Can you give us as insight into where the name Heathrow Jets comes from?

Andy: “The band’s name comes from a line in The Sound of the Suburbs, a song released in 1979 by punk band The Members, who came from Camberley. The second verse starts with the line “Every lousy Monday morning Heathrow Jets go crashing over my home”, and we thought “Heathrow Jets – that’s a good name”.  After a quick Google search, we confirmed no other bands were using the name, plus the website domain was available, which is critical for promoting the band!”

How and when did the band come together and what inspired you to play together?

Paul: “In late 2007, I responded to an advert placed by Pete, our founding guitarist, who felt there was demand for a band playing old punk covers to a Saturday night pub audience of forty-somethings, who were teenagers in the late 70’s and would love to hear those songs played live! Pete reached out to Andy, as they’d played in a band before, and I went along to an audition with founding rhythm guitarist, Harvey.”

Andy: “We all met for the first time at a studio in Wokingham and started working through a list of potential punk songs we could cover. Our first gig was at Hartley Wintney golf club in April 2008, with a singer called Simon, but Simon wasn’t right for the band, and after a short while, Kev joined in his place. Our guitar line-up changed a couple of times, with Harvey, Matt and Brian being replaced by Lewis and Breeds in 2010 and 2011 respectively, to form the line-up we have today.”

For readers who might not have heard you before, is there a genre of music you usually play?

Andy: “With an initial plan to cover early punk songs, we soon ran out of well-known ‘classic’ songs and started to look for high-energy rock songs by similar guitar bands. We wanted to steer clear of ‘pub rock standards’ like Free and The Rolling Stones or self-indulgent album tracks, so we’ve fine-tuned a more exciting setlist featuring party rock anthems and floor-fillers by the best 80’s and 90’s indie, punk and alt bands.”

What are some of your favourite pieces to cover?

Paul: “We play a pretty large range of songs, but the idea is to create a fun party atmosphere playing the favourite or encore song by a band we cover, and adding our influence. We enjoy a gig if the audience is having a great time, so we like to see people singing and dancing along to songs like Mr Brightside, We Will Rock You, Parklife, American Idiot, Chelsea Dagger, but we have a lot of surprises and medleys that get people joining in.”

What have been some of the stand out gigs/shows/projects you’ve been involved in? Any unforgettable moments?

Andy: “Every show has a moment! Generally, it’s a moment with the audience such as a mid-gig marriage proposal and a bride and groom who came straight from their wedding and were invited to dance with us on stage! After a particularly lively gig, a security guard who’d been bracing the barriers against the mosh-pit, jokingly complained that every song we played raised the energy levels even higher, making his job harder and harder … which is exactly what we intended!”

Paul: “We’ve had our fair share of technical dramas and problems to manage while making sure the show goes on, but the worst was when I had a non-stop nose bleed for the last six songs! The outdoor gigs are always highlights and the National Windsurfing Festivals on Hayling Island and the Concert on the Green at Elevetham Heath in Fleet have been amazing. With wireless technology, we like to join the audience on the dancefloor, and must have shown up in hundreds of people’s photographs and videos - which we never get to see!”

What is the best advice you’ve been given and would pass on to any budding musicians and artists?

Andy: “It takes years to learn to play an instrument, and even more time and effort to put a band together with a setlist that works, but it’s a privilege to share with an enthusiastic audience, so it’s important to enjoy what you do and have fun doing it."

Paul: “Being in a band is like being in a gang – a ‘you against the world’ sort of thing – so it’s a great pleasure to be doing this and we appreciate the chance to share our passion when we play live. An audience knows if you are 'phoning it in', and it’s obvious at our gigs that we all love playing in front of an audience - and we leave nothing on the stage after a show!”

Thanks guys!

The band recently played at the Frimley Green Club on Sturt Road for the first time and had an incredible time performing, and are looking forward to playing there again.

To keep up to date with their upcoming shows visit the websites below and follow the band on Facebook for regular updates on the next party!

www.heathrowjets.com

www.facebook.com/HeathrowJetsBand

www.lemonrock.com/heathrowjets