Of Monsters And Men @ Roundhouse

Of Monsters And Men @ Roundhouse (Lauren Patel)

Opening the night is fellow Icelander Árný Margrét, standing alone with an electric guitar. Her set is sparse yet enveloping, voice echoing gently around the Roundhouse’s cavernous dome. There’s a quiet resilience to her delivery, the minimal instrumentation allowing each lyric to linger in the cold air. It’s a fitting prelude to the emotional terrain ahead. “I speak little” she adds in her soft voice, which is breaking slightly from the weight of the tour.

When Of Monsters And Men emerge on the circular stage, declaring that “we wish we could play in a circle all the time — its much better”, the near-capacity crowd greets them with an eruption of cheers. They launch into Television Love, its pulsing rhythm instantly binding the room together. The band move fluidly into Dream Team and King And Lionheart, the latter met with a wave of nostalgic delight. Touring in support of 2025’s All Is Love And Pain In The Mouse Parade, the newer material sits comfortably alongside the fan favourites, forming a set that feels deliberately sequenced rather than simply stacked with hits.

Alligator injects a shot of adrenaline midway through the first stretch, its jagged energy contrasting with the reflective sway of Human. Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir commands the stage with a magnetic blend of theatrical flair and unguarded sincerity, her glittering guitar catching the light as she moves. Ragnar Þórhallsson provides a steady counterpoint, their vocal interplay a defining thread throughout the night.

The Roundhouse’s unique architecture lends the performance an almost ritualistic atmosphere. At one point, the band gather close together under softened lighting, harmonising in a hushed circular cluster before drifting back to their positions. The moment feels suspended in time — intimate, reverent — as if the thousands present have been briefly invited into something private. The crowd, previously bouncing and shouting, falls into attentive silence.

Elsewhere, the mood shifts with ease. The Block is introduced with playful affection, while Empire and Mouse Parade swell with layered instrumentation that fills the circular space. During Ordinary Creature, which Þórhallsson couldn’t recall whether was the first, second or third release from their 2025 album, shifting lights ripple across the ceiling like an imitation aurora, a subtle nod to the band’s Icelandic roots. It’s visually striking without overpowering the music.

Shrouded by ten interchanging umbrellas, quite apt for this particular damp February evening, Dirty Paws arrives to thunderous approval, its call-and-response chorus transforming the venue into a single, unified voice. Even years on, the song retains its urgency, its bittersweet edge sharpened by the band’s matured delivery. Little Talks closes the main set with guest support appearance from Árný Margrét and broods intensity, leaving the audience clamouring for more.

After obligatory chants for one more song, the encore is inevitable. The stomping begins almost instantly, echoing around the structure’s wooden ribs. The band return for The End, the final song on the latest album which Þórhallsson declares was recorded in a cabin, adding that “I feel we always have to give information with a song — who wants to know how it was made?! Well, in 2013 my dad gave me a dog…..no really, it was just an idea and now it’s here!”. Its slow build bathing the room in a communal glow, before lifting spirits skyward with Fruit Bat. It’s a finale that balances reflection and release — a reminder of how far they’ve travelled and why their absence was so keenly felt.

Across the evening, the oscillation between euphoric bursts and delicate introspection defines the show. Strong vocals, thoughtful pacing and an evident camaraderie onstage make this second night at the Roundhouse feel less like a repeat and more like a deepening. In the cold heart of February, Of Monsters And Men create a world that feels warm, immersive and profoundly human.

Live review & photography of Of Monsters And Men @ Roundhouse, London on 18th February 2026 by Lauren Patel.

Northern Attitude In London: Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams & Friends Light Up BST Hyde Park 2025

Latitude Festival 2025

Latitude Festival 2025 (Kalpesh Patel)

Latitude did not disappoint. It is relatively small and easy to navigate—a capacity of 45,000 vs. some 220,000 at that other festival—, with the ability to bump into and meet friends frequently and easily, and to hop from stage to kids field in a flash, ensuring both adults and children get plenty of time to play. Further, little legs don’t get too tired too quickly! The ‘Arena’, set either side of the beautiful Henham Park Lake, is quirky and interesting, with lots of hidden wonders in the forest areas to explore as well as provide shelter from the frequent switch between burning sun and pelting showers.

Each day started firmly in the kids field after picking up a coffee at the Fire Garden Birdbox in the Trailer Park and a quick hop past the Greenpeace area to see how long the queue was for the climbing nets (too long, again, let’s try again tomorrow!). The kids’ field, a magical place of creativity centered around the obligatory Helter Skelter (watch those elbows!), provided children with endless crafting opportunities including copper keyring making, bracelet making and painting. The building of a new Greenpeace Warrior Ship was a particular favourite, allowing even the youngest of children to, subject to grown-ups signing a disclaimer, pick up a saw, hammer and nails and help build the ship. For those wanting to avoid tools, stick jigsaw-making, stained-glass mosaic, book making and the beaten copper workshop were also on offer!

