Serendipity, collaboration and an appreciation of quality footwear turns out to be the secret to a good band yet again, as Ain’t’s second single marks them out as ones to watch.
Words: Stephen Ackroyd.
Photos: Marieke Macklon.
In a dimly lit East London pub, a compliment about a pair of shoes spiralled into an all-night conversation. Soon, a band was born – not through meticulous planning or industry matchmaking, but through the serendipitous pull of quality footwear, exactly as the chemistry of all great music demands. This is the genesis of Ain’t, a London-based five-piece weaving together the stranger threads of 90s guitar, post-punk, and shoegaze into a sound that’s as unpredictable as it is captivating. In good shoes.
“Ed really liked George’s shoes, so gave him a compliment at the bar, and then they spent the entire evening talking about Smashing Pumpkins,” recalls lead vocalist Hanna Baker Darch.
The chance meeting between guitarists Ed Randall and George Ellerby was the spark that ignited Ain’t’s formation — but assembling the rest of the lineup was a blend of long-standing friendships and a touch of fortuity. “George then reached out to Joe and me, as we’d all been friends for ages,” Hanna explains. Drummer Joe Lockstone was a natural addition, but finding a bassist required a more unconventional approach. “We found Chapman in the bathroom at the Victoria in Dalston. Not physically, but we put some flyers in there advertising for a bassist, and Chapman emailed us something to the effect of, ‘Please, please, please let me join your band’, which made us realise he’s perfect – and maybe also stroked our egos a bit.”
Formed in the summer of 2022, Ain’t are a collaborative endeavour from the ground up – their creative process is a group affair. “Typically, George or Ed will bring a riff or idea to practice, and it’s very much a communal effort to turn the fiddly bits into fleshed-out songs.”
Yet the path to releasing their debut single was anything but smooth. Life, with all its unpredictability, had other plans. It was “honestly, quite difficult,” Hanna admits, “not in regard to writing the music, which is always so natural and easy with these boys, but in finding a way to get these songs realised and recorded and released at a time when it has felt like life was conspiring against that ever happening.”
“Between band members moving away, medical issues, visa complications, losing family, it just hasn’t been a straightforward year for anyone.”
Navigating the tension between creative aspirations and real-world responsibilities is a familiar struggle for many emerging artists. “Sometimes trying to make space for the tween dreams of being a musician around real life can feel very trivial,” she reflects. Despite these challenges, the band’s cohesion remained their anchor. “We’ve been lucky. We’ve had each other, and we’ve had so much fun and so many silly moments along the way. We’ve also had our manager Tom, who has always been so supportive and has dragged us kicking and screaming to a point where we’re able to share these songs that we’re so proud of.”
“It was love at first sight – at least, Ed really liked George’s shoes”
Before any official tracks were available online, Ain’t made a deliberate choice to cultivate their identity through live performances — a decision that harkens back to a time when word of mouth was king. “It’s a good question, and it might seem slightly gauche to talk about COVID well into 2024, but I do think coming out of that period of homebound stir-craziness gave everyone a newfound appreciation of hanging out with their friends and seeing live music,” Hanna observes. “This probably contributes to the fact we’re able to perform as much as we do, as there’s a lot of demand for new bands in London’s indie venues.”
For some members, stepping onto the stage was a novel experience. “Although Ed, Jeevan, Chapman, and Joe had previously been in bands, George and I both had our first live performances with Ain’t, and it felt like a significant milestone compared to years spent writing scratchy things on GarageBand and uploading it – maybe – to Bandcamp,” Hanna shares. The transition from bedroom recordings to live shows brought its own revelations. “I guess the bottom line is that live music is fun, but it also teaches you to be better, and introduces you to so many other amazing acts who become close friends and creative influences.”
Their performances have struck a chord with audiences, not through manufactured, polished perfection but through raw authenticity. When asked what resonates with people, Hanna offers a candid insight: “Half the time, we don’t even know what we’re doing on stage, because it’s so in the moment.” Embracing the unpredictability of live music has become part of their ethos. “Personally, I’ve learnt to not stress about being perfect – people are there to see a performance, and slip-ups are less noticeable if you’re having fun with it. In our earliest shows, I hardly moved because I had such bad stage fright – and I think we’ve all loosened up to a certain extent now.”
The synergy among band members extends beyond their stage presence. Hanna speaks fondly of their collective musicianship. “I can’t help but gush about how artful my bandmates are – Ed, George, and Chapman have a really refined taste in pedals and know exactly when to use them in our songs, so you get a great balance between moments of tenderness or overdriven lunacy,” she enthuses. “Joe is a fantastic drummer, and his inspirations are far-ranging, so his rhythms can be unpredictable, although they always match the right energy.”
