The Electric Ballroom holds regular club nights, its most popular being ‘Sin City’. It is also host to the ‘Camden Film Fair’ which takes place several times a year. 16 year olds and over are not required to be accompanied by an adult and no one under 14 can be admitted into the venue.

Legendary Bands/Artists to Have Performed There: U2, The Smiths, Kings of Leon, Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Sir Paul McCartney.

The Garage – Highbury and Islington

The Garage is an indie and rock venue situated in the heart of Highbury. It’s only half a minute away from Highbury and Islington station so thanks to London’s handy transport network, is easily accessible regardless of the part of the city you’re travelling from. The venue is split into two parts, ‘The Garage’ (the main venue) and ‘The Garage Upstairs’, which has a 150 person capacity, its overall capacity totalling 750. Its small capacity makes for some nice, intimate gigs, enabling you to get up close to your favourite band or artist and take some great photographs.

Legendary Bands/Artists to Have Performed There: Oasis, Kings of Leon, Radiohead, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Jeff Buckley, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

The Roundhouse – Chalk Farm

The Roundhouse is a music venue situated on Chalk Farm Rd in the London Borough of Camden. The roundhouse is an arts centre which holds theatre, dance, spoken word and circus performances, as well as other performances of a wide variety of genres. Its capacity of over 3,000 makes it the biggest venue on this list. It is also home to the annual Apple Music Festival (formerly iTunes Festival). It is a unique venue in that it offers fantastic opportunities for 11-25 year olds through its ‘Young Creatives’ scheme, enabling them to kick-start their careers in the creative industries.

Legendary Bands/Artists to Have Performed There: The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd, Ramones, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, Elton John.

Koko - Camden Town

Koko is a music venue situated in Camden town. It holds performances by bands and artists of a wide variety of genres and from all around the world. Despite its current mainstream appeal, the venue was said to have “found a place at the heart of punk” when it reopened in 1970 as ‘The Music Machine’.