My son (and his buddies) loves bugs and beasts. What 8-year-old boy doesn’t. So he was keen to join the earthworms and soil beasts walk through the woods with the hugely engaging Dr David Jones from the Natural History Museum. David is an entomologist specialising in rainforest insects and soil ecology and has done fieldwork in many countries as well as published more than 50 research articles in scientific books and journals. What I thought would be a (potentially boring) walk in the woods looking for worms was quite the opposite, and it felt like a genuine privilege to be in such intimate company with the multi-award-winning and funny public speaker. Dr Jones captured the imaginations of both the adults and kids in the same group for an hour, and we found not only worms, but beetles, grasshoppers and even a young toad.

Across the main path opposite the kids field was a new home for the curiously entertaining Cosmic Shambles Forest of Science and Culture where wonder and entertainment intertwined between the trees, from which huge planets dangled. Alongside exhibits from Crab Museum and The Royal Museums Greenwich was the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) stand, visiting the forest from its base in Teddington, South West London. This was a stall we would go back to frequently, and one whereby many young children surrounded in droves to try and balance the 3D printed robots on top of each other. Manage to balance 4 and you get to keep one, balance 7 and you keep the set. This was a challenge that my son, and many others with any minuscule sign of a competitive streak, could not ignore. It took three days, but we got seven! The NPL staff were great for a chat whilst we failed miserably to try and remove our kids from this stall, and I gained a great tip for a band playing at the Trailer Park stage….

The Trailer Park was Latitude’s ‘South West Corner’, brimming with equivalent craziness and mischief set amongst a hamlet in the trees. A hidden après-ski nightclub complete with snow, only to be found if you sneak in the old caravan; the ‘low-cares’ airline, Ryanair had a booking office where they are doing their bit to be planet-friendly by making the flying experience as miserable as possible. Oh, and if you have knees, don’t forget to pay extra for them. The Trailer Park’s centrepiece was however, a stage which featured the most fun and mostly bonkers bands of the weekend as well as secret sets from the likes of Feeder. Whilst the kids built a fire from sticks collected from surrounding trees, we bounced to the catchy tunes of energetic duo The Foreign Locals. Oh, and at night, our favourite coffee spot came alight!

A hop across the bridge, stopping to catch the enigmatic water laser show en route, and we were back at the main Obelisk Stage to catch Basement Jaxx, Sting, Fatboy Slim, Elbow, Alison Moyet, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol and, at the nearby Second Stage, Feeder to name but a few. A fun and family-friendly line-up brimming with nostalgia. Further, the kids were occupied throughout these sets. Whoever at Latitude thought of the ‘cup collecting’ initiative is a genius. The festival was spotless, largely due to all the children being engaged in cup collecting duties, stacking metres of hauled used paper cups together to exchange back at the bar for 10p each….maximum £25 per day, ching ching!

It was only the start of Elbow’s set that failed to somewhat draw the audience. I think both Guy and the rest of us would have been rather watching the Women’s Euro 2025 final on the Obelisk stage’s big screens, with Euro champions England facing off to World champions Spain. Big screens around the festival had been drafted in for the momentous occasion, and it was pretty special to be sharing such an immense game. Well done Lionesses! Back to the festival, and it was hard to avoid a stop at the bubble tent company, where the majority of bubble wands and swords were testers, available for use as you wish with bubbles blasting out continuously for as long as the festival was open.

When the heavens opened, the perfect place to be was in the Theatre Arena, and that’s where we landed just as the skies roared one morning. However, having already performed on the Saturday, word had spread that YUCK Circus was a must-see, and the queue to get in on the Sunday morning wrapped up and back the main path. As the rain started to pour, we were the last group to get in and grab the last few seats. I wasn’t expecting what I saw, or to spend the next hour simultaneously belly laughing and cringing! An absolutely brilliant all-Australian powerhouse of female circus performers combining award-winning comedy and elite acrobatics whilst bending gender stereotypes and female social norms.

Overall, a wonderful weekend which felt easy to navigate and way less tiring than Glastonbury. It also wasn’t so small that you covered everything there was to do in a weekend. I felt we only scratched the surface, and there is plenty we want to go back for next year. Thank you Latitude!

Feature on Latitude Festival 2025 by Lauren Patel. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.

A Child’s Experience At Glastonbury 2024

Noah Kahan @ BST Hyde Park 2025

Noah Kahan @ BST Hyde Park 2025 (Kalpesh Patel)

We, that being my 8-year old son and I, started the afternoon with a walk around the huge iconic park-come-festival venue. The site, tabled-ended by the ginormous Great Oak Main Stage (the tree isn’t real by the way!) on one end and the aptly-named for pride week, Rainbow Stage at the other, is circled by endless mock Spanish streets serving food, drinks and selling merch. Our first stop was at the Rainbow Stage, a smaller-stage shrouded by huge semi-circular rainbow. First up was Sydney Rose, a Georgia-born and Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose soulful voice needed little by way of support, although she proudly announced that her parents had made it to watch her that day. Sydney started her career utilising her powerful voice to record covers, and she did not disappoint on that front, ending her set with a rapturous cover of Coldplay’s Yellow, prompting a giant sing-along and no doubt a few more fans to support her when she comes to the UK to tour in October.

