Opium Blue

For us gig-goers, London feels like a veritable ‘sweet shop’ full of live music treats on every corner and always something new to see and hear. But for those bands trying to claw their way onto stages, into venues, and into the ears of anyone willing to listen its a challenge. Marc Freak had the pleasure of catching Opium Blue at one such small independent venue - the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch - and caught up with them a few weeks later about how they are faring in what is quite a cut throat industry.

Opium Blue are the trio of vocalist/guitarist Gabs, guitarist Nathan, and drummer/producer Aidan (who just so happens also to be Gabs’ brother).

Formed out of a creative college friendship and an (initially) reluctant sibling partnership, the band’s origin story is a bonding over shared taste and the urge to start something of their own. The only problem? Gabs wanted nothing to do with her brother joining the band. “I thought it was the most uncool thing to have your brother in your band” she admitted, laughing, before Aidan stepped in with a simple pitch: “I could probably make your music pretty fucking great”. As the demo they shared with me demonstrates - for a track called Soft Cocoon - he wasn’t wrong.

Opium Blue’s early years were shaped by the same grind that defines most emerging London acts: bad gig offers on random days with very little pay and the sense of shouting into the void. But the hard work is having an impact, building a dynamic part made from friendship, part-sibling telepathy and part-creative hive‑mind.

“We’re able to pull off a kind of tightness that you can’t practice,” Nathan says, describing the strange, wordless way their songs come together .

Their live sets shift depending on the venue: sometimes (as when I saw them) drenched in a near shoegaze haze, at other times more folky and stripped‑back (Nathan humorously suggested that the punters maybe thought they had stumbled into something medieval!). I mooted the shoegaze tag - “Everyone who listens to us always comes with a different sort of interpretation” according to Gabs. But they didn’t seem disappointed with that genre reference, and now is a good time to champion such credentials, with bands such as They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Glixen and Velvet making great strides in a new musical world influenced by nineties icons Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine. But Opium Blue’s influence goes back much further, with Aidan namechecking Television.

The band is candid about how tough the city can be. “It can be a little hostile sometimes. It can be every man for themselves” Gabs noted, describing the frantic load‑ins, rushed conversations, and competitive atmosphere that define many nights on the circuit. But they’ve also found pockets of community—most notably at The Elephant’s Head in Camden, where promoter Martin has helped champion their work. “It takes one person to just give you a slot and believe in you”.

Recording with Opium Blue sounds like a beautiful mess - their studio is a cramped four‑by‑four space “with wires everywhere, cats flying over our heads”, yet somehow Aidan manages to pull pristine sound out of the chaos. They often live‑track the core of a song in one or two takes, then layer the rest, with Aidan acting as both producer and referee, knowing when to push and when to call it. “I engineer in a way that forces the playing to happen the way I want it to, balancing immediacy with preparation,”. Gabs, ever the perfectionist, admits she needs that grounding. “I can never listen to it again because I can hear every imperfection,” she said, laughing at herself.

Being in a band with your sibling is famously volatile (just ask Liam and Noel!), but Opium Blue seem to have found the sweet spot, with the help of a bit of gentle mediation from Nathan. “We’re like twins… we are connected,” Gabs said, describing the intensity of creating with someone who shares your bloodline, “It can go one of two ways, you either conquer the world, or crash and burn! Aidan agrees: the key is patience, communication, and the willingness to let each other step outside their usual roles.

The band is entering a new phase—one defined by finished recordings, more gigs, and a renewed sense of purpose. I asked them what advice they would have for other bands trying to make it in a big city. As Aidan put it: “Take the time to figure out what you actually have to say. The energy comes from pursuing your authenticity”. It’s advice they’ve earned the hard way—and advice that feels like the core of what makes Opium Blue special.