Palma Violets Took Us On A Tour Of Their Home

Oh hey…group shot!

If you want to get to the core of Lambeth quartet Palma Violets, then 180 is essentially it. The door number of their South London base, it's where they played their first gigs – hedonistic house party setups, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. It's where they got signed (by Rough Trade around a year ago, and now it's the name of their debut LP – a slab of careering exuberance, that narrowly missed out on hitting the Top 10 (Booo, hisssss!)

Like any creative space worth it's salt, 180 is full of a lot of weird shit, covered in quotes, home to some worrying anecdotes and, today, providing a roof to a hungover mate with an aura of homelessness about him. In between holding an impromptu jam session that seems to suggest that album #2 might sound like some kind of mildly terrifying psychedelic séance (spoiler alert), we made Sam, Chilli, Pete and Will show us around their pad…

What's a great way for an increasingly high-profile band to keep any semblance of privacy? Name your album after your address! What's an even better way? Put a picture of your front door on the album sleeve, just in case your particular niche of stalker fan ain't so down with Google Maps. Note: the thing that looks like a plait of human hair hanging out of the letterbox is actually a bell…idiots.

Eeeep.

So here's Palma Violets' gig room.

And that's Harry Violent – the band's merch guy and mascot.

Jammin'…as you do.

Sam [Fryer, vocals/ guitar]: “This is where the magic happens, it's where everything is pretty much written. Also, it's where we decided we're going to do a horror movie. We've been sent one from someone – they want us to work on the soundtrack for it. I think we'll do it. Fuck it, why not?”

Pete: "This is a portrait I drew of Will. I couldn't sleep one night. I also made a watermelon of my friend's mum – she had to chuck it out because it looked too much like her. It currently resides on a fence post in Shepherds Bush. It's a warning to people.”

Getting hands-y.

Will: “The last 180 show was in May, but we want to do more. You just don't tell anyone about it til the day before. We'll have to start doing what The Libertines did. Last time we played it was so busy and hot my drum kit started to sweat.”

Nick Cave being upstaged by a gas mask.

Will: “That was our first poster. A lot of people didn't like it – apparently it's sexist but it's actually a male bum. One of our friends had broken his bum and shattered some of the bones, so that's why it's more shapely.”

Sam: “All the quotes are Tom's [who owns 180] – he has a way with words. Some of them are his, and some are lifted from other places. There's a whole book in here with all his inspirational quotes in. They're uplifting for the sad days.”

Will: “The photos are disconcerting when you're taking a shit. The last thing I want on my mind is a guy with fruit down his pants. There are a load of calling cards above the toilet too – every time they have a night here one of them gets taken off.”

Thanks for the hospitality Palma Violets!

Follow Lisa on Twitter @lisaannewright