Their second single, ‘Teething’, encapsulates the band’s ability to meld thematic depth with compelling soundscapes. Described as “definitely our creepiest song,” it delves into the discomfort of unreciprocated attention. “Ed wrote it ages before Ain’t formed and had time to really develop its theme,” the band explain in an accompanying press blurb. The haunting lyric “You don’t even notice me from the window” serves as a focal point. “It’s about vying for someone’s attention when they couldn’t care less – and how the sting of that rejection isn’t so much a sting, but a persistent throbbing, like toothache,” Hanna elaborates. “It’s a really well-realised idea, and Ed’s done a great job of presenting both sides of the story – the narrator is whingy and hateful, which is how the audience (and object of affection) should see them, but also the sensation of unrequited attraction is so easy to sympathise with, because nearly everyone’s experienced it.”
“Half the time, we don’t even know what we’re doing on stage, because it’s so in the moment”
In contrast, their debut single, ‘Oar’, emerged from a different creative process. “‘Teething’ was written long before ‘Oar’, and Ed configured most of it—the bridge section was a group effort, but it hasn’t changed too much from its conception,” Hanna notes. “‘Oar’, on the other hand, was the first song we ever worked on, and it went through a bunch of changes before getting to the recording stage. George wrote the main riff and we worked together on the lyrics, and, of course, we had the wonderful Jeevan back then to assist with the writing process.”
‘Oar’ ventures into imaginative realms, blending personal and mythical narratives. “We also don’t have many songs like ‘Oar’, lyrically at least – most of our stuff is more about hurt feelings, like ‘Teething’, but ‘Oar’ is kind of fantasy-larping a commoner’s frustration with an evil kingdom,” Hanna reveals. The song intertwines medieval legend with modern sentiment. “I didn’t realise George was alluding to COVID in his earlier drafts, so I took up the medievalism with the legend of Llys Helig, and we ended up with that.”
Looking ahead, Ain’t are eager to explore new sonic territories. “I think broadly over time we’ve steered away from the morose and dour (not that I’d describe ‘Oar’ or ‘Teething’ as such), so I guess in terms of other sides we’re hoping to showcase, we’re certainly keen to bring more of our pop sensibilities to the fore,” Hanna muses. Their evolution is evident in their recent compositions. “It may just be subjective, but it feels there is a difference in sound between songs we’ve written more recently as a full band versus our earlier material. There is a bit of a departure from both tracks in the songs we’ve got stewing away in the rehearsal rooms.”
Their immediate plans are as dynamic as their music. “We’re back in the studio! We’re recording a track called ‘Pirouette’ with Oli Barton-Wood, who recorded ‘Oar’ and ‘Teething’. We’ve loved working with him as we’ve been fans of his work with artists like Porridge Radio and Nilüfer Yanya,” Hanna shares with palpable excitement. “It’s a very fun track to play live, so we’re all excited to get into the studio and have it recorded.”
The band’s calendar is filling up with performances that stretch beyond their London roots. “We’ve got a pretty busy November and December gigging in and out of London: we’ve got a few shows in Bristol, Northampton, and Leeds, and we’re excited for our upcoming Halloween gig at 100 Club with Man/Woman/Chainsaw,” she says. The Halloween show holds particular allure for Hanna. “This will be my first opportunity to attack the other Aintlings with budget costumes and makeup brushes, so it feels like a performance turning point, for me at the very least.”
Beyond their musical pursuits, the members of Ain’t engage in a variety of activities that enrich their collaborative spirit. “Chapman plays for a five-a-side football team and Joe films and edits gigs in the London music scene,” Hanna notes. Attempts at more structured hobbies often take a backseat to spontaneous enjoyment. “George and I have made a few attempts at maintaining a film club, and Ed joined forces to try an album club, but the watchlist is now at the status of 54 films: never seen – inevitably, we get distracted by a shared penchant for creating overly elaborate sandwiches, or a good beer garden, several friends, some crusty communal vapes.”
Hanna herself is branching into new creative territories. “I’m going to be doing a spoken word performance of our song ‘Maude’ – which I wrote as a poem before Ain’t – at an event my friend Scarlett Woolfe curated, called ‘A Woman Becomes a Wolf When She Learns How to Scream’ at the George Tavern on the 22nd September,” she announces. “It’s a really special night, all about unheard and underrepresented female voices, and it’ll mean a lot to me, especially because ‘Maude’ is an homage to my late friend Lara.”
Ain’t’s narrative is one of organic growth, marked by a willingness to embrace uncertainty and find inspiration in unexpected places. Their journey underscores the vitality of the live music scene and the enduring appeal of genuine artistic collaboration. But also, additionally – importantly – it shows just how important it is for people in bands to wear good shoes. Take note. ■
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