New soul band Bambus City Strut are playing their first gig of the year at Kingston’s Grey Horse on February 17. The band’s songwriter and lead vocalist, Sasha Patterson, took some time out from managing the seven-piece to talk to Claire Fox.

Claire Fox: Who is in the band?
Sasha Patterson: There are eight of us at the moment, but it is probably going to expand further. Aside from myself, there’s Stephanie on backing vocals, Simon and Paul in the horn section, Tom on drums, Ant on guitar and Sujay on bass guitar. Then there’s Nelson. He’s our little dynamite. He does everything and plays everything.

CF: How did you all meet? SP: I’m with the band’s drummer, Tom, and we both decided we wanted to get a band together so we put an ad in Gumtree and it went from there. Everything is so indie-led at the moment, so we wanted to get some soul going.

CF: How do you co-ordinate eight band members who all have day jobs? SP: It’s about keeping everyone in the loop and talking to each other every day so everyone knows what they’re doing. It will become more difficult when we start writing new material again, though, and everyone has to learn it.

CF: How would you describe your music? SP: The easiest thing for me to say is that it’s like soul/funk/ reggae, but it’s quite a large genre. You can probably fit a bit of everything into what we do –it’s quite eclectic.

CF: You are recording your debut EP at the moment –how is that going? SP: Really well. We’re just getting to grips with it now and getting everything laid down. It should be finished around March or April and we’ll probably have the first track ready for release by the middle of March.

CF: Is it expensive to produce yourselves? SP: It is, but, if you want it done the way you want it, then it’s best to do it yourself.

Bambus City Strut, Grey Horse, Kingston, February 17, 8.30pm, £3. Call 020 8541 4328 or visit grey-horse.co.uk