When trying to break up a fight that had erupted in a local pub where “O” used to promote gigs, he wondered for a moment whether there was an easier way to make a living - the response was a resounding NO. Music was the only living that he wanted to make.
After a few false starts with a powerpop, thrash punk band he decided he wanted to deliver something more than a 2-chord cynical rant on speed. He met Darren at a local rehearsal studio and they played in various different bands together for the next few years with “O” playing guitar and just doing backing vocals. When their old singer left all of a sudden “O” decided to try his luck at singing. As other band members drifted off, they realised that they functioned better as a two-piece and decided to call it Black Bikini Alpha.
BBA are two misfits, brought together over a love of gritty, hard hitting but uplifting music. For them, it’s about the songs and making that important connection with people – on record and live.
The songs are inspired by growing up, living and working in London. The themes are wide ranging from, describing post-7/7 tension in ‘London Town is Falling Down’ through to the importance of hope in times of adversity on ‘Reason To Believe’, and down to the late night underworld sleaze of ‘Dance Like A…’. Their song ‘Swag’ was released on a US compilation last month and is now on rotation on Californian Radio. Their anthemic song about sexual experimentation ‘Kicking and Screaming’ was included in the ‘BEST OF 2007’ selection on the BBC6 Music Tom Robinson show.
Black Bikini Alpha’s energetic and evocative live show has earned them main support slots with Fun Lovin’Criminals, Reef and Feeder. They also spent a few weeks gigging in New York which was organised by an obsessed fan who turned out to be a schizophrenic. All part and parcel of being in a band!
Catch them now before they explode and say you were there at the beginning….
