Autohype get record deal

Leicester indie band, Autohype have secured a record deal with Size Records. The Warrington based label will release a selection of the songs that the band recorded over the summer at London's Animal Farm studios. Autohype will be launching their new EP at the Charlotte on Saturday 21st February.

The Chairmen win Surface Unsigned

Leicester indie band The Chairmen have won the UK's biggest band competition. Following the band's performance at the Carling Academy in Birmingham on Saturday (13th September), competition organisers announced that the Chairmen were the outright winners of the whole competition, beating hundreds of other bands from around the UK for the coveted prize of first place.

Surface Unsigned is the UK's biggest competition for live bands, spanning a range of genre's from rock to hip hop and having three regions in which bands compete in the early heats to enter the national finals.

14 bands played at the Carling Academy on Saturday, The Chairmen being the only band from Leicester to have got through to the national finals. The band won £3,000 as part of the first prize. The bands were judged by a committee of ten experts from the music industry.

Over 130 fans turned out to support the Chairmen's set at the Academy and when the overall winner was announed, they erupted into a frenzy of cheering and chanting which went on for ten minutes before the compare could restore order.

Band members were stunned at the result but lead singer Johnny Gavin was delighted. "We have put a lot of work into this competition and our fans have supported us all the way through. We never dreampt that we would win it. We were just so happy to have got through to the finals and were able to play at the Carling Academy.", Johnny said.

Winning the top prize in Surface Unsigned will, ironically, bring the band closer to being offered a deal by a major record label. There were many A&R reps from record companies in the VIP area at the Academy, watching the bands throughout the day. Many believe that the Chairmen's songs are hits waiting to get on to the charts and that the band would have got signed anyway. Winning Surface Unsigned will however bring the band national attention and kudos that will accellerate their progress towards a record deal.

The Chairmen's prizes include receiving £3000 cash, Main Stage appearance at the biggest music show in Europe - Music Live, where they will perform in front of thousands of people, fans, music celebrities, journalists and trade manufactures, 40 hours multi-track recording courtesy of Univibe Audio, a professional full day photo shoot in a studio or chosen location, including art direction, hair/make-up, sylist and post production courtesy of TrippCobain Imaging and featured content on the brand new Surface Unsigned online TV station and Surface Unsigned Magazine of which 50,000 copies are distributed across the UK in October.

The Chairmen | Surface Unsigned | Photos from the finals at the Carling Academy

The Chairmen get through to the national finals

Leicester indie band The Chairmen won a place in the national finals of the UK's biggest competition for unsigned bands, last night in Birmingham (31st August). Playing at the Rainbow Warehouse in Digbeth, on a 14 band line up, Leicester's leading indie band secured a place at the National Finals on 13th September, to be held at the prestigious Carling Academy in Birmingham.

Over 100 fans travelled across to Birmingham to support their set and the whole group erupted into a frenzy of cheering when the result was announced. Band members were delighted to have got through, which puts them in place to compete with bands from around the UK for the coveted prize of overall winner of the competition. Lead singer Jonny Gavin said "This is a wonderful opportunity for the Chairmen and it is great that a Leicester band has got this far in the country's biggest showcase of live bands."

The finals will be held in Birmingham at the Carling Academy on Saturday 13th September.

Sing Leicester Sing

Sing the Nation - City sings at Big Screens, Live Sites and City Centres including Leicester on Sunday, August 24th, 2008

On August 24th the Olympic torch will be passed from Bejing to London.

To celebrate, the public will unite in song at city centres, Livesites and Big screens up and down the country.   The City Sings involve the gathered public and form part of the day's handover celebrations. Each city sing lasts 15 minutes and includes one regional song and one national song. The result will be the nation's biggest singalong.  Humberstone Gate at 2.45 p.m.

More about Sing The Nation

The Utopians sign to Red Skin Records

The Utopians have signed to Red Skin Records. The Leicester Indie band are to release three of their songs through the UK's largest digital label, Red Skin Records, including their single "Don't Drag Him Down".

The Utopians came together in February 2007, two of the band members James Shaw and Jason Westall having previously been in a band called Nocturnal. They have played many shows since then, around the UK, including the Cavern in Liverpool, The Hope and Anchor in Islington, and venues in Cambridge, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Nottingham.

What makes them stand out is their capacity for writing catchy, memorable songs and their strong stage performance. Their musical style is indie, but its indie with a grungy, raw, geezer edge. Their songs reflect the raw edge attitudes of their influences, The Stone Roses, and the Libertines and brassy sounds of Babyshambles, Supergrass and the Clash.

