MEET THE BAND

In the stifled suburban sprawl of Dartford, music bloomed between Ben and Gav like a defiant dandelion in a crack in the pavement. Ben, all knobbly knees and a mop of unruly hair, pounded out rhythms on a dusty kit of drums scavenged from car boot sales. Gav, with his perpetually grass-stained jeans and a voice that could crack like thunder or coo like a pigeon, strummed an untamed melody on a battered acoustic guitar. Their basement jam sessions were a cacophony of thrashing limbs and off-key hollering, a beautiful rebellion against the beige monotony of their lives. It all started with a stray football and a misplaced drum stick, but in that din, a friendship, and a band, were born.