Punk rock ‘n’ rollers will perform in St Albans this weekend as part of their UK tour.

The gig follows from the release of BlackWaters’ single Down, following their debut So Far Out which was written about the Brexit vote and produced by The Libertines frontman Carl Barât.

The band, from Surrey, is made up of Maximilian Tanner on vocals, David Carpenter on guitar, Ollie Franklin on the bass and James Watkins on drums, all aged 18.

We caught up with them ahead of the show at The Horns on Saturday night (Jan 28), to find out more about them.

St Albans & Harpenden Review:

How did you all meet?

We met at college in Guildford with Dave and Ollie knowing each other for donkey’s years.

Describe your sound

We don’t like to put ourselves in one place. Punk ain’t and never was a genre so it would be silly to try and replicate the movement. However we do take influence from the sound, as well as some other weird stuff here and there. 

What bands or artists influence you?

It’s changed over time and never really stayed the same. We love the Modern Lovers, Ramones, Lou Reed and John Cooper Clarke has massively influenced Max’s lyrics. FIDLAR has always been about in our music and we got hooked on that skater punk vibe for a while. Every song you can hear something different which is cool. 

How did it come about that you worked with Carl Barât?

We supported his sister in her band The Au Revoirs at The Crowndale in Camden and he was there cheering her on. He happened to get there a bit early and catch our set, pretty lucky. 

What was it like working with him?

Yeah Carl’s cool, he’s great at getting the most out of us in the studio. ‘Hype man Barât’ is the best way of putting it. We always loved The Libertines so we felt humbled to work with him. 

Do you write your own music?

Yeah, it always starts with us. We’ve always loved working with other people as well, I think you end up with this narrow minded approach if you never get a second opinion. 

Where do you find inspiration?

Mainly in a mundane environments such as Guildford, helps get you riled up.

What’s the most rock ‘n’ roll thing you guys have ever got up to?

One time I opened a can without a can opener. That was pretty badass. Also, at our hotel in Sheffield Dave threw up into a plastic container that once contained Tesco value sausage rolls. They were off, but we blamed it on the pints.

What’s planned for 2017?

Gig, write, gig, write, gig. There’s more music to be released soon and loads more shows to be announced. This is going be a big year.

The Horn, Victoria St, St Albans AL1 3TE, Saturday, Juanuary 28. Details: 01727 853143