The band chose to sign to a digital label, seeing track downloads as being the way to go for selling music. Globally and in the UK, music sales are shifting more and more towards downloads. Lead singer Jason Westall totd us: "The advantage of working with a digital label is that we will start seeing sales straight away, rather than waiting several months for revenue to appear from conventional plastic deals." "It also gets our songs into the official charts and we are hoping that our hit single 'Dont Drag Him Down' will do well in the charts", he said.

The band is lined up to support the Displacements in September and the Futureheads in October. Currently in the middle of their UK Tour, the band appeared on Radio Leicester yesterday (22nd August) and presenter Carl Cooper said he liked their new track very much and told listeners that it had all the makings of a hit song.

The Utopians

Taste the Chase split up

Young Leicester ska band Taste the Chase announced tonight (29th August) that the band is to split up. Breaking the news to fans in the middle of their "last gig" at the Charlotte, lead singer Tom Marsden said that the band was finishing. This was despite the gig being set up to launch the band's new EP and their recently having completed a recording session with the prestigious Animal Farm studios in London. The band formed in March 2007.

Taste the Chase | Our review of TTC's gig at the Charlotte

Surface Unsigned Competition

The 2008 Surface Unsigned competition got underway earlier this year and several Leicester bands have made it on to the initial shows

Leicester band The Chairmen face the judges at the Midlands Regional Showcase, to be held at the Rainbow Warehouse, Digbeth, Birmingham on Sunday 31st August 2008. The Chairmen is the only Leicester band left in the competition, out of several that entered. Four bands from this event will be selected to attend the National Showcase event, which concludes the 2008 competition.

Surface Unsigned Competition

Charlie Drew leaves Freefall Felix

Freefall Felix frontman Charlie Drew, announced tonight at the Shed that he is to leave the band.

The band plans to carry on without him. "These guys love what they do - they can't stop now", Charlie said of his band comrades. Charlie plans to develop his exceptional song writing skills and pursue a career as a solo singer. He has one of the finest voices around and having seen him perform a solo set (albeit with support from FFF guitarist Ed Bramford) it is easy to see him making a name for himself as a star singer/songwriter. Meanwhile FFF will find him a hard act to follow. They are however a massively good band and will undoubtedly continue their career. Well, afterall, Take That found their destiny without Robbie Williams! "My voice just can't take the strain of playing small venues where you can't hear yourself ", Charlie said. It was great that FFF ended their successful UK tour at the Shed. "Charlie has been playing at the Shed for the past eleven years", said Kevin, owner of the Shed. Several fans said that they thought it very likely that Charlie might well do one more gig with the band and like tonight it will be a sell-out event. Read our review of the Freefall Felix end of tour gig.

Screening release new EP

The Screening have released their brand new 6 track E.P. '888' which is available to buy directly and hear at the band's Myspace (link below).

The E.P can also be bought from Rockaboom Records, St.Martins Square , Leicester now. The Screening's next evening show here at The Charlotte is on Saturday 11 th October with The Fazed, Kalena and The Heroes with further acts TBA. Tickets are £4 advance and £5 entry on the door. Tickets available from Rockaboom and The Charlotte. This is a 14+ show. The Screening will also be playing a FREE show on Bank Holiday Sunday 24 th August at The Charlotte running from 3pm - 8pm. Full line-up TBA. This show is open to ALL AGES (under 14s with an adult)

The Screening

Kyte return from Japan tour

Leicester electro band Kyte, who formed in the summer of 2006, returned to the UK following their successful tour in Japan. Band members told us that every show was either full or sold out and that the audiences were "very attentive." Most of the venues they played were 150 - 300 capacity but very well equipped with high quality backline and great sound systems. The musicians only needed to take their instruments, the band told us. Kyte member Jamie Ward told us "The biggest style of music in Japan is called J-pop which is pretty unusual but there is a lot of interest in experimental bands and because people in Japan still actually buy records. Bands like us will might end up a little bit bigger out there than they are in the UK. "

Kyte | Kyte play at Summer Sundae

Will The Chairmen get signed?

Speculation that Leicester band The Chairmen will soon be signed to a record label is fuelled by an article in the Leicester Mercury, 17th July 2008.

Having won the Original Bands Showcase last year, they are now through to the final stages of the national Surface Unsigned competition. They are also playing the main stage of the Summer Sundae festival, known to be a hunting ground for the talent spotters from the record labels. Widely admired and respected within Leicester unsigned band circles, The Chairmen are the most likely local band to follow in the footsteps of The Displacements and Kasabian, to national success. The band is being recommended to labels by Leicester-based UK Rock Agency Get Your Band On.

