Music can make your trips more memorable this year—especially if you check out the local music scene. Whether you’re in London or Liverpool, you’ll find emerging musicians like the Stowaways to provide the perfect soundtrack to that smashing British holiday. The Stowaways, an emerging indie rock band, play the London music scene and have performed at a number of venues, including the 2012 London Olympic Games.
As the Stowaways’ fame spreads, other artists are tuning in to listen. Colin Rivera, the lead singer of the American-British alternative pop rock band the Lovecapades, says, “I like their sound a lot. The British guitar tone is gorgeous, and they certainly have the vocal quality present in a lot of mainstream British rock.”
For this exclusive interview, Stowaway spoke with Rudi Falla, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter of the Stowaways.
How did you come up with the word “Stowaways” for your band name?
We just liked the sound of it. We brainstormed for ages, and that seemed to have kind of a familiar ring to it. That’s the only reason for it really. Why are you called Stowaway magazine?
Because we want our readers to have a fun adventure and just stow away to some place exciting—and enjoy it by reading our magazine.
Awesome—I guess that’s not many miles off the vibes of our music.
What sets the Stowaways apart from other indie bands?
We want our songs to shine through, big and strong. We’re kind of changing our direction right in the minute. We’re just trying to broaden our spectrum on what we write about. And we’re bringing in some other influences from South Africa and listening to American bands like Tori Y Moi or Washed Out. That’s kind of the ambient vibe.
Is there a reason behind this change in your sound?
We want to have a more defined sound that you can hear and go,
“Oh, that’s the Stowaways.” Something like that where we could have an album, and the songs could sit as a continuous body of work.
What was it like playing for an international audience at the London Olympics in 2012?
It was awesome. It was amazing just to be involved in the whole Olympics and to go into the park and soak up the atmosphere. We had such good times at the Olympics and the Paralympics as well. It was awesome.
With your success at the Olympics, do you think you’ll be traveling to the United States any time soon?
We’d love to. [Chuckles.] Our housemate went there last March. I was playing bass with him, so I got to go over, and it was amazing. So, I’d like to get the Stowaways on it. It’s the next avenue we’ll be working on.
What’s it like to travel with your band?
We love getting out of London because London can be kind of a tough crowd. Sometimes everyone’s quite stoic, you know; they just stand and watch whether they’re enjoying it or not. [Laughs.] They just kind of don’t move at all.
We love getting out. We’d love to get some gigs in Europe because we love traveling, and we’d love to be on tour in 2013. Generally, that’s a good way to do it, especially if you can get your way paid as well.
Where’s your favorite venue to play at in London?
Favorite venue—probably the KOKO in London. It’s really cool. Just a nice place. It has an old theater-type vibe, but it’s really cool.
So, if our readers were to visit London and wanted to get the best music, where should they go?
For indie music or alternative stuff like that, there’s a venue called XOYO. They’ve got some real cool acts there. That’s near Old Street in central northeast London.
What advice do you have for musicians who are trying to begin the adventure of starting a band?
What we’ve decided to do is pull back from gigging too much and not worry about chasing management or chasing industry people too much. We’ve just focused on the songs—that should always be the priority, really. So I’d say, “Don’t forget about the songs.”
www.thestowawaysmusic.com
www.koko.uk.com
www.xoyo.co.uk
Aaron Airmet
I love to see travel through the perspective of music. I’d love to see more about where to travel for the best music scenes.
I love this article because it has both international appeal and local appeal (with Colin, a local artist, being quoted).
This my first time hearing about this band. I like the impression this article leaves. They sound like down to earth people. Right after I leave this comment, I’m going to look up their music. I think it’s great the Stowaway magazine wasn’t afraid to write a feature about another group with the same name. Thumbs up!
This band sounds great! I love how they try to have a different distinguishing sound to stand out. That’s the thing that makes most people remember a band, by the different features. I love indie music and hope that the Stowaways make it over to the United States. Or maybe I could stow away to London.
What a clever idea. Who contacted who? Did the magazine contact the band first, or the other way around? I hope they wrote a song about the magazine. I mean, it’s only fair since you wrote an article about the band.
I thought this article was very fun to read. It is so cool that The Stowaways is a band in England. Now I want to listen to their music. They sound like a great band. I also think it is cool that they played at the Olympics.
I totally get what he said about English audiences being too stoic! I saw Jersey Boys in Soho when I was there two summers ago and me and my friend were the seemingly the only ones getting into it. We dressed up in ’60s mod dresses and were singing along and bouncing around in our seats, but no one else hardly even clapped or laughed during the whole musical!
I loved this section of the magazine; I think you should do more to expose your readers to international music. I love the recipe section of the magazine, and I think a music section would benefit as well. I love finding new music, I think most people do.
I love that you were able to do a story on a band that matches the name of the magazine. I’m also really glad that within the story the musician asks why this magazine is called “Stowaway.” When I first saw the article I thought one had to do with the other, which made me read the story to find out and learn something new about both entities.
I love that you were able to do a story on a band that matches the name of the magazine. I’m also really glad that within the story the musician asks why this magazine is called “Stowaway.” When I first saw the article I thought one had to do with the other, which made me read the story to find out and learn something new about both entities.