Indie four-piece Montrell will take to the stage during the second K West Live event in Shepherd’s Bush on Thursday April 19.
Held on the third Thursday of every month at K West Hotel and Spa, the event aims to showcase emerging talent from across the UK.
One iconic UK star who has previously graced the K West stage is London’s own Amy Winehouse, an appearance featured in Asif Kapadia’s Winehouse documentary, ‘Amy.’
Jonny P Taylor, lead vocal for the band, said: “I was watching Amy Winehouse’s documentary a few weeks ago and it included pictures of her singing in K West Hotel.
“Then I got a message from a chap who I really like and he asked if my band would show there.
“Of course it means a lot to me to stand and sing where she stood and sang.”
The group, comprised of Taylor, Danny Monk, Dave Persiva and Sam Delves, will appear on a bill also featuring Hannah Jane Lewis, Albert Gold and live DJ, and the band cite many other big names in their list of influences.
These include Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Tame Impala, Ryan Adams and Paul Simon, who Taylor said he used to listen to in the car as a little boy.
Like their inspirations, Montrell relish the opportunity to play live, and you can expect an electric atmosphere when they take to the stage.
Taylor said: “We’ve been playing a semi unplugged set up in London recently which I think gets the crowd in a different state.
“It gets to them in a different way.”
The band came to life in 2016 when Taylor, raised in Winchester, was ordering a lager at the Prince Charles Cinema on Leicester Place.
He got chatting to the man next to him who’d ordered the same lager and had, in fact, mixed the soundtrack for the film they were watching.
A month later, Taylor and guitarist Monk were making a record together.
They later added Delves on bass and finally rounded up the line up with Persiva on New Year’s Eve of 2017.
Taylor said: “New Year’s Eve 2017 I was partying with my friend Dave, and he and I had done a fair bit of acting together and I suppose we’d been living in each other’s pockets for about 11 years.
“I asked him to be our drummer that night.
“It was a risky move but it definitely paid off.”
To date, the band have released one EP which features tracks ‘Morning’ and ‘Glass’.
Following K West, they have another couple of gigs lined up for the year, including a Sofar Sounds show in Bethnal Green.
Another release is also on the cards, as is a potential second EP, but the band’s current focus is working on their live show and the release of a music video which Taylor filmed and directed himself.
He said: “It’s about social anxiety, which is something important at the moment because people are terrified of each other with their phones and social media.
“I think it’s left us all a bit shaky and I wanted to kind of convey that in a video.”
The band is more than just a musical project for Taylor.
He said: “I think it’s important to never see yourself as just a band.
“It’s nice to have flexibility when it comes to creative projects and be around people all the time who are creative.
“It’s just a wonderful way to live I think.”
Taylor is well aware that it’s a tough market for bands these days, but says a friend once advised him the most important thing is to love what you do.
He said: “You’ve just got to do that, because there’s so many things that fly at you and so many competitors.
“There’s no need or point in worrying about those competitors, you’ve just got to play your thing and do your thing and you have to enjoy it.”
