The Lost Cavalry's Guide to London

The Lost Cavalry are a London based six-piece folk band formed in 2009 by Mark West, formerly the guitarist for indie band, Fanfarlo. Creating crescendos of epic folk, powerful ballads and some altogether beautiful sounds, they are a London band on the up. We caught up with them as they prepare to release their debut album Three Cheers for the Undertaker this week. The band took time out from rehearsing for their launch show on Wednesday 18th September at St Pancras old Church to give us their guide to London.

Where we hang out
We practice and tend to go out afterwards around London Bridge. Our practice room used to be part of 'The Hit Factory' where Stock Aitken and Waterman recorded Bananarama, Kylie and everyone. It's all very inspiring...

Where we see bands
We went on a bit of an outing to watch The National at The Roundhouse in Camden recently, that was a good venue. We do all like the venues like the Barbican or South Bank Centre for watching quieter bands (we watched Low there recently) - the sound there is always really well done, and to be honest, it's nice to sit down! I did go to a Balkan Brass Vs Serbian Brass show there though recently where everyone was dancing - the only time I've seen a conga and a stage invasion at the Barbican!

Where we drink
In our band we're all likely to go for a pub with some proper ales - I'm a massive fan of a pint of porter, and it's really great that so many pubs now in London serve it. The Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter is one of the best (so maybe The Princess Louise in Holborn) and the Porterhouse Black in Porterhouse (Covent Garden) is a good creamy one. The Fullers pubs do good porter if you're lucky, though some have stopped recently - terrible! Everyone go and try a pint of porter now!

Where we eat
As I write this I'm having a coffee after an amazing brunch at The Breakfast Club in Spitalfields - they do a mean Eggs Florentine and really good cappuccinos. Also, they're playing Paul Simon. The best meal I've ever had in London was a one-off very posh treat - it was in the restaurant that Gary Rhodes owns in Tower 42. The food was just incredible and the staff were friendly and didn't make you feel like an imposter pretending to be rich.

Our favourite clubs/bars/nights
Despite the folkiness of our band, some of us like a proper dance and the 'underground' club scene in London is absolutely booming - the club night Wonderland (held at Crucifix Lane in London Bridge) is like an indoor festival with DJs, bands, fancy dress, circus performers and lots of glitter, plus it's all for charity - it's an amazing night. Other nights like Carousel (in Angel) often have rooms hosted by people like Wonderland, plus all sorts of pop-up shows and things to make the night a bit more special.

Our best and worst things about London
The best thing has to be the variety of things to do - you could live your life ten times over in London and never go to the same place twice. I'm also a big fan of the architecture and history, especially around The City and Blackfriars - all the cobbled, winding streets and hidden churches. I also get a bit excited about the underground rivers and how they've shaped the road layouts above ground. I guess the worst thing about London is how long it takes to get anywhere, though that's ok as long as you have a good book to read, or a good bus window to look out of.

Our secret gems
There's an amazing cocktail bar in Shoreditch called Lounge Bohemia - it's styled like an old Russian living room and you need to book in advance. The cocktails are a bit of a treat, there's some pretty weird and wonderful ones (the bubble bath one comes with a rubber duck - which you can keep!) and also really good versions of the classics. I recommend the Negroni. The place isn't especially cheap, but it's really good for a treat.

The London music scene
There's a really thriving and friendly folk scene in London, with lots of promoters doing it for the love of it and carefully selecting really quality acts to put on. It's a bit of a big network of friends, and often you'll play at a night and a promoter from another night will see you and offer you a gig at theirs. The Folkroom nights are great examples of it - they are our record label and they also put on regular (free) folk nights in Kings Cross.

London bands we rate
Our label-mates Patch And The Giant are an amazing band to watch - so much energy and power on stage, or for a quieter moment Sophie Jamieson has a beautiful voice and enchanting songs - and we're lucky enough to have her support us at our album launch show, in fact we're planning a bit of a duet…