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This UK trio is poised to conquer airwaves around the world.

Hometown: A small village called Hartley Wintney. We met there and ended up naming the band after it years later.

Current residence: Brixton and Streatham, U.K.

Why are you called Winters Island?

The Saxon translation for Hartley Wintney is "The deer that graze by Wintas Island." It just felt like the right option for us.

How did you all meet?

When we were eight years old, Will moved in next door to Sam, and Andy was in Will's class at school. We used to meet up to listen to and play music together and that cemented our friendship.

What were the first instruments you played?

Our original line up had a trumpet (Will), a piano (Sam) and an acoustic guitar (Andy). Often we've played instruments for what the band needed at the time and in Winters Island, particularly when recording, we chop and change.

Who influenced your musical taste?

We are a bit of a mixed bag as individuals in terms of the music we most listen to. This ranges from house to acoustic, blues and pop. We try and bring these influences together when we write.

What is the song “Ares” about? What inspired it?

It’s a song about the pressures of life, people wanting more and accepting that you may never be able to achieve that. Often the person that wants more for you is you and this can lead to an internal battle. That's where the names Ares came from; he was the Greek god of War, whose name literally means “battle.”

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Ryan Tedder, John Mayer and Nero.

Do you plans on releasing a full-length soon?

We’re working on the debut album at the moment—we’re very excited to let people listen to it, and we keep having to hold back letting bits go. We want it to be the complete album before too much of it gets out, it’s just very hard to hold something back when you finish a track.

What do you do before you play a show?

We tend to get into our own little zones, some calm and some not so calm! Ideally we’ll have a little jamming session on a piano just before we walk on stage, whereas sometimes you will just find us dancing to ourselves.

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

We once hitchhiked from York to Portsmouth with our guitars and we had a lot of people do a lot of crazy and kind things for us. Someone drove us, our three guitars and our stuff from York to Leeds, in her Vauxhall Corsa, so that we could get to our next gig. We also gained a load of fans on that journey—one new fan exchanged a song for a party back at theirs, and let us stay on their sofa. The world is kind when music is involved.

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