BlackDogHat came together through the urge to create. Although from London and Athens and with different cultural backgrounds, they had common ground, that of story telling through words, sounds and images. Their music does this and each song paints a picture from soft melodies to rocky ballads. One half of the band, John Sage is Essex born-and-bred. The other half, Matt Gkikas is Greek... and a seaside childhood is one more thing they have in common. The band formed in September 2007 when the two realised that their common passion for music, their background in bands and musical theatre and their similar outlook on the creative process could lead them to something worth pursuing and sharing with as many people as possible. Their style of music is edgy, haunting, melodic with dark undertones, punchy and different.