Sydney Rose @ BST Hyde Park 2025

Sydney Rose @ BST Hyde Park 2025 (Kalpesh Patel)

Next up we were drawn away from the US vibe and back down to our South London home, the drum beat of the eclectic South London Samba, a collective of energetic carnival drummers who blend world rhythms with their fresh South London vibe. Food needed now, and we were delighted to find Poptata (gutted you’ve left Tooting market guys!) who sell over-priced by well-worth it fries that just taste better than any other chips, ever! They’ll keep us going for a while…..

Next up is Gigi Perez on the main stage in the mid-afternoon heat. The New-Jersey born singers debut studio album, At The Beach, In Every Life was released just a couple of months ago and is flying high as she takes time out from her US tour to support Noah Kahan in London. Swapping guitars between the seven songs from her new album, her husky low tones with indie rock edge pleased the increasingly big crowd.

Between sets we took a break and called in to chat with Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian organization that provides medical care in conflict zones, natural disasters, and epidemics and whom provide care regardless of race, religion, or political views. We took the interactive earthquake challenge to learn what should be prioritised in such event.

BST Hyde Park 2025

BST Hyde Park 2025 (Lauren Patel)

Back to the music and next up is FINNEAS, the older brother of Billie Eilish and talented singer-songwriter-producer-actor in his own right, who has wracked up no less than 10 GRAMMY® Awards) in his 27-years, for a combination of his own music and that he has worked on for his sister. He declares that it is an honour to open for Gracie, but has not met Noah yet. The LA-based alternative-pop singer began with Lotus Eater, a raspy rock opener but soon changed direction, belting out a series of power ballads including I Lost A Friend which showed off the strength of his voice and why his career started at Glee.

FINNEAS then brings out Ashe, to the delight of the crowd, and the set backdrop turns to The Favors a new band he decares has been formed between Ashe and himself, a collaboration between friends that first started in 2019 and saw new single The Little Mess You Made released last month. The partners’ previewed new song The Hudson before its official release on the 11th July and their co-written debut album, set to be breaming with ’70s pop tunes, The Dream is to be released in September.

Still on a high following her Glastonbury debut last week, singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams took to the stage as the main billed support today, but is an artist that will likely be filling Wembley before long. The California-born pop sensation clearly has the next generation of music fans sold, with screams and declarations from those around me that they may cry at every turn, the love for Gracie is clear. She is a role model, and is arguably entering icon status as she introduces legendary writer and producer, and someone she says is “like family to me” The National’s Aaron Dessner to the stage. Together they delight the crowd with a live debut of unreleased single Crazy Girl, before Aaron stays to support on I Love You I’m Sorry, and the gorgeously sparse debut LP tune Where Do We Go Now?.

Gracie then slows the pace with a stunning acoustic version of Let It Happen co-written by her, Aaron and Audrey Hobart for second studio album The Secret Of Us. Her 13-strong set included Death Wish, which she clarifies to all is about a friend, not her, who went out with a narcissist…..”but we’ve all been there, right?” she questions as many hands are raised!

As dusk draws in on Hyde Park, its time for the emotional rollercoaster ride to start, which guaranteed the audience at least a few little surprises, and it far from disappointed. As Noah Kahan arrived on stage, he told us how much this meant to him, and how it would never be taken for granted as he remembers the first time he played in London to a crowd of 77. Dressed head to toe in blue (an outfit better than the eyesore he wore for his Glastonbury appearance according to my son!) he opened his 19-song set with All My Love, which is a tapestry of genres which sits somewhere between folk, alternative and pop, creating a bright and upbeat start to the show.

The Vermont-hailing star is joined as ever, by the now-signature northern teddy bear, today dressed quite rightly as London’s favourite Paddington Bear. Paddington doesn’t quite manage to steal the show however, as Noah brings back casually-dressed Gracie Abrams for a glorious rendition of Everywhere, Everything, first recorded by the pair in 2023. Noah continues to delight with older song, False Confidence before which he jokingly promises that security are lined up to eject anyone who isn’t true fan enough to know all the words! Phew, we knew the words.

Gracie Abrams with Noah Kahan @ BST Hyde Park 2025

Gracie Abrams with Noah Kahan @ BST Hyde Park 2025 (Kalpesh Patel)

He then headed down to B Stage to get closer to the crowd, blasting out three favourites including fan request Strawberry Wine which he dedicated to his grandad. The real tear-jerking moment of the night came next as he introduced Gigi Perez back to stage to join him in harmony for Call Your Mom. “We both love our moms” he declares, as he tells us all with tears in his eyes that his mum used to drive him everywhere to places where no-one listened and no-one cared before stating that she’s here tonight, pointing out into the crowd. Hyde Park joined in the emotionally charged ballad that reminds you to stay connected with loved one, particularly during tough times, with equal spirit to the headliner.

