School band 'The Carlsons' Win Music Competition

A band made up from some of our sixth form pupils won a major local music competition in December 2007.

The band memers are:

John Doyle : Vocalist
Michael Kountis : Drummer
Danny McDonald : Bassist
Danny Harper : Rhythm Guitar
Shaun Hughes : Lead Guitar

Here is John Doyle's history of the band and recent events...

"The band formed in May 2007, during the GCSE Test period. As friends, we all knew that there was music talent within us so we decided to officially form the band. As time passed on, with months of practice and 4 songs completed, we decided to sign up for a gig in the ever famous Cavern Club. We signed up for the gig in August and the gig was scheduled for the 7th November so we had 3-4 months to prepare our songs to the best of our ability.

Are trademark song ‘Alcohol Kicks’ is catchy and well known by family and friends. The gig was very successful with at least 80 people turning up, and we all earned 25 pound each, which was a nice feeling. Later in November, we did a gig in the Carling Academy, which was also a good turn out and a very good experience, with bands like The Arctic Monkeys and The View playing previously in the Carling Academy. As December came we decided to sign up for a ‘battle of the bands competition’. We won the first heat, beating two other upcoming bands. The final was scheduled for the 11th December, so we had to prepare hard so many practices were needed.

As the day come, we got to the venue early to sound check. The venue was the Picket in the Albert Dock, a small venue exposing new upcoming bands to the public. The venue required a 3 pound entry to the final, with the money going to new equipments and other materials. We were one of four bands competing for the prize of 40 Hours professional recording time, and 100 pound for music equipment. We were on 2nd and the gig went well. We performed to the best of our ability but the other bands were also fantastic.

As the results were read, our band name was called out and the whole place erupted, family and friends cheering for us. We went up on stage, received certificates, our cheque and the confirmation of the 40 Hours recording time, which we will be undertaking in January 2008."