It’s two weeks on from Semi-Final A of The Underdog 2026, and the night has just about sunk in now. The excitement and fulfilment of playing Thekla is quite a lot to process, let alone the small matter of playing O2 Academy Bristol in… 7 weeks?! Oh wow, it’s getting close already. Fortunately I have an amazing band behind me nowadays – the Waxwings.
I’ve mentioned in a previous post that forming my own band was my musical goal since I’d first started writing songs. So, it was a pretty big deal to me when David and Ben joined me to play The Fleece last August. Both had already been friends of mine for years and I’d had various musical exploits with each of them previously, but never together, and never playing my music. To say that gig was special is an understatement. I’ll even link the unlisted desk audio since I’m in a good mood. Still, we were definitely lacking bass, and for the arrangement I’d always dreamt of we needed keys too.
Left: Debrief in the alleyway after show at The Fleece @wehaveitinphotos
Right: Ben playing a face melting solo at The Fleece @wildspiritphotos
Cue Frankie and Mike! Frankie first, of frankiemydear fame. A wonderful songwriter in her own right, she joined on bass guitar in September, and we played our first gig as a 4-piece that same month, supporting our friends Belle Dame at To The Moon. Soon after I applied us for The Underdog 2026; despite our infancy as a band my ambition was to make it through the heats to Thekla, and as arrogant as it may sound I knew we could do it if the cards fell right. There was just a really good feeling with the band from the word go.
2026 comes along, we’ve a couple more gigs under our belt and we win our first heat of The Underdog on a magical night at The Thunderbolt. That evening I talk to my friend Mike, whom auspiciously had come to all of our gigs at that point, lamenting that I couldn’t think of a keys player to join us. Embarrassingly I was unaware that Mike was a fabulous pianist, despite having played in a band with him previously (he’s an excellent guitarist too, in my defense – and songwriter! Check out his stuff). So it was that our merry band of four became five. Better yet, we soon came up with a name.
Left: First 4-piece band photo, taken after gig at To The Moon @ajball.art
Right: Heat J of Underdog 2026 at The Thunderbolt @photosbychrisi
I think it was Frankie’s Mum that finally suggested ‘Waxwing’. We had gone through every bird imaginable, endeavouring for it to be a local one. Alas, most of them have pre-existing connotations (‘Robin’, for example. COYR.) or just didn’t sound right. Even before we arrived at birds there had been months of deliberation and many a terrible idea. Here are some rejected names:
Seb Longhorn…
– and the A370’s (there were heated debates over this)
– and the Long Way Home
– and the Gnilrats (‘starling’ backwards – David’s idea)
– and the Murmurations
– and the Quantocks
– and the Rain
– and the Short Of It
– and the Talent (also David’s idea. Thanks man.)
Looking at that list, I feel very confident that we picked the right name. It’s funny how obvious it seems in hindsight actually, not least of all because it made for a great T-shirt! Amelia (@ajball.art) knocked it out the park with those big lino print wings. It was wonderful seeing so many of you buying and wearing yours at Thekla. Speaking of…
It was quite surreal piling in for soundcheck the day of the Semi-Final. Firstly, Thekla is a venue I’ve always had a fixation with. It’s an iconic landmark in Bristol that’s played host to countless great bands over the years, as well as many fun nights out for me and my friends. It’s also a boat, and a very cool boat at that, feeling somehow simultaneously large and small as you walk about its maze of corridors (it’s quite easy to get lost if you’ve had a few, speaking from experience). More than any of that though, this was our second gig as a 5-piece, and I’d only started building the band at all 7 months prior.
Left: Bubbles! Full band at Thekla @connorstandfieldphotography
Right: Fan club wearing their new T-shirts
Ready or not, in a flash we were all on stage, facing a sea of people packing out the lower deck and balcony, with projected visuals behind us and bubbles filling the air (it was a very successful trip to Smyths toys, on reflection). I remember it all very well. Might sound a bit daft given it’s only been 2 weeks, but sometimes with gigs it feels like I time-travel from start to finish, particularly with the ones I don’t want to forget. That wasn’t the case this time. From my guitar volume accidentally being rolled down the first couple minutes of the set to the announcement we’d made it through, it’s all burned into my mind. The only times I wasn’t present was because I was listening to my band. They sounded fabulous.
Posing for the winners photo with the Waxwings around me and our friends and family behind us was one of the happiest moments of my life. I am endlessly grateful to Ben, David, Frankie and Mike for their time and effort making it all possible, O2 Academy and beyond. Here’s to more gigs and more music guys.
For now, the Waxwings and I’s next gig is at O2 Academy, Bristol on June 5th. See you there.
Early-bird tickets for The Underdog Final on sale Tuesday 21/04 at 6pm. Link will be on gig page.