The real treat and biggest surprise for the British crowd came on the encore, and that wasn’t Noah coming back on stage after a quick change into his beloved Chelsea FC shirt, which was met with mostly banterful boos. Donned in matching Chelsea shirt, on walked the one and only new-king of comebacks, Scot superstar Mr Lewis Capaldi. After his recent joyful Glastonbury return, he now shared the stage with fellow mental health battler Noah in what promised to be an encore to remember. Thanking the now wild crowd for allowing his new single Survive to top this week’s UK charts, Capaldi and Kahan sang an electrifying version of Northern Attitude as the flabbergasted audience joined them with delight. What a treat.

Kahan’s star-studded show finished with headline track Stick Season and a scattering fireworks shooting high above the Great Oak. Our only disappointment was that he doesn’t sing Paul Revere on this tour, which happens to be mine and my boy’s personal favourite. But hey, I knew it wasn’t coming and it didn’t matter. A truly brilliant show and a great day had by all at BST.

BST Hyde Park 2025

BST Hyde Park 2025 (Kalpesh Patel)

Live review of Noah Kahan @ BST Hyde Park 2025 by Lauren Patel. Photography by Lauren & Kalpesh Patel.

Olivia Rodrigo Proves That London Is Her Favourite City At BST Hyde Park 2025

Glastonbury Festival 2024

Glastonbury Festival 2024 (Kalpesh Patel)

We arrive on Wednesday, and after setting up our tent we head in the heat and glorious sunshine into the main site. The first day before the festival starts proper on Friday is what we have come to call ‘crafts day’. It’s a chance to try our hand at new skills in the Kidz Field; Green Kids or in Green Crafts areas. Over the years we’ve made stick men wind chimes; mosaics; glass ornaments; hats; and more. This year, we had a go at pottery, making small pots that would then dry out in the sun and which we could then swing by and collect later in the festival. No festival with kids is complete without parents wondering how they are going to get the driftwood ornament decorated with seaweed and shells safely home.

There is also the wondrous Carhenge to check out over at the Williams Green area, a Stonehenge inspired construction made of old cars that sit alongside a bar and DJ desk in place of the old Williams Green tent stage where many a secret set used to take place on a Thursday following a traditional power ballad DJ set.

I have little guilt about taking our son out of school for a few days, what he gets from the festival far outweighs what he would miss out on during a couple of days at school at this stage of his education. The festival is not just a feast for the senses of little people, it’s educational and creative at every turn. And that is very much the thought as we forgo our usual Wednesday night bonfire and fireworks experience up at The Park and instead go to check out the newly announced drone show taking place above the Pyramid Field.

When the Kidz Field opened on Thursday we were there, our son eagerly awaiting as the gates opened at 12pm (9am on subsequent days). The Kidz Field is like being in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, there is colour and craziness everywhere. Each year as our son gets a year older, there are different attractions he gravitates to. This year at 7, it was the bikes that control the bubble machine that he arrived at first, and which he would return over and over. The faster he pedalled; the more bubbles came….

But it was the Experimakers tent that he firmly and quite literally glued himself to all weekend. Here it was all about science. He made water rockets, which were then fired into the air with a bicycle pump, gaining extra cackles if it hits a grown up on the way back down! Next came out the bicarbonate of soda, which when mixed with vinegar has some exploding effects. The favourite however was the classic Coke and Mentos experiment, which, using the Experimakers special funnel, caused coke to explode in dramatic fashion at whoever happened to be standing in its way. More cackles from the excited children would ensue. But don’t worry about being followed by the wasps if you get covered in coke, it’s diet apparently!

Talking of wasps, the children across the Kidz Field are meanwhile captivated by a lovely woman and her assistant dressed head to toe as those pesky little insects. They are singing a song about the benefits of wasps, and why they shouldn’t be feared.

Elsewhere, children are running excitedly around the bright pink castle, the kidz field anchor and a maze of tunnels, slides and giant monkey puppet which the children can operate to make it dance. It’s easy to lose your child in there, at one point losing mine for half an hour just as I was hoping to hop to watch Michael Kiwanuka over on the Pyramid Stage. He promises he wasn’t hiding but I’m not so sure!

Michael Kiwanuka @ Glastonbury Festival 2024

Michael Kiwanuka @ Glastonbury Festival 2024 (Kalpesh Patel)

When half of the festival goers are just making it to bed, the other half are up and ready to go, and the Pilton Palais cinema helpfully lays on kids movies in the mornings to suit. This year, firmly on our line-up was the premier of Despicable Me 4, an opportunity for a sneak preview ahead of its general release later in July. And it didn’t disappoint!

When it comes to food, you don’t go to Glastonbury expecting to achieve your five a day. But there are increasingly plenty of healthy and child friendly options available, even for the fussiest of children (like ours!). The Kidz Field itself has a cafe which specifically caters for young tastes and portions, the chilli and curries are particularly popular and a tad cheaper than food options found elsewhere in the festival site. There are also smoothie and fruit stalls dotted around which allow at least a small intake of vitamins during the extended weekend. It was, however, Fish Finger Heaven that was our son’s firm favourite this year. The ‘Tiddler’ comprised a yummy fish finger sandwich and a generous tub of baked beans, perfect for the 7-year-old that only does beige. For grown-ups, the Fat Belly Cafe at Croissant Neuf, serving high quality home cooked food and salads is a firm favourite if you’ve had enough of burgers and pizzas.

