Holloways recordings destroyed in London venue fire

The Holloways lost tens of thousands of pounds of equipment, along with demos for their new album, in the fire at the Nambucca venue last night (December 17).

The north London rockers' bassist Bryn Fowler was drinking in the Holloway Road pub just hours before the blaze, and has told NME.COM that the band are "utterly devastated".

"I live around the corner and was woken up by the sirens. I'm in complete shock, I just can't believe it," he said.

The fire is believed to have started in the boiler room in the basement of the venue, where the band stored all their instruments, amps and equipment.

"It looks like almost all of our gear has been destroyed, apart from my bass guitar, which was away being fixed, and one violin. It's utterly devastating because some of the stuff is totally irreplaceable – vintage amps, posters from tours of Japan. My first ever guitar was down there," added Fowler.

The band also lost demo tapes of new tracks in the blaze, which they had recently recorded in preparation for their forthcoming second album 'Tales From The Tarmac'.

"We were due to record those songs properly later this week. Obviously, that now won't be happening," said Fowler.

The band lived and formed in flats above the venue, with drummer Dave Danger the last to depart only weeks ago.

The band's manager Jay McAllister and tour manager Tre Stead, however, still live above the venue, but were safely evacuated last night.

As previously reported on NME.COM, there have been no known casualties as a result of the fire.

The Holloways were due to play a Christmas Party gig at Nambucca, which had recently undergone minor refurbishments, tonight (December 17).

The band will now DJ at Rooz Studio in Old Street and will be free.

The Holloways tickets: