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Further to our recent article about The Aviators’ current gigs, we thought it would be good to do an in-depth profile of the band. Here at www.eastkilbride.co.uk we believe in nurturing local talent and giving bands a platform to take their talents to the wider public.
I caught up with the boys in the band for a chat.
First off I wanted to know how The Aviators formed. The boys explained “The Aviators existed before our new drummer was around and was formed for a battle of the bands. So we had a gig arranged for January 2011 with no drummer. After trying out new drummers we decided against taking them on. At the time our new drummer Steven was with another band playing on the same night so we asked him to fill in for us as we were short. But things worked out really well so we agreed that Steven would become a member of The Aviators.”
I’m always curious to find out why bands chose their names and asked Steven, the drummer, where their name came from. He said “We were watching “Top Gun” and along with the aviation the actors wore “Aviators” sunglasses, so it was agreed to call the band The Aviators. We had some horrid names suggested.”
Each band member is inspired by different people. Steven is a fan of Chad Smith, the drummer from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tom Chaplin from Keane. Lyrically his main inspiration is Chris Martin from Coldplay.
Steven continued “Bradley, our guitarist, finds inspiration in the work of John Lennon and Kings Of Leon. He loves Kurt Cobain for his lyrical work.
”Our vocalist Darren loves The Doors, Pink Floyd and The Smiths. Lyrically again he is a fan of The Doors’ Jim Morrison and Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys.
”Ewen our bassist is mainly inspired by King Of Leon, in all aspects of music.”
The Aviators are coming up to an exciting time, with an EP release coming soon. Steven explained “We are planning to release our forthcoming EP on 28th October. Currently it does have a name but this is subject to change!” Steven wouldn’t provide any more information, the big tease.
As expected, The Aviators have a lot of gigs lined up to promote their EP. Steven said “We have a massive gig headlining the ABC2 in Glasgow on 7th October. We are also playing a hometown gig at EK Arts Centre on 22nd October and have another huge headline gig at Classic Grand where we will be actually releasing our first EP as well as having the gig Halloween-themed!” This sounds like a great night in store, a bit of live music and an excuse to dress up! What more can you ask for?
I asked Steven what he thought The Aviators’ best gig was and he said “Our best gig was definitely when we played Westwood Community Church for the STV Appeal 2011, we all got really into it and enjoyed ourselves!”
They wouldn’t be drawn on the subject of their worst gig, saying “We try our best to enjoy every gig we play.” They were also rather coy on the subject of hell raising on tour, saying ““We’ve never been caught…yet.”
I asked the boys if they could be in another band, who would they choose and why? Steven would like to be in Muse as “the band are musically very good and always put on a great show.”
Bradley says “Paulo Nutini because it looks fun to play in a "Full" band with a brass section and the rest.”
Darren explained “I would love to be in Radiohead to find out how they make music.”
Ewen said he would enjoy being a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers as “they would be the most fun to play with live.”
The Aviators are true fans of music themselves so I asked them what bands they are excited about at the moment. They paid a lot of consideration to other small Scottish bands and recommended to all users of our websites to check out their favourites. Steven said “There are a few. We love Mr Kil, a fantastic band from Glasgow, Call me Salvador who are supporting us at Classic Grand, Washington Irving, who have a fantastic unique sound and The Detours. We’ve supported The Detours before and as well as being a phenomenal band the guys have been a great help to us!”
The band are also huge fans of Noel Gallagher, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Agnes and Julia Stone and Stiff Little Fingers. A wide variety of genres covered there!
I asked The Aviators if they had any advice for other local bands. They said “Give it your best, practice practice practice, and don’t book gigs until you are ready.”
They also advised “Don’t stand static during gigs, put on a performance!” Wise words indeed.
Catch The Aviators at the ABC2 tonight, or at their Halloween gig at the Classic Grand on 28th October.