Glastonbury Festival 2024

Glastonbury Festival 2024 (Kalpesh Patel)

While some of the smaller stages do start the music on Thursday, it is on Friday that the music kicks off proper, and there’s nothing we’re desperate to see, so we drive our trusty wooden wagon north. There used to be a more limited draw for children in this part of the site, but in recent years with the introduction of the Glastonbury On Sea pier a few years back, this has changed. Further, as well as the new dragonfly (or is a grasshopper!) at Arcadia this year, next to this is the new Alchemists Playground. This wonderful new space you might expect in a more relaxed Scandinavia than in the UK with our more stringent health & safety laws. Help yourselves to some wood, nails and a hammer and feel free to use these to help build the playground. Only if you are 4 or older though and do watch out for splinters! This approach delighted both my son and I and we equally enjoyed helping build. We also made a stool, but unfortunately despite an attempt to add this to all the wondrous objects being pulled along in our wagon, it was just too big and we had to say goodbye. There were tears….

With stunning views across the temporary city that is Glastonbury, the Pier stands atop the site and allows you to escape briefly from farm to seaside. Here traditional British seaside attractions are plenty, with Hook A Duck being our son’s obsession last year. As we arrive, we are instantly recognised by the guys that run it…”it’s YOU again” and they giggle. This year, much to my surprise after 3 failed attempts to hook the right number duck, my son allows us to move on. Instead, this year he is more captivated by the German artist Kugler’s awesome robot punk band.

There is art and play a plenty for children, but we must not forget the music. The main stage in the Kidz Field welcomed CBBC’s Andy And The Odd Socks again this year amongst others, and the field also had a music tent filled with drum sets; keyboards; and guitars for kids to try their hand themselves. Thankfully there was headphones! Whilst being on the main stages in crowds with kids can be a challenge, the illuminating Xylobands, lasers and fireworks alongside Coldplay’s vibrant set had our son captivated.

The Kidz Field is also a place for both kids and adults to try their hand at a variety of circus skills. Our son can now hula hoop for hours and can walk on stilts. Mastering juggling is for next year!

Close by, the Theatre & Circus field with it’s legendary big blue top tent hosts incredible circus acts from across the country. Each doing a short show that helpfully keeps small people’s attention, there are a variety of jaw dropping and hair-raising artists that defy gravity and dice with things thought humanly impossible. Circus Funtasia is a regular at Glastonbury and one that our son eagerly awaited this year. He yelped as they bought out the finale, a giant hamster like ball within which five stunt bikers would race around with roaring noise and speed and somehow manage to avoid each other. Bonkers.

At a mile and a half across, the walk across Glastonbury with children can take time, and be tiring especially if you are pulling a cart. However, centrally located and a place to take that much needed rest is the Green Kids area, located next to the Greenpeace Stage. This is a relatively small area set around Cadmus, a 40-ft pirate ship for kids to climb up and slide down for hours on end. It’s a place where the grown ups can sit down and take a rest, but still keep their children in sight the whole time. For this reason, Green Kids has over the years been a real saviour and a favourite place for us. They even have kid-sized toilets if your child has a fear of the long drops! A great alternative to the Kidz Field, and for families only, it is also lined with craft tents and even includes a library.

Glastonbury Festival 2023

Glastonbury Festival 2023 (Kalpesh Patel)

The most anticipated set of our weekend was the breakfast slot on the Acoustic Stage on Sunday morning. Our son met the up-and-coming blues guitarist Toby Lee when Rockshot Magazine interviewed him at the Gibson Garage a few months prior, and Toby became his role model that day advising Kamran that he had started playing guitar at our son’s present age. When Toby was announced to play Glastonbury, our son firmly etched this set in his line-up! He made sure we were there on time before 11am, and quickly found his way to the barrier. It was lovely to see him enjoying his new idol and Toby, who is currently touring with Jools Holland, has a big career ahead.

Overall, another wonderful family experience and a double thumbs up from our son at the end to try for tickets next year.

Feature on bringing children to Glastonbury Festival 2024 by Lauren Patel. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.

Taking Children To Glastonbury Festival – Looking Back At 2023

Fast forward two years and their debut album Our Friends Our Enemies is complete and out and Flight Brigade are all lined up to bring their record to the stage of north London’s The Finsbury for the RockShot Mag-curated night of Lost In The Manor’s 31-night Blogtober Festival.

In preparation, we revisit that 2015 sit-down with Miriam, Ollie, Dorry, Tom, Thomas, Neil and Jonny below.

Flight Brigade: Oliver Baines, Miriam Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Thomas Pink, Neil Blandford, Tom Clay & Jonny Barker (Kalpesh Patel)

It’s been a great year for Hampshire septet Flight Brigade.  I met up with them at the aptly named Rainbow House on Portobello Road, designed by top Architect AB Rogers and featuring a rather crazy slide in the living room, before their recent gig at Notting Hill Arts Club where the band held their new EP Stealing Fire’s celebratory launch party.

