The High Life
Loud guitars, chaotic energy, indie soul and the kind of nights you never really want to end.
The Story Behind The High Life
Like a lot of great bands, The High Life didn't begin in a huge studio or some perfectly planned scenario. They started in a spare room.
Dan and Zac were writing songs together from their DIY setup in Oxford, figuring things out as they went. At some point, it stopped feeling like a side project and started to feel like something bigger.
That's when the rest of the band came together.
Zac, Dan and James knew each other growing up around Oxford. Ben came on board later found through Vampr - a suitably modern end to an old fashioned tale; finding the right people to build something with.
And The High Life was born - a band built on friendship, chaos, ambition and a genuine love of creating music.
Where'd You Go music video
The Turning Point
So many bands talk about success stories and celebrated moments. And this is where The High Life differ - they talk about losing.
Missing out in the quarter finals of the Isle of Wight competition hosted by HotVox became one of the biggest moments for the band (so far). Not because it broke them, but because it gave them clarity and opened their eyes to the standard they needed to be meeting.
Since then, the focus has been sharper, the direction clearer and the standard higher.
It's this mentality that sits at the core of the band and keeps things moving and improving.
The first live performance of La Buena Vida
The Sound
Raw. Electric. Anthemic.
The High Life sit in that sweet spot between modern indie chaos and massive live energy.
There's indie rock influence running through the core of the band, but what makes them really interesting is how different everyone's musical backgrounds are.
Zac grew up deep in indie music, while Dan came from R&B, grime and rap. James leans towards high-energy punk pop - proudly standing behind his love of 'classic white girl music'.
Ben just likes anything from before 1990 and is currently being force fed on a diet of new music. He'll admit to liking it, just not as much as the old stuff.
The High Life Collection
If you ask the band what The High Life really is, the answer probably lies somewhere on stage.
Their first proper gig was headlining Fiddler's Elbow in London in front of 200 people - a massive moment that reinforced the momentum behind the project.
Since then, they've continued building a reputation for live shows that feel loud, loose, sweaty and impossible not to get pulled into.
What's the standout moment so far? Playing the O2 Islington. According to the band:
"That one went off."
And that's exactly the kind of answer you'll come to expect from The High Life.
Dan
Vocals
Zac
Guitar
Ben
Guitar
James
Drums
🍻 One of their worst gigs happened because the entire band got far too drunk beforehand.
🎥 Zac is also the band’s in-house high-quality video editor.
🦅 Ben is an avid bird watcher — something nobody expects from the lead guitarist.
🥁 James nearly caused a studio meltdown by trying to change a song a week before recording.
🎬 If The High Life were a film, they’d be somewhere between Project X and The Dirt.
🏟 Wembley and Glastonbury sit firmly on the band’s dream target list.
🎧 Zac and Dan are the primary songwriters, with the rest of the band developing their own parts.
🔥 The band would love to support The Royston Club and Catfish and the Bottlemen.
The Serious Bit (briefly)
At the centre of The High Life is a very simple idea - good music, good people = good times.
The band care deeply about community, respect and creating an environment where everyone is treated equally regardless of background.
To them, music culture is about things like opportunity, connection, energy and shared experiences.
And they follow that “progress over perfection” mentality by constantly improving, learning and evolving without losing the excitement that made them start in the first place.
The High Life represent exactly the kind of modern band culture Above Average was built around.
Not perfection. Not polished industry formulas.
Just people building something real because they genuinely love it.
Balancing work, music, content, rehearsals, gigs and ambition — while still trying to create moments people remember.
That’s what modern music culture actually looks like.
And that’s exactly what Above Average wants to support.
Congrats - you've made it this far
That means you should probably wear the merch.
Or listen to the music.
Preferably both.
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