Gaoler's Daughter
COMPRISED OF PAST MEMBERS OF THE LITTL’ANS, LARRIKIN LOVE, NO PICASSO AND LETTERS FROM LONDON HAVING ALREADY SUPPORTED ONE-OFF GIGS WITH BABYSHAMBLES, FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE AND MR DOHERTY HIMSELF. QUITE AN IMPRESSIVE FEAT FOR A BAND WHO WERE ONLY SIGNED TO 360 RECORDS THREE MONTHS AGO. IN A BID TO GET TO KNOW THE BOYS BETTER WE TOOK THEM ABOARD A PRIVATE JET AT STANSTEAD AIRPORT COURTESY OF FLY LEA TO GIVE THEM A TASTE OF, WHAT THEY HOPE, IS THE LIFE THEY HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD TO. REVOLVING SEATS AND ALL.
How did you guys get together then?
Alex: I got a call from a mutual friend of mine and Alfie’s asking if I wanted to start a band with him. We were going for about a year before we got any of the others in.
Alfie: We spent ages trying to find other musicians. I’d seen John playing in Nambucca with his old band and the three of us got together and had a bit of a jam.
Alex: To begin with it was kind of like a Sunday jam session but then we realised we were actually pretty good together and it went from there.
So there was there some X Factor style auditioning then?
Alex: Kind of, but in a squat. We tried out three drummers and I knew Ben from when we’d played together five years ago and he was clearly the best one we saw.
Gaoler’s Daughter, what’s the story behind the name?
Alfie: It’s taken from the Wind In The Willows. In the book the Gaoler’s Daughter helps Mr Toad escape from prison. It’s kind of a reference to escapism. We’re pretty big Wind In The Willows fans.
Alex: Who’s not? I do the illustrations for all our art work and I always try to get Toad in the pictures, like on the new EP, The Only Way To Travel the cover is Toad in a jet.
Ben: We actually wanted every EP name to be a quote from the book but I think we’ll run out eventually.
The Only Way To Travel is your new EP, when’s it released?
Alfie: On the 1st December. It’s actually another reference to Wind In The Willows. Every time Toad gets a new way to travel he says, ‘This is the only way to travel.’
Ben: It’s available from all the normal places, iTunes, the 360 Degree (record label) website and also Pure Groove near Spitalfields Market who are selling a limited edition copy. They are also having a free party for the launch of it so everyone’s welcome to come along.
Are you aiming for a Christmas number one?
Alex: Not with this EP, that’s for sure.
John: The next one is entirely Christmas songs though, it’s being released in the summer… I’m joking by the way!
If you were in the Wind In The Willows which character would you be?
John: The rat! He’s the coolest. He knows how to sail and he knows all the other animals.
Alex: I’d be Moley, now that Ratty is taken.
Alfie: I’d be Mr Toad because he’s got lots of cool cars.
Ben: I’d be Mr Badger because he’s got his own house and the others bust over there to stay. Just like me with these boys.