Formed in 2010, the alternative/indie collective comprises a mixture of family and childhood friends all with differing backgrounds and musical tastes.  Lead singer Ollie Baines is married to Miriam who supports her husband with stunning harmonies.  Miriam’s sister Dorry Macaulay, who is a classically trained musician, excels on vocals and violin.  The remaining four members are Tom Clay (bass), Thomas Pink (guitar), Neil Blandford (drums), and Jonny Barker (keyboard).

The talented group of musicians’ first four-track EP Graduation Day was heralded in 2013 and their new EP Stealing Fire, released on the 23^rd October, promises to raise the bar even higher.  I caught up with them to chat about the new EP, playing live, and what we might expect next from the group.

Flight Brigade: Oliver Baines, Miriam Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Thomas Pink, Neil Blandford, Tom Clay & Jonny Barker (Kalpesh Patel)

I believe Flight Brigade formed in 2010. How did you all get together and do you get on well?

Miriam: Yes, we get on very well.  Getting on well is so important, especially starting out as it has to be fun even though you have to work really hard and start at the bottom.  Even just booking gigs when you are just starting out is really difficult, as is building up followers.

Dorry: Basically Ollie brought us together. We are all from a similar area and have known each other for a long, long time.  Miriam and I are sisters and Miriam and Ollie are married.

Ollie:  The relationships in a band are crucial because it’s quite up and down.  Sometimes it’s amazing and sometimes not so amazing.  You have to put in a lot of time and effort and sacrifice a lot.  We communicate really well which is kind of key, and we don’t bottle things up and this is also very important.  We are good at talking.  Also, now that we all have smartphones, we can take photos, email, and send text messages to communicate.  Thomas got his first smartphone today.

Thomas: Yeah, it’s so exciting!

Mariam: Ollie played with Dorry for a really long time and then it evolved naturally.  Tom and I met at college and we also grew up on the same street so we knew each other when we were four years old. Often people that grow up together end up in bands because it’s the most natural connection and the easiest thing to do.

Where does the name Flight Brigade come from?

Ollie: Thomas is quite a fan of WWI and WWII memorabilia, particularly aircrafts.  There’s got to be of way of saying that without sounding a bit geeky, but it’s true!  Brigade because there’s quite a lot of us. People often comment that we have too many members.

Thomas: Really?  That sounds dangerous!  What does that mean?  I’d better play well this weekend or you’ll be cutting the numbers down.

Did you consider any other names?

Dorry: We considered many but they were extensive and poor.  Every band has to go through this process and coming up with a name is very hard.  We were on holiday down in Cornwall and they’ve got a cinema called Rebel Cinema. It was such a tiny little cinema we thought that was such a cool name for a band but we can’t change it now though as it’s too late.  We’ve got an identity now, and a website so it would be too difficult!

Flight Brigade: Oliver Baines, Miriam Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Thomas Pink, Neil Blandford, Tom Clay & Jonny Barker (Kalpesh Patel)

I was lucky enough to see you play one of your three slots at Glastonbury this year. Did you enjoy the experience?

Ollie: Glastonbury was amazing, very tiring, but such great fun.  Neil’s been loads and Dorry too but it was my first time.  I wasn’t expecting people to be as friendly as they were.

Miriam: The vibe is something else, it’s like a huge family and everyone behaves as if they know each other.  The place where we were camping was something else, so steep to reach it and our air beds were deflating rapidly.  There was dance music playing all night but I slept well anyway as I was so tired.  We basically had a view across the whole site so at night time is was insane.  It was like a city, so big.  It would be nice to go in, play on a big stage and then leave in a helicopter.  That’s the dream.

How did you manage to get three slots, that’s pretty impressive?

Ollie: It was our live agent.  We have a really cool live agent now but we did our own bookings for years.  We also did band swapping where we would post for them and they would post for us.  That’s how we started out really by finding other bands in a similar situation living in other parts of the country and this way we started to get recommended to play festivals.  Through our performances at the festivals we then got a live agent which was the best day of our lives.

Thomas: It was quite a game changer to have someone take care of bookings and you get paid enough to cover petrol, food, and expenses.  I’m not sure how you would do it on your own, it’s quite hard.

Oliver Baines (Kalpesh Patel)

How do you think the experience compares with your parents experience who played the first ever Glastonbury in 1975 as folk duo Mask? Have you compared notes on the experience of things?

Ollie: Our parents played the very first Glastonbury with Dorry and Miriam’s mum and dad.  I don’t think it was official in those days they just rocked up on the stage and said ‘I’ve got something to show you’.

Dorry: Mum said it was a ‘free for all’ where people just came out of nowhere as there were no fences.  Some people paid and some people didn’t and there were hordes of people suddenly coming over the horizon towards them and pitching up everywhere. It was totally different then but they loved it, and loved playing.

Miriam: I think it still maintains the original vibe now that it had back then. I don’t think that much has changed other than it is now a bit more organized.

You have been compared with an early Arcade Fire, and Muse. How would you describe your musical style and who has most influenced that style? 

Ollie: My mum is American so I’ve grown up listening to stuff like Steely Dan, James Taylor, and The Eagles.  For me its classic singer/song writer American stuff but each of us have completely different influences and musical tastes.  Neil is a complete metal head.  Dorry has a classical background.  So I think for us there has been this tension, but a good tension.  It’s just got progressively rockier over time and I think that is kind of one of our strengths really.

