Airways

Airways have been described as "a young, refreshing and exciting indie rock band with hints of Arctic Monkeys, Cage The Elephant, Gorillaz and Circa Waves”

The band from Peterborough via Chicago, consists of Jake (singer/guitarist), Alex (guitarist), Jamie (bass) and Brian (drums). Having played Reading and Leeds before their one-year anniversary as a band in 2016, their story is an unusual one. Singer Jake ran into Brian in LA by chance when spending some time there writing music, and upon finding out he was a drummer asked him to join his up until then non-existing band on the spot. 2 months later Brian stood on Jake’s doorstep in Peterborough and Airways was born. Still short of a guitarist and bassist, Jake recruited lifelong friend Alex and Birmingham based Jamie to join their newly founded band.

Having found all their members, Airways went straight in the practice room – knowing that “it’s really hard to find a band where everyone is fully committed, especially when you’re younger and everything. So it’s nice to go into it knowing everyone is 100% dedicated and just work.” For Airways, “rather die trying to make it than… die not trying to make it! Do or do not, there is no try” is the band’s ethos. They simply exude a drive and dedication to their music, which shows from their relentless practicing and writing of new material.

Along the way, they've supported a diverse mix of artists on sold out UK tours from Southend-On-Sea band Nothing But Thieves, British-Australian indie band Sunset Sons to Hertfordshire rock band The Hunna. Airways also managed to enlist Nothing But Thieves guitarist Dom Craik as co-producer for their forthcoming debut EP as well as Julian Emery, who is best known for his work with Nothing But Thieves and Lissie. Early in 2016, the band shared their first song ‘Ghost Town’, a finely tuned upbeat track with indie pop-rock sensibilities. The song reflects on societal change and comments on today’s society being immersed in technology.

Picked up by Charlie Ashcroft at Amazing Radio, the track surged to the top of the poll on his Audition show to find a regular place on the station’s playlist, with John Kennedy picking up the track for Radio X, together with plays across a number of BBC Introducing shows. Follow up track ‘One Foot’ kept the buzz around the band growing, with the accompanying video idea being changed quite drastically from, “We wanted to have someone stuck in the house, go outside and all of a sudden it’s 300 years into the future.. but we didn’t have the budget. So we had to just get loads of people in black t-shirts they bought from H&M follow Jake around London”. The video portrays the track itself very well, addressing the struggle of being young in the 21st Century and feeling out of place.

After self-releasing three songs, Airways released their debut EP. With comparisons from Jamie T, Cage The Elephant, Gorillaz to Twenty One Pilots, the guys are excited to see how their EP will be received. Airways themselves however don’t aim to be pigeonholed, describing their own sound as groovy rock and with Jake saying that, “it’s important for us to focus on something different for each song and make sure they don’t sound exactly the same, but still have something that gels them all together. And that’s my whiny shitty voice. And I think quirky lyrics as well”

After a successful headline tour in the UK in February, the band set off to America to showcase at SXSW 2017. Brian says “I’ve known about SXSW forever since I’m from America, and always wanted to go. Now the first time I get to go we’re playing! It’s awesome.” They are also about to be joining Nothing But Thieves on their UK tour later this month. At their live shows they ooze confidence while their fan-base is growing steadily from people who've stumbled across them to the more avid hardcore followers. Just the right amount of cockiness required to create a band, Airways are set to seek and destroy every venue they come across, picking up new fans and plaudits along the way.