Public Access T.V. are a band firmly planted in downtown New York City. Before they released their first song, played their first show, or even had a name, Public Access T.V. were a band. Best friends out every night together, sharing clothes, cigarettes, pocket change, and most importantly living together in a dilapidated East Village loft where they could stay up all night playing music… loudly.
“It wasn’t like ‘let’s start a band,'” 24-year-old singer and main songwriter John Eatherly says of the formation. “We already were playing music and hanging out together all the time. We were all doing different things, playing as hired guns for anybody just to pay the rent, and then one day I came in with these songs I wrote and we all just knew this was something we wanted to do for real.”
What followed was a whirlwind of activity; singles “Monaco” and “In the Mirror” along with last years Public Access EP, lead to critical acclaim, and tours in the US and UK supporting acts like Weezer and Gang of Four. Everything was moving on the correct trajectory when in April 2015, while PATV were on tour in California, they flicked on the TV to see live pictures of their Manhattan loft on every single news channel. It was on fire from a gas explosion and then collapsed into rubble.
“We wrote there, rehearsed, recorded, lived, everything,” says John. “It was home…and then it was completely gone.”
Demoralised and thousands of miles from NYC, PATV did the only thing they could think of. As John says: “We told our agent to book as many gigs as possible – because we didn’t want to deal with the reality of the situation. We actually had nowhere to go.”
But, as things happened, that chain of events was to set PATV on an entirely new and fruitful path. Among those frantic gig bookings were a bunch of festivals in Europe, as well as dates with The Strokes, Fidlar and Palma Violets.
The group released their double A-side single “In Love and Alone” / “Patti Peru” last autumn to critical acclaim. “In Love and Alone” was debuted by Zane Lowe on Apple’s Beats 1 with him exclaiming, “We Love Public Access T.V.” and giving the track his signature stamp of approval by playing it twice in a row. This single as well as their follow up track “On Location” led to Public Access TV being one of the buzziest bands at SXSW this year… with both Entertainment Weekly and NME listing the group as one of the “Top 10 Best Artists” at the festival.
Also check out there Live in NYC session for Spotify
The Fat Angel Sings 