Neil: I’m into quite heavy stuff, bands like Sepultura, Pantera, and Led Zeppelin.  Massive metal bands basically.

Dorry: You travelled over to Germany recently just to see a gig didn’t you?

Neil: Well only one time to go and see Coheed and Cambria, who aren’t so heavy really.  They are more all-round rock which is kind of the music that I listen to the most.

Tom:  It’s kind of just naturally gone more towards a rock influence.

Neil:  Our music is just a good amalgamation of everything that we’re all into really.

Tom:  The way that we process songs over the last few years has changed as well.  Different influences from the different people in the band are definitely coming into play a bit more which does make it a bit more interesting.

Ollie:  Muse for example, they have just written some amazing songs.  It’s extremely well-crafted music but then it’s proper heavy as well.

Dorry:  The comparisons to bands like Muse are really nice, we love those references.

Ollie: Yeah, we love those references.  We are massive fans of theirs, and Arcade Fire are incredible as well, they have an amazing energy.

Neil: We also find that every gig, someone compares us to a different band.  You often get someone say, ‘oooh you sound like such and such’.  ‘Biffy Clyro with girls’ was a recent one which we absolutely love, it’s a great reference.  Awesome!

Miriam Baines (Kalpesh Patel)

Who writes the songs and how does each member influence the song writing?

Thomas: Ollie basically writes the songs.

Ollie:  Yeah, I tend to write the songs and….

Thomas:  We make them better!

Tom:  We basically say, ‘that’s rubbish you want to do it like this mate’!

Ollie:  I wrote songs and recorded songs on my own before the band, but they weren’t that good really.

All: Aww, they were good!

Ollie: They were fine, but a bit dull.  The other thing is the direction in which we are going influences the song writing massively.  I think we’ve kind of found what it is we like to do and it’s become more unique and more us I think.

Tom:  He’s writing songs at the rate of knots at the moment.  He’ll turn up each week and say, ‘I’ve got a new one guys’.

Miriam: We can’t keep up with it!  We haven’t got enough time as we’re playing so many gigs that we’ve got no time to rehearse.

Dorry: We’ve got a new one for tonight, one that we’ve never played before.  We managed to rehearse it in two hours last Saturday and only as we had a gig cancelled on Saturday.

Miriam:  We managed to get together for two hours to get it up and running so we could play it tonight.  It’s called You Kill Me.  It’s going to be the fifth song we play.

Thomas:  Can you not say “Here’s a new one, we haven’t played it before”. Say it’s a new one, but unless it goes really badly don’t say we hadn’t played it before.

Ollie: That’s exactly what I was going to say!

Tom: Say it’s a new one, maybe afterwards.

Ollie: People want to know before if it’s a new one though, surely?

Dorry: Ok, and say what it’s called.

Neil: Don’t say, “It might go quite badly”.

Ollie: What about if I say it’s the world premiere?

Tom:  Now that’s nice!

Dorry Macaulay (Kalpesh Patel)

Tell us about the new EP Stealing Fire.  New singles When We Were Young and The Phantom feature. I’ve heard there is also song about World War II?     

Ollie: The song about WWII is Our Friends Our Enemies, we’ll play that tonight. The song is about some Czech workers in the Second World War who worked in German ammunition plants making bombs.  They purposefully didn’t put the detonators in and I think a load of bombs fell all over London that didn’t go off because the detonators weren’t there.  Notes were put inside saying ‘this is all we can do for now’.

Miriam: The shells were opened up and someone found the notes in Czech.

Ollie: It’s amazing that loads of lives must have been saved by that and it would have been an incredibly dangerous thing to do.  So, the song is called Our Friends Our Enemies. They are in enemy territory and they are working for the enemies but actually they’re our friends.  It’s just amazing.

Flight Brigade @ Notting Hill Arts Club (Kalpesh Patel)

So how do you know about this? 

Dorry:  There’s a book called The Fall of Fortresses about a navigator who was hit by a number of shells flying over Germany but they didn’t detonate and were amazed to return back to the UK in one-piece. They opened up the shells and founds the notes, similar to the ones found in the empty shells in London.  The concept is very inspiring.

Some of your song lyrics appear to relate to past experiences such as When We Were Young, and Graduation Day.  Do you draw upon your past when you write?

Ollie:  When We Were Young is about general nostalgia and the excitement that brings.  Graduation Day is not about me actually.  It’s about……

Tom:  Ha, he didn’t graduate!

Miriam: Yes he did, I think.

Ollie: I graduated. I got a degree in marine biology, put that in!

Tom:  You got banned from diving though, didn’t you buddy?

Ollie: Oh I did, yeah!

Ollie: Graduation Day about a charity called Spear who help young people get back into work.  There was a one kid that was going to graduate but his folks weren’t alive anymore.  He didn’t want to go to the graduation because all the other people graduating had parents that were going to be there.  The whole rest of the group were like, ‘don’t worry about it, we’ll be with you and you’ll be fine’.  So, that’s what that song is about.

