From Kingston’s local circuit to their debut EP, ROADSHOW are making music out of loneliness, uncertainty and the strange emotional terrain of growing up.
There is something fitting about ROADSHOW describing their music as “like if Wunderhorse and Basement had a baby”. Their sound is built on contrast: heavy enough to hit you in the chest, atmospheric enough to linger, and emotionally driven by the uncertainty of figuring yourself out in your twenties.
Photo Credits: @maxjamesphotography
The Kingston-based five-piece have only properly lived in the area for just over a year, but they have already become part of its local music community. For ROADSHOW, the scene is as much about the bands around them as it is about the venues. “We have only lived here properly just over a year but the number of bands we have met in the local area has been cool. Theres such a drive in these small bands like us to get somewhere which I think has really pushed us to push harder to be seen.” One place in particular has become a favourite. “We also love the Fighting Cocks, and we'll be playing there on the 16th of September.”
That sense of community and ambition feeds into a sound that refuses to sit neatly in one box. Heavier influences meet moments of shoegaze, while five different sets of musical tastes pull the band in different directions. “Honestly its tough, all 5 of us have different influences some heavier than others and some just completely different genres. I think myself personally I'm influenced a lot by what I’m listening to currently and that's the direction the song takes,” Danny explains. “I think that means some songs end up heavier than others and some a bit happier and ‘indie’ We tend to go with what we think suits the vibe though and a sad but heavy/ huge instrumental has always been appealing.”
That balance comes through particularly strongly on their upcoming debut EP, where emotional vulnerability gets a considerably louder outlet.
Photo Credits: @maxjamesphotography
For Danny, that vulnerability is especially evident in “Lifeboat”. Written during his first year of university isolation, the song began in a specific period of his life but has taken on a meaning that extends beyond it. “I think everyone feels isolated at times, uni became such a big part of my life where I knew loads of people who all lived in the same town, and then one day it was over and we moved home.” That sudden shift left its mark. “So, the song itself I think still holds that emotional weight as there are times where I feel overwhelmed and isolated while navigating post uni life.”
The emotional centre of “Lifeboat” remains just as potent live. For Danny, it is one particular section that still hits hardest: “For me the b-section of the song I guess the ‘I don't want to be here without you, this isolations driving me insane’ that's the part that still gets me when I sing, it was written from a place where my girlfriend and I had just started long-distance and that was weird to be experiencing these new things without her.”
For Lorna, the most powerful moment comes from the music itself: “For me the moment where all the instruments crash in together is impactful and feels intense.”
Photo Credits: @adame_photographyy
That contrast between lyrical vulnerability and instrumental force runs through ROADSHOW's approach. Loneliness might sit at the heart of a song, but the band aren't interested in presenting those feelings quietly.
Their approach to lyrics has evolved alongside them. Danny's earlier songwriting was more focused on invention: “When I was making songs when I was younger the lyrics tended to be random and more made-up stories about something completely crazy.” Now, he says, “The lyrics tend to me more focussed on feelings or emotions than actual experiences and kind of making up stories or using other people's experiences to convey those emotions.” Growing older has made those emotions easier to understand: “I think as I've got older and matured these emotions are easier to navigate and understand which I why I like writing about them.”
That emotional clarity sits at the centre of the upcoming EP. Across the songs, uncertainty and loneliness keep returning, particularly in “Bones”, which Danny describes as their most emotional track. “Majority of the songs centre around uncertainty and feeling lonely, something I think I've struggled with a lot over the past year- we have a song called ‘Bones’ that is probably our most emotional song but it really captures how I felt at a time and were really excited to record that, as it's gone down well live.”
"I think music helps me to feel like I'm not the only one going through something and I would love for us to be that for someone else."
The band's sense of power also comes from the way those five different parts come together in the studio. “I think when recording, drums always hit and a cool drum take means the song is going to be awesome, but also, when all the instruments really do their part to make something separate a whole.” For ROADSHOW, that moment happens when the individual parts stop sounding individual: “When the song doesn't sound like 5 people playing their parts and it starts to sound put together that really does it for me.” Ultimately, they want that sense of togetherness to reach their listeners, too.
“Me personally I want people to be able to listen to the lyrics and not feel alone if they're feeling that way, I think music helps me to feel like I'm not the only one going through something and I would love for us to be that for someone else,” Danny says. For Lorna, the instrumentation adds another dimension: “I feel where the lyrics can be quite moody, but the instrumentation can be quite charged, it can turn a feeling of loneliness into something powerful and hopefully energise the listener.”
It is a fitting philosophy for a band turning isolation into something shared. ROADSHOW's next step is simple: finish the EP, get it out into the world, and play it live. When asked what comes next, their answer is immediate. “GIGS GIGS GIGS”.
Something to look forward to.
LIFEBOAT OUT NOW.
Words by
Marie Müller, 2026