Winning Leicester bands highlighted

Two Leicester bands have won through to the finals of national competitions, reports the Leicester Mercury (26th June).

Hinckley based band THE CHAIRMEN beat a strong line up of other bands in the Intel Studio Competition. They are in the final nine bands and if they win could walk away with a six-month record deal. The final show of the competition takes place in London on 3rd December. The Chairmen will be playing on the main stage of the Summer Sundae festival, in August, at the De Montfort Hall.

The Mile won through to the top four acts in the Global Icon competition. The band attended a four day boot camp in Manchester and played at the Ruby Lounge venue, where their set was filmed for Sky TV. If the Mile win the Global Icon, they will get a 17 date tour and a chance to get in front of top A&R talent scouts from record labels.

Leicester "Music Capital of the Midlands"

Our local paper has devoted a whole page to the news that Leicester has come out top on a national poll of musical cities (Leicester Mercury 24th June 2008.)

The paper draws attention to the top bands that grace our musical heritage: Kasabian, Showaddywaddy and international artist Englebert Humperdink

The article reports the result of the Arts Council poll to find the UK's most musical city. Leicester has come in 5th place behind Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol and Colchester (Colchester!!! where?)

But hey Lesta beat London, Manchester and Newcastle!

The article refers to the recent Original Bands showcase at the Shed, where the standard of all the entrants was extremely high. Rising star bands the Displacements and The Dirty Backbeats are mentioned as examples of the wealth of talented bands to come from Leicester. Our local range of musical talent is also wider than most comparable cities.

The article also acknowledges quite rightly that Leicester lacks the medium sized venues found in other cities, which is why we miss out on bands looking to play 400 to 800 capacity venues when on tour. They tend to end up in Nottingham where there is a large range of venues.

the Arts Council suggests that Leicester uses its success in the national poll to campaign for a new live music venue in the city - something that Arts In Leicestershire would wholeheartedly endorse.

Also in the article is "Val McCoy's guide to the best of Leicester's new bands". The OBS Organiser has picked out The Dirty Backbeats, The Displacements, The Dandilions, The Chairmen, M48 and the Codes as being the top 6 bands on the way up in Leicester.

She suggests that Penfold Gate, Just Norris and Autohype are following closely behind the leading pack!

M48 Wins OBS

Leicester band M48 won the 2008 OBS competition, with The Codes coming a close second. Read our report on the grand final

Gales rock Glastonbudget Festival

Literally everything rocked at this year's Glastonbudget Festival as a force 8 gale hit the open air show on Saturday.

The main stage of the new acts part of the Festival was blown to pieces and did not see a single band over the whole weekend. Fortunately, this was the first time that the festival's organisers had introduced a substantial marquee to accommodate what was planned to be a supporting line up of bands.

The main stage being inoperable, the bands were moved into the marquee and, after some shuffling round of lineups and locations, the new act bands show got underway and the crowd was able to enjoy the music, out of the wind and rain.

See our Glastonbudget Festival report

Futureheads gig cancelled yet again

Saturday 10th May 2008

When top Sunderland based band The Futureheads were booked to play at The Athena Theatre on Friday 21st March, with supporting DJ set by Pendulum, many promoters in Leicester were envious of this coup.

Music commentators were saying that this event could radically transform the live music scene in Leicester. The original date was to have included six of Leicester's most talented, young bands in the support line-up. Hopes were high that the Athena could become the much needed "Academy" of Leicester, bringing top bands into the city centre.

When news broke that the 21st March gig had been cancelled, there was widespread dismay. The show was eventually re-scheduled to Sunday 11th May and moved to The Venue at Leicester University (but without the Pendulum set.) The six young, local bands were also included in the new day.

Yesterday, the Managers of The Futureheads announced that the band would no longer be available for the May date and had re-booked for a date in October, to come back to play at The Venue.

Many student ticket holders will be disappointed as, by October, they will have left Leicester. The Utopians, the main support band, were saddened by the announcement of the new date; two of the band members will be starting at other Universities that week and will be unlikely to get back to Leicester to play the gig.

Managers at the Venue do not usually book our local bands to support bigger bands at The Venue. Local bands are disappointed at this lost opportunity.

New live music venue

Friday 9th May 2008

The Pavilion used to be the cafe on Victoria Park but now it has been transformed into a live music venue.

After refurbishment, the venue is putting on live bands on Saturday nights and attendance has been growing well. The management also plan a new acoustics night on Wednesdays.

What makes the venue attractive is its venue of hot food and snacks, well priced beers and lagers and patio where guests can relax outdoors on a warm summer evening (but still hear the bands playing inside.)

There is more information about the Pavilion on this web site | See our gigs list for all Pavilion events

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