Spotlight: Air Traffic
Silverlake (October 24th, 2007) - Let me introduce you to a band to watch out for in 2008. Air Traffic are four young guys from the south east coast of England in a city called Bournemouth - Chris Wall (Lead singer-songwriter/Piano), David Jordan (Drums), Tom Pritchard (Guitar), and Jim Maddock (Bass). Discovering Air Traffic is a bit like discovering the next The Feeling or Editors, an indie band that suddenly hits the circuit like a jewel, gets people talking, and you know in a heartbeat they are going to go somewhere fast. Except they aren't just an indie band anymore, they've already been through a label bidding war and signed with Astralwerks/EMI. They are the type of band that exude real and raw talent live and although you may start comparing their sound to earlier versions of great bands like Coldplay, Ben Folds, The Feeling, or even Muse at times (listen to Wall on track 5 and you'll know what I'm talking about) - is that really a bad thing? I think not.

Their debut album Fractured Life is a rollercoaster of emotion from joy, love, and grief. The album is short and sweet, clocking in at just 37 minutes (even leaving space for a secret track that puts the cherry on top) but is chock full of anthems that you'll be adding to your playlist. Having heard Air Traffic's debut album Fractured Life on my iTunes and CD player for the past couple weeks I was quite excited to finally see the four boys from Bournemouth live. And there is no better place to see them than at Spaceland/Club NME Los Angeles (the American counterpart of the famed British music magazine NME) who have brought in bands like The Subways and The Young Knives.
 


I turned up with another member of our BandNation staff (D'ette) to check out the place which is nestled in a quaint little neighborhood off the Hollywood Freeway. It's a small little venue but it's definitely got character, even with the shiny prom-like fabric on the walls. Unfortunately, the venue turned out to be 21+ and D'ette was just under the age limit so she wasn't allowed in when it opened - bummer! She did however get to see the band in soundcheck - which is almost like a private concert if you think about it so all was not lost.

- Article, Photos & Interview By: Pamela Lin

Check out exclusive photos from the event by clicking here.


 
 *All songs on Artist Site.
Tracks from "Air Traffic"
Air Traffic
Air Traffic
This month, David, Chris, Tom, and Jim from Air Traffic.
Welcome to LA, what's your stateside visit been like so far?
David: We've had real fun actually. It's like our second time in the States. We did South by Southwest in February, and we did some shows at CMJ in New York we are really good fun. And now we're on our second gig in LA, we played um.. where did we play last night?

Chris: Cinespace.
How was that?
Chris: It was really good actually. It was an odd little sort of venue going on because there's like a DJ next door or or like a party vibe and then we're playing a gig, so I think the people were thinking, "hmm, whats going on here?" But it was good, it was cool. It was our first gig over here.

Are you enjoying LA so far? Have you seen much of LA?

Tom: LA has been really cool so far. We've been over to New York for a couple of days and it's a totally different vibe over here. Everyones a lot more relaxed and you know, you get treated like a human being for once so its really cool. Yeah, and we love it. The weather has been great. We're used to raining all the time and it hardly ever rains here at all.