Aerial Salad are a kick-arse punk band that formed in 2016.
They initially formed with the pure intent of playing The FEST Gainsville which they somehow managed to pull off !! They digitally released 2 E.P’s in advance in the build up to (and in order to actually get on) FEST, and they also played somewhere between 5 and 8 gigs before the festival, the general consensus is that FEST was in fact only the bands 9th gig….!!
The band in their own words say they played “very very very badly” down to their pure ignorance and total lack of playing ability and professionalism!
They say they were a “rag tag bunch of teenagers” seeking purpose and that they may well have played “the worst FEST set of all time“.
Despite that, Aerial Salad continued to be in existence and were offered an amazing opportunity in the form of Daddy Wonk offering to look after the young savages and help put out their album.
Aerial Salad totally credit Wonk Unit for their present success from taking them on a 3 week tour and then effectively a 4 year training course and for teaching them how to actually be a band.
The band’s debut release “Roach” was released in November of 2017 and stole a place in the hearts of many and on top ten lists of the UK punk scene.
“Roach stands tall against many more experienced bands and is up there with Iron Chic and Scum. in terms of 2017’s quality releases. That’s a pretty mighty achievement” – Shout louder zine
‘A remarkable debut, a memory regained on how Punk used to be’ – Liverpool sound and vision
The album helped Aerial Salad get on tours and bills with the likes of, Beach Slang, Wonk Unit, Rebellion Festival(2), Manchester Punk Festival Wonk Fest(2) and many, many more….. They were also a big hit on Spotify playlists too spending 9 months in ‘THE PUNK LIST’ along side genre giants Slaves and Idles
Aerial Salad are a real punk band, having put on multiple DIY tours around Europe and the UK, they have such undoubted passion and dedication and in their own words “you do not shit in the woods and accidentally nearly die 5 times for something you don’t love“.
We recently caught up with, in our opinion, the fucking fantastic, Aerial Salad where we had a little chat and amongst other things, they told us all about their love of Elton John !!!!
Hello and welcome! Please tell us a little bit about yourselves. Who are you, what’s your role within the band and how did you all meet/form?
Hi, I’m Jamie, and I’m with Mike, I’m from Salford, I sing and play guitar, Mike Plays bass and sings backing, we’re like them 2 from Abba (Mike quips there are 4 members of Abba).
We met when I was 15 and Mike was 13, My punk band put on a gig in a sports club in bury, and about 4 different schools filled the gaff, was mad, Mike was there to av a look, and his friend had sex with someone on a cricket pitch, he message me after the gig saying he had fun, and I asked if he wanted to play bass, so that’s it haha, we then got this band together in 2016 so we could play a festival in Florida called THE FEST (innit) which we managed to do, and get banned from playing, because of how outrageously shit we were, down to us all being teenagers and it being our 9th gig, quality!
Aerial Salad, some would say a somewhat unusual name choice for a band. Tell us, how did you come up with the name?
Everyone says its a shit band name, and I do agree it is, we are stuck with it now, the story is very boring, in that band Mike joined when we were in school, we had a guitarist called Luke Booth, his dad was the MOST manc man right, Legend is R’Mick, so Luke’s dad comes into the room we were jammin’ in (excuse the apostrophe in Jamming, It sounds better spoken than it reeds) and he exclaims ‘I was in a band once called Aerial Salad’ that became the name of THIS band, its just always suited us, We’re the spicy salad bois X
Who/What are your musical influences? What sort of genre would you consider your music to be?
Alex Wonk of Wonk Unit is a huge influence on us both, for me (Jamie) I’m influenced by The Replacements,The Stone Roses, Jawbreaker The Flying Medallions but I just love great songwriting, I can always appreciate a sick song despite its genre, unless its fucking Matty music (super heavy metal; sorry Matty)
Mike is influenced by – Snuff, Operation Ivy, Stiff Little Fingers, Wire, Minor Threat We consider ourselves to be a Punk band, but that words a bit messy at the moment so we’re just a fucking shouty pop band innit, like brit pop but with tighter clothes.
What’s your favourite song of yours and why?
Fever dream off our new album which you can pre-order here – https://wonkunit.com/shop/aerial-salad-dirt-mall/ (shine a bit of light on a unreleased single album track) I also like Stressed, which is another song no one can hear yet
What do you consider the best lyric you’ve ever written to be?
Errr, ‘I’m Tabular Rasa Don’t destroy my mind’
What’s your favourite song of all time by any other band/artist and why?
For me (Jamie) its Different/Not Mine By Wonk Unit, Mike’s is Not superstitious by Leatherface.
What’s going on with you at the moment? Do you have any gigs planed or upcoming events?
Yes We have a New Album coming out, and we’re doing a UK and Euro tour, It will be our 4th time in Europe, and I’m fucking Buzzin, We’re bringing along an American Band we played with in Hamburg, called Decent Criminal, Who are like a west coast version of The Cribs meets Green Day, We’re also looking at booking some more tours on the mainland this year, also if any cunt wants to give us a gig shout yeah? aerialsalad@gmail.com
What’s been the best gig you’ve played so far and what would be your dream gig to play?
For Mike its Boomtown, for me its FEST hahaha, errrrr dream gig, Honestly right, If we could just fucking sell out, on our own somewhere like Manchester Academy, where we went to our first gig would just be mad, if you’d asked us when we started the band, we’d have said FEST n we did that, so we’re on good track ??? (nervous laugh)
Who would you most like to share a stage with (past or present)?
Sir Elton John, We have this whole thing, just Imagine right, playin a fucking punk song, 9PM pryamid stage at Glasto right, everyone in the audience havin’ it large, few drinks, bitta this n that, avin a shout, then we’re just like ‘LADIES AND GENTLEMAN SIR ELTON JOHN) and then he fuckin, rolls out on a solid gold piano and starts absolutely laying fingers to the cunt (the piano, working his magic over us singing about Austerity and Temp jobs haha, Just imagine the scenes!
What’s the best thing and worst thing about being in a band?
The best thing about it is spending time together, we’ve luckily toured a lot for a young band and just growing up doing this, has been pretty fucking mad, I’ve seen a lot of things, because of that there are no bad things.. (mikes been sick in my face twice, we’ve been banned from a festival, had someone smuggle themselves into our van, nearly been stabbed, nearly been rammed off the road and then stabbed and other things that were not as nice as walking round Penge with Matty in a state of rancorous contempt for a greggs being closed)
What three words best sum you up as a band?
Benson and Hedges
FOLLOW AERIAL SALAD HERE
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aerial_salad/?hl=en
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aerialsaladband/
Twitter @AerialSalad
Website https://wonkunit.com/shop/aerial-salad-dirt-mall/ / https://aerialsalad.bandcamp.com/
Finally, we’d like to say a massive thank you to AERIAL SALAD for taking time out of their busy schedule and for Talking to The Songbird xx
The songbird 