Three musicians, one local Facebook post and a meeting in Saffron Walden. For Bambambinos, the story started with finding the right people. Now the Essex and Cambridgeshire-area trio are making music on their own terms — and thinking about how to open doors for others.
There’s a pleasing sense of symmetry to meeting Bambambinos in Saffron Walden. Around a year ago, George, Gaynor and Yasmin sat down in this very venue for the first time to see whether they might work as a band. Now they’re back, talking to Imminent Infinity about their music, their growing confidence and the future.
The conversation is full of laughter. There’s a fair bit of gentle teasing, too. They finish each other’s thoughts, encourage one another and seem genuinely pleased to be doing this together. You get the impression that the friendship matters just as much as the songs.
Finding the right people
George had moved to the area and wanted to start a band. She put a message on a local Facebook page; Gaynor responded, and the search for a bassist eventually brought Yasmin into the picture.
It wasn’t a matter of finding the most technically accomplished musicians and hoping for the best. As Gaynor explains, she and George agreed early on that personality mattered more than ability. When Yasmin arrived, the connection felt right.
There was also a recurring theme of the three musicians underestimating themselves. Gaynor wasn’t sure she could contribute to original material after years in covers bands. Yasmin, already a musician, had relatively little experience playing bass in a group. George, meanwhile, hadn’t particularly intended to become the singer.
She wanted to write songs and play guitar. It was only when the others heard her voice during rehearsals that the decision seemed obvious: George was the vocalist. It’s the sort of unexpected development that says a lot about how Bambambinos operate. Nobody arrived with everything figured out.
Learning to make something of their own
For Gaynor, original music offered a different kind of freedom. Playing covers had pushed her to learn new styles and techniques, but it still meant reproducing somebody else’s drum parts. Writing with Bambambinos meant she could make choices of her own and hear the songs grow as all three members added something.
Yasmin came to bass from a different musical background, having previously played keyboard and saxophone in bands. She talks about the change from adding melodic lines to working alongside the drums, thinking about rhythm and how the bass ties the whole song together.
One of the band’s early songs gave her a chance to write a busier, constantly moving bass part with a slightly ska or reggae-like feel. It was challenging to play at first, but it became the first song Bambambinos performed live, at a local jam night. Gaynor had started it with a drum pattern, George added her ideas and Yasmin completed the picture.
That first gig was nerve-racking, particularly when Yasmin struggled to hear herself, but the response was encouraging. The local jam nights have since given the band somewhere to try songs in front of a supportive community of musicians.
Why they’re ‘a bit punk’
Their genre description didn’t come from some elaborate branding exercise. After one performance, somebody told George how good it was to see Gaynor doing something “a bit punk”. The phrase stuck, eventually finding its way into the band’s own biography.
But Bambambinos are not trying to squeeze themselves into one sound. Gaynor describes music with punk elements and plenty of emotion, rather than something that’s simply fast and abrasive. George sees the attitude as important as the volume: questioning the way things are, without insisting every song has to sound like a protest march.
That idea runs through Lamia, their October single. When I ask George about the title’s connection to Greek mythology, she explains that the band took the story as a starting point for exploring how women are viewed, the different roles they’re expected to play and the judgements placed on them.
It’s a song that can be enjoyed on the surface, but there’s another layer for anyone who wants to listen more closely. George is interested in music reflecting the time in which it is made. In that sense, the band’s ‘soft punk’ label makes more sense the longer you talk to them.
Three people, not a wall of overdubs
There’s a revealing difference between their early home-recorded demo Mind to Mine and the studio recording of Lamia. George had built up parts at home with layers of guitars and vocals; Gaynor added acoustic drums from her home setup. Working in a studio gave them the chance to rethink what the finished recording should represent.
George puts it simply: “We wanna sound like what we actually sound like.”
And what they actually sound like is three people. Not a huge stack of overdubs pretending to be a much larger band.
Their preparation paid off. They explain how they managed to record four songs in a single studio day: Gaynor tracked the drums against a click, Yasmin followed with the bass, then came George’s guitar and vocals. It demanded a different sort of discipline, especially when the familiar cues of playing together in a rehearsal room weren’t there.
For a small band working within a budget, that balance matters. The ambition isn’t to make the most expensive-sounding recording possible. It’s to capture what makes Bambambinos work when they’re in a room together.
More than a band
It’s when the discussion turns to their future that the most interesting part of the story emerges.
The band have already enjoyed hearing their music on local radio. They remember group messages flying back and forth when a show opened with one of their songs. Onstage, they’re beginning to notice familiar faces and people singing along. Those little moments mean a great deal when you’ve built something from scratch.
But Bambambinos’ ambitions aren’t limited to securing more gigs for themselves. They want to organise their own shows and create opportunities for musicians who aren’t always well represented on local stages — including women, LGBTQ+ artists and people of colour. They talk about the possibility of smaller events and festivals built around that idea.
There’s a deliberately hands-on spirit to the way they present themselves, too. Instead of leaning on AI-generated promotional artwork, they’re making their own badges and friendship bracelets. The handmade approach isn’t just a quirky extra; it fits with their broader interest in friendship, participation and bringing people together.
It’s an ethos that connects with the wider grassroots stories we’ve been covering at Imminent Infinity: independent musicians doing the work themselves and finding ways to make a scene feel like a community.
Back where it started
Before we finish, I ask where Bambambinos hope to be in twelve months. There are more songs they want to record and release, and the possibility of putting on their own gigs is clearly gathering momentum. An EP is an appealing prospect, even if nobody is rushing to promise one by a particular date.
What comes across most strongly is that none of the three is interested in waiting for somebody else to give them permission to make music. George has the songs and a voice she didn’t initially expect to use. Gaynor has found a new creative freedom behind the kit. Yasmin is carving out a place on bass and helping shape a sound that belongs to the whole band.
They first met here with no guarantee that any of it would work. Sitting with them now, it’s clear they’ve built something worth continuing.
Bambambinos call themselves a bit punk. Perhaps that’s enough. The rest is about having a go, finding your people and making space for somebody else to do the same.
Listen to Bambambinos’ music, including Lamia and Mind to Mine, on Bandcamp.
Featured photograph: Dik Ng (@dikng99).