Tom Clay (Kalpesh Patel)

This month you published a beautiful live cover of Florence & the Machines ‘Queen of Peace’. What made you choose that track?

Miriam: We just thought it was a really great song, we really liked it.  Ollie’s mum liked it too.  We asked her what song we should do and she replied, ‘I’ve just heard Queen of Peace on the radio check that one’.

Dorry: We also wanted to do something current.

Ollie: It’s a great song, and really well produced.  And also it’s nice for the girls who can sing so beautifully to take the lead.

Dorry: We organized that one, we took charge!

Your videos are very cinematic, incredibly well made, fun and creative. Where do the video ideas come from and who produces them?

Thomas: Ollie’s brother Seth makes them.

Ollie: It’s my brother Seth but also Miriam and Dorry’s brother Pascal too.

Miriam: Our little brother Pascal works in documentaries and TV and Ollie’s brother Seth is amazing.

Ollie: Also, our brother-in-law, who is married to Miriam and Dorry’s sister does CGI and special effects too.  My other brother also does websites so he helps with our website.

Dorry: So, we have a lot of brothers and a whole team of family that help us out.

Thomas: Sadly I have no helpful brothers!

Neil Blandford (Kalpesh Patel)

Where did you shoot House Fire?

Miriam: With House Fire, it took a long time to make, almost every weekend for a year.  It was shot in Hampshire where we grew up.

Ollie: It was nearly all trespassing on army land, it was very stressful.

Tom: Even if the army did find us, they would just have found a bunch of people all wearing make-up and holding flaming poles.  We looked strange!

Thomas: It took a long time.  Some people’s hair completely changed between the start and the finish and we managed to do it on every coldest weekend of the year.

Ollie: You may also notice at the beginning of the video that Miriam is pregnant.  That’s how long it took, she’s pregnant at the beginning and not at the end.

Miriam: Even though our two brothers took the lead on it, it was very collaborative.  We were all working on ideas and watching all the edits during the week and saying ‘well this weekend we should do this’.  We worked on it literally every weekend.

Tom: When you don’t have a lot of money to spend on these things, you have to do that which takes longer but I think what you get at the end is more real.

Is this why you don’t feature in your latest two videos?

All: Yes!  It’s much quicker if we’re not in it.

Ollie: The video for When We Were Young was done in one day basically.  I called my brother up and was like ‘Can you help?’

Dorry: My brother found the footage and Ollie’s brother put it all together.

Ollie: We will do some more videos with us in them though in the future.

Miriam: We have been dreaming about what our next video might be.  Maybe it’ll be in the hot tub, just one take in the Jacuzzi and be filmed in Hawaii.

Tom: Next time we’ll employ body doubles so we don’t have to do all the work.

Thomas: I think we are just not going to film it outside in the cold again!

Jonny Barker (Kalpesh Patel)

You hope to release your first album in 2016?  How is this progressing, and what might we expect from the album? 

 (All laugh) 

Ollie: Don’t ask that question!

Tom: It’s an on-going joke how long the album is taking because during the process of recording it we’ve learnt quite a lot.  We recorded it once and then decided to start recording it again.  We kept certain sections of it, and it’s been refined and refined and refined.  So, within the band it’s been a bit of an on-going joke but the reality is that the end result is fantastic.

Thomas:  Since the first recording we’ve changed our sound quite drastically, it’s got much better.

Ollie: We have been recording at a studio called Echo Zoo in Eastbourne, right by the sea.  The final few songs we’re not sure where we’ll record yet.

Tom: It’s more of a live recording now, and has more of a live feel.  We are trying to capture that energy that we have on stage in the recording.  It’s been a long process and we giggle about it for that reason.

Dorry: People say we have such energy live and it wasn’t being caught on the initial recording so now we have brought that energy in.

Ollie: We’re actually aiming to have half the album mixed by the end of this year, and then we’ll be finishing the final few songs with a chap called Matt Lawrence [Grammy-award winning producer, engineer and mixer].  So, yeah there’s a plan and the album should be ready next spring.

Dorry: There’s a plan afoot!

Ollie: We cannot wait to have the album out, I tell you.  We feel like we have the right songs now and it’s going well.  I feel glad that we haven’t put out an album that we weren’t fully happy with but we are itching to now.

All: Agreed!

Flight Brigade: Oliver Baines, Miriam Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Thomas Pink, Neil Blandford, Tom Clay & Jonny Barker (Kalpesh Patel)

With such strong relationships within the band, capable song writing, and an electric live vibe, we can expect to see a lot more from Flight Brigade in 2016.  To coincide with the EP release, the band are touring various venues across the UK in November.

Flight Brigade headline the RockShot Mag-curated night of Blogtober Festoval 2017 on 19th October at The Finsbury.

Interview with Flight Brigade by Lauren Patel, October 2015, Notting Hill, London.

Portrait Photography by Kalpesh Patel.

Kalpesh has his own photography website right here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/somethingforkate

http://rockshotmagazine.com/22632/live-luna-bay-albert-man-william-poyer-sherika-sherard-blogtober-festival/