Hard rock Southend band White Raven Down will be joining Walk In Coma, Killatrix and Arise at the Mill Hall in Rayleigh this Friday.

The band sprang onto the scene with a debut show back in June at Chinnery’s after taking two years to carve out their sound and finalise their line-up.

They’ll be going into the studio in October to record their first single.

Doors at the Friday night gig are at 7pm. Entry is £5.

White Raven Down are Bill Taylor – vocals, Stu Bailey – guitar, Alex Perrin – bass and Chris Pearce – drums.

What’s your earliest musical memory?

BILL: The school musical of Guys and Dolls. I looked like a mobster, complete with painted goatee and slicked hair.

ALEX: Writing my first song, titled Pierre, onmy nan’s keyboard, aged five.

STU: I was hosting a Halloween party at 10 years old and I had an old Casio keyboard. I was playing church organ music to create a scary atmosphere as people walked in. My mum’s friend said “If you wanna scare, people put this on” and he played the song Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath on LP. I was instantly hooked...still am too.

CHRIS: In the Army Now – Status Quo’s version. I used to sing it constantly as a kid, but I didn’t understand its political message...I still don’t.

Where did you perform live for the first time?

BILL: The Ruskin Arms in Hackney. My first band experience was playing the harmonica with my dad’s band, aged 11.

ALEX: Club Riga, Southend, with Stu when we were 16. I was so nervous I didn’t face the audience.

STU: Club Riga. We played Deep Purple and Motorhead covers. I loved every second of it.

CHRIS: The Alex Pub, Southend.

Just a private do for a friend of the band’s.

First album you bought?

BILL: BigWilly Style byWill Smith, which is funny ‘cos that’s what Alex and Chris call me. I was 12.

ALEX: Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction.

STU: Alice Cooper – Trash.

CHRIS: Break the Cycle by Staind.

Before that I used to record off of the radio with cassette tape.

Remember those?

Last album you bought?

BILL: Throwing Copper by Live. I didn’t know this band had been around years. I thought I’d found the next big thing.

ALEX: Black Sabbath – 13.

STU: Orange Goblin – Back From the Abyss CHRIS: Alter Bridge – AB3.

Favourite album of all time?

BILL: Humble Pie – Rockin the Filmore. Steve Mariott was on top form.

ALEX: Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon.

STU: Too many and it varies with my mood.

CHRIS: I don’t really have one, but I was force fed Use Your Illusion 2 by Guns N’ Roses.

Who’s your biggest inspiration?

BILL: James Hetfield. He introduced me to the heavier rock sound and showedme how in rock music, loud isn’t enough. You have to sing, not scream.

ALEX: It’s a bass-playing collective of Geezer Butler, Chris Squire and Duff McKagan. I can’t possibly pick just one!

STU: As guitarists, Iommi, Young, Morello, Van Halen, Aldrich, Bonamassa, Wylde, Blackmore, BB King, Lynch. I can’t name just one. Others might say different though.

CHRIS: My dad. The pleasure I saw he got from playing guitar when I was young inspired me to learn drums.

How do you discover new music?

BILL: I have many friends with musical backgrounds who always know something new I need to hear.

ALEX: Regularly listening to DAB rock radio stations in my car.

STU: Streaming sites and word of mouth.

CHRIS: Through friends, going to see local gigs and social media.

Favourite lyric from your own band/you have ever written?

BILL: “Trapped behind this open window, locked behind this open door” – White Raven Down.

ALEX: “We lived through the silence and the trials of yesterday” – White Raven Down.

STU: “Looking for the dawn of another day!” – White Raven Down.

CHRIS: “I’ve got a revelation, I got you on your knees, and in my excitation, take me, take me please!” – White Raven Down.

Favourite lyric from someone else?

BILL: “Sittin’ here resting my bones, and this loneliness won’t leave me alone” – Otis Redding ALEX: “Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon”

STU: “Life is like a carousel, hold on tight you gotta ride it well, the world is full of kings and queens, that blind your eyes and steal your dreams”

CHRIS: “We met last night, making love by the refrigerator light” – Alice Cooper’s Cold Ethyl First song you played? What was it about?

BILL: Billy Idol – White Wedding, ‘cos Billy’s cool.

ALEX: Silence, the first song we wrote for White Raven Down was about my transition from female to male and breaking through the “Silence”.

STU: At a school production – Chantilly Lace.”

CHRIS: Twisted, by my old band Afterglow. It’s about regaining control.

Best gig you’ve been to and why?

BILL: Metallica at Sonisphere, because they were just so big – the sound, the show, the character. It seemed unfair they could be that cool.

ALEX: Guns N’ Roses at the Milton Keynes Bowl in 1993. It was my first big gig and the original line-up’s last gig in England.

STU: Too many great gigs – AC/DC, Metallica, Alice Cooper, Motorhead, Foo Fighters, Heaven and Hell, Soil, Orange Goblin, Kyuss, Muse...I guess a special one for me was Black Sabbath when I saw the full original line-up that played in their home town of Birmingham for two nights. I was at the first night and the second night was released as a live album. I was 24 hours away from being on a Black Sabbath album!

I’m still crushed.

CHRIS: I don’t have a favourite gig, but my best memory is going to Reading Festival inmy teens and getting so drunk I lost my tent.

Best gig you’ve played and why?

BILL: Northampton Picturedrome. I played in a band alongside my dad. It had a great sound and I could see howmuch it meant to him.

ALEX: Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

It was a sold-out show at that famous intimate venue, supporting punk legends the Buzzcocks.

STU: Too many...all individual.

But when a crowd sings your own lyrics back at you, chants your name or just approaches you to say they love what you do...there is no better feeling in the world.

CHRIS: My final Afterglow gig at Club Riga, Southend. All my family came to support me.