Ash had recently enjoyed a brief spell fronting rock band Dys4ia. Taylor was already playing violin with folk-punk outfit Helen's Evil Twin but was looking for an opportunity to put her vocal talents to good use. I'd been in a band called Fletcher's Folly many years ago but the closest I'd got to a stage recently was with Taylor in an amateur musical theatre company. Ash and Taylor proved to both have powerful yet contrasting singing styles and the twin lead vocals is something we try to make the most of in our music.

Shortly after an early rehearsal in the picturesque surroundings of South Croydon, I suggested the name Danse Macabre for the band. I'd meant for the name to be indicative of a light-hearted look at the gothic which influenced our early direction. Other bands before have had this name but while they could do the 'macabre', only we can do the 'danse' bit too (especially after several ciders). Several months were spent writing and rehearsing a set of original songs and in May 2008 we played our first short gig at Blush, Stoke Newington.

We'd decided that Danse Macabre was to have a fairly conventional line up of at least guitar, bass and drums and in the summer of 2008 drummer Julie joined the band. Ash and Julie had played together in Dys4ia and Julie had a lot of experience of hitting things with sticks in many a rock band.

The band's appearance at the inaugural Worcester Music Festival was due to a touch of nepotism (the festival organiser Chris Bennion conveniently being my brother), yet we must have done something right as we were invited back in 2009 (and again in 2010). It was during this period that our first EP, 'The Golden Age of Ballooning', was recorded. As the live shows developed, we started to move towards a more theatrical style of rock, which I called 'folk-rock cabaret' (but which others have called gypsy punk-rock and folk goth!).

Danse Macabre MkIII was an odd and strangely unique ensemble. Julie's involvement with Danse Macabre had not lasted and rather than cancel gigs already booked, we continued to perform as a trio, playing some songs in an 'acoustic' fashion and using a simple drum machine on others. It was my job to turn the machine on and off, as well as play bass and synthesizer, but fortunately not all at once.

It was during this time that our more bizarre, darkly comic songs came to the fore, such as the uplifting ballads Killer Squirrels, You Stole My Heart (So I Stole Your Leg) (in which I played trumpet quite badly) and Worcestershire Sauce. I like to think this marked us out as having a distinct sense of humour, but our audiences may have disagreed. These were interesting times...

After being offered a slot on the Rocklands stage at Lewisham's People's Day 2009, we decided it was time to look for a proper drummer. The vacant drum seat was filled, initially on a temporary basis, by multi-instrumentalist Helen, lead vocalist and guitarist of Helen's Evil Twin, who also just happened to be looking for a new drumming challenge having recently departed company with punk band Candy Panic Attack. Confusingly, Taylor has taken a hiatus from Helen's Evil Twin.

Despite having far too many other musical projects on the go, Helen has now joined Danse Macabre full time. She occasionally throws drumsticks at us but I think that is her way of saying she wants more cider. Our sound has evolved into what I call 'Halloween pop', which means the songs sound quite upbeat until you actually listen to the lyrics. With the new line-up now firmly established, we were once again gigging as a proper band. We also found time to record a radio-friendly version of Worcestershire Sauce (with some of the saucy bits taken out).