London Grammar: Horrifying accidents almost impacted career

Accident-prone band London Grammar have overcome a string of horror mishaps to hit the big time.

Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dot Major claim they are the walking wounded after the group climbed to No.2 in the charts with their debut record, If You Wait.

First up is Dot Major, who is lucky to be able to still see the group’s fans after a gun accident at the age of 14. ‘Someone shot me in the eye. Well, my godfather, actually,’ the 22-year-old said during a catch-up with Guilty Pleasures in LA.

While the ordeal was nothing short of nerve-racking, it did have an unexpected side-effect.

‘It actually corrected my vision slightly because I was short-sighted. It’s really weird. But I wouldn’t recommend it if you have bad vision,’ he laughed.

Singer Reid has a similarly gristly tale of falling off a horse when she was seven – a tumble that threatened her ability to play piano and guitar.

‘The bone came out [of my left elbow] and severed all the nerves and they didn’t think I would be able to use my hand ever again. I don’t horse-ride anymore,’ the 23-year-old singer said.

Not to be outdone, bassist Rothman, 22, recalled a trip to the bowling alley which almost ended in limb loss, Kingpin-style.

‘I once got my hand stuck in a bowling machine. It was actually terrifying,’ he said. ‘You know they have a little sign that says don’t put your hand in here – I somehow managed to do that. And what happens is the ball comes out and then it lodges your hand between the top of the machine and the bowling ball and your hand is stuck.

‘Luckily they shut off the machine immediately. What was going through my mind was that they were going to have to cut off my arm, not cut off the machine. So this guy came with a wrench and busted open the machine so I was able to get my hand out. I didn’t even break the wrist or sprain it at all.’

The band are currently on tour in America but will be back on British shores this month to showcase tracks from their debut cut on their first British headline tour.

[Originally published Metro Guilty Pleasures Wednesday 2 Ocotber 2013]