Bloc Party's musical map of London

Gordon: 'The back of Wichita records. But, more importantly, a nice atmospheric shot to set the mood.' Photograph: Gordon Moakes/Public domain

Graceland rehearsal rooms, East Acton Lane, W3: 'Considering that people called us 'south London's Bloc Party' for ages and we're now known as an east London band, I always thought it was ironic that most of our formative years happened in distant East Acton. This was where we first rehearsed with Matt and met every Sunday for years. I can't think of a song on Silent Alarm that we didn't put together in the (slightly damp) Gracelands. The Banquet video was filmed there too.' Photograph: Gordon Moakes/Public domain

Drum Tech, Stanley Gardens, W3: 'Another west London rehearsal haunt we used in 2002. At the time our drummer was Olly Betts, who now plays in the Duke Spirit. He was studying at Drumtech so I guess he had access to the rehearsal rooms. These were the cleanest rehearsal rooms we'd ever used at the time, you just set up in the drum classrooms.' Photograph: Gordon Moakes/Public domain

Premises, Hackney Road, E2: 'This was more of a 'proper' rehearsal space that we started to use after we finished touring Silent Alarm. It was handy because at the time Kele and I were both living within walking distance. In January 2006 we spent a month there writing a big chunk of A Weekend In the City. We also demoed that record in two sessions in Premises' solar-powered studio. We still use it every now and again, although I think they should put a better picture of us up in the cafe!' Photograph: Gordon Moakes/Public domain

Wichita Recordings, EC2A: 'This is the auspicious home of our label.' Photograph: Gordon Moakes/Public domain

Miloco studios, Hoxton Square, E2: 'Miloco (officially, this is called the Square - Miloco is a whole chain of studios) has been a pretty familiar recording home for us over the years. I think the first time we went here was to do the vocals for Silent Alarm after we came back from Copenhagen. Over the years we've been back loads of times, to record demos, B-sides and vocals. It's compact and bijou, but it's always been really handy for those of us still living in east London.' Photograph: Gordon Moakes/Public domain

St Leonards, Hackney Road, E2: 'Another Hackney Road feature that is pretty much plum in the middle of the 'city' that Kele depicts in A Weekend In the City. I think as much as anything, it serves to give some location to what he was singing about at the time: here, Les Trois Garcons in Song for Clay and the number 30 bus in Hunting for Witches." Photograph: Gordon Moakes/Public domain

Ion Square, E2: 'A little park on Hackney Road, so small it's easy to miss. It's not the kind of park that necessarily invites you in: it's more like a recreation ground. This has a personal association for Kele that he sums up in the themes of Intimacy. It's a record about minutiae, about moments that come and go, about how a moment or place for one person can have tremendous meaning while another might walk past without even giving it a second glance. And that's London through and through.' Photograph: Gordon Moakes/Public domain