About

It’s been a long, strange trip since we formed in 2011, full of lucky escapes, disappearances, drunken fence impalings, unexpected pregnacies and being pepper-sprayed by undercover policemen.
We can’t write it all here, so if you want to hear the full story then come and speak to us… we’ll keep it basic for now.

Airdrop formed in May 2011 when Ruben replied to Andy’s add on Gumtree. Andy had already been in London for a year and a half searching in vain for the right person to start a band from scratch with.

Ruben had played to large crowds in his native Spain with various bands and was looking to take the next step. After he got some compensation from a random accident (I think a roof fell on him or something?!) he finally had some money to make the jump and move to London.

He’d been there 3 weeks before they met on Tottenham Court Road. Ruben’s English wasn’t that great at the time, so they communicated pretty much by saying names of the bands they loved, which turned out to be exactly the same. Also, somehow, Ruben spoke better English the more beer he drunk.

After that they started writing songs together in a flat in Stockwell.

They played their 1st gig on Wednesday 17th October 2012 at the Camden Rock with Fred Bonatto on vocals and Nathan Gannon on drums. The promoter had just stuck together random acts so they shared the bill with a Lady Gaga wannabe backed by a guy with one of those keytars who stood permanetly with his back to the audience. But it was a start none-the-less.

The rest of the year was tough after Nathan had to go back to Ireland for family reasons and Fred decided decided to persue journalism and left for university. Ruben then also 1ost his job and it was touch and go whether he could afford to stay in London.

Everything was pretty bleak. It seemed like the band would fall apart just as it was getting started.

Ruben, never the quitter, found a new job and Airdrop carried on. Then luckily, after advertising for bassists, they met Al who was just right for the band, both musically and personally.

The toughest search was for a singer. They met so many of the weird
and wonderful of London (again, ask for the stories, especially
one of them featuring a certain Italian which is ridiculous) but no
one was quite right.

Eventually, after they almost gave up finding anyone, Tom turned up
for an audition. He seemed normal, so it was a good start 🙂 By the end of the session it was clear that not only did he have the
voice but would be a great front man and was also a good laugh. Finally, the long and pretty depressing search for a singer was over.

After found all members 2015 was our most productive year yet. We gigged all round London, at places like Nambucca, The Alley Cat and Hope & Anchor (as part of the Oxjam Islington Takeover Festival) and have built an energetic, exciting live show.

We also went into the studio to record our debut album, which we can’t wait to release this June. Announcements coming very soon!

Looking on further into 2016, we’re planning to tour the album, both in and out of London, and get the word out as much as humanly possible.