Music
Meet the A Shot at Discovery finalists: Bouremouth
Meet the Bournemouth finalists for The Pogues Irish Whiskey Presents: A Shot at Discovery ahead of the regional heats.
The Pogues Irish Whiskey have teamed up with Academy Music Group, the people behind all of those iconic live music venues across the UK, to award one unsigned band with a huge prize. The national winner will enjoy £3000 towards new instruments, studio time with The Pogues as guest producers, live opportunities and management services, plus much more.
With the regional finals kicking off on Sunday 5 March, we’ll be bringing you an introduction to each of the bands scheduled to play.
See all of our A Shot at Discovery coverage here.
Here are the Bournemouth finalists, who will take to the Old Fire Station on Sunday 5 March 2017. You can grab tickets here.
Endea
Describe your sound and how you formed.
ENDEA have a furious driven story telling Alt/rock sound with an aggressive edge that hints at metal influences. Set in a conceptual post apocalyptic dystopia, showing that modern music can still play a huge part in concept albums based on fictional environments.
ENDEA were formed in the underworld of Bournemouth when a young Dan Stamp walked into his local music shop and found a brother in arms – Grimshaw Endea, they formed a band of which the likes had never been seen and they called them selves…..wait, that’s someone else?! Together Dan and Grim started writing and rehearsing, gaining attention with the added support of local radio play for the soulful and lightly aggressive acoustic performances they soon become known for.
After numerous failed attempts at finding the right line up they sadly decided to take a step back and focus on different projects. This did not last long and they decided greatness doesn’t wait for anyone! You go out, grab it by the balls and earn it!! Eventually they struck gold and found Dave Elliott. Finally, a bass player who knew how to add dynamic and help push the songs to greater heights! After playing along side some of the most talented musicians in Dorset the band finally found the perfect drummer AND the perfect line up! Along Came Arron – Arron Bennett added so much life and energy to the line up, THIS IS the final product!! ENDEA had a fantastic 2016 with the new brotherhood and have continued to power forward into 2017.
Why should fans check you out?
Because we are the Grey Jedi of Rock music! We don’t follow any rules, we write songs that we love and hope the audience love, our show is energetic, passionate, and we engage our audience and sometimes become part of it. We are the band that no one knows who to put us with because we have a unique sound, catchy and fresh, drawn from every possible genre of music.
Towers
Describe your sound and how you formed.
Towers are a rock band from the south coast of England. Formed in 2016 following the break up of former band, Death Of An Artist, they decided to move away from the metal scene they previously belonged. Now taking influence from bands like Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday and Thirty Seconds To Mars, they could easily be written off as just another “emo” band, but their music transcends this tag. Big choruses, soaring vocals and crunching guitars, the band want to bring everyone on their personal journey playing the music they love.
Why should fans check you out?
So we can put bournemouth on the map for our genre and what we stand for. Supporting mental health and a better wellbeing of life. This is a great opportunity to show people who we are and what we do. And thank Pogues and O2 for giving us the opportunity.
DD Allen
Describe your band and how you formed.
It’s Folk Rock that uses specific influences from each genre. The underlying style of the music is definitely Rock but you have Folk styled lyrics and crossover instruments such as acoustic guitar and pedal steel to give the music a contemporary sound.
I started off performing as a solo acoustic artist in 2014 and I’d written over 50 songs by the time I started thinking how a number of the songs could sound as band arrangements.
Christian Evans played guitar with me on some of the earliest acoustic music and he’d developed a real ‘John Mayer’ sound on electric. We started jamming and bought in a couple of other musicians to shape the sound.
We were lucky enough to record a couple of demos in 2015 with a producer called Mark Tucker who had a big hit with Jethro Tull back in the day. Mark had also done a lot with Folk Rock artists such as Fairport Convention and he helped set us on our way with a definite style of music.
Unfortunately a couple of the guys were playing in other bands and couldn’t commit the time so we had to bring in a new bass player and drummer.
This worked quite well in the end. Bassist Alex Reed is really good and he’d been on Radio 1 with a band called the Cramatics before they disbanded.
Jamie Smith is a real John Bonham fan so when we eventually got him to stop hitting the hell out of everything we got a real drive to the drum sound.
My old school mate Jordan Gray joined us recently to fill the guitar sound out even more. Its pretty good having three guitarists that can all alternate the lead with a different sound.
We’ve come a long way musically in the last year and I’d like to think we’ve got a tight live act now.
There are so many influences coming through in the music it’s difficult to drop us into a specific genre. We get a lot of different opinions on what and who we sound like so I suppose thats a good thing.
Why should fans check you out?
We’d like to think we’re doing something different. We’ve brought together elements of rock, folk, blues and even Tulsa, making it all work with some great lyrical storytelling. It’s a real fusion of sound and if we were lucky enough to get through and work with The Pogues we’d be adding yet another exciting dimension.
Like any band we also want to bring the music to as many people as possible and we have so many songs that have never been heard yet. Getting through to the next round would allow us to share even more music.
Soulhole
Soulhole, a four piece band, have managed a fusion of funk-rock and blues by taking inspiration from a wide array of genres. The band first formed back in 2012 and has continued their musical pursuits and experimentation, constantly evolving while remaining true to impassioned vocals and keyboard work. They released their EP, Fool On Parade, last year, while building a reputation for energetic live performances.
Sirpico
Describe your sound and how you formed.
Sirpico are a Bournemouth based, four piece, indie rock band with a hint of R&B and classical rock. The band formed in 2003, but having had a few changes in the line-up, they now feel they are better than ever.
Why should fans check you out?
Because we want to put bands back on top! The British band scene has been, well not great in recent years. Don’t get me wrong, we have had some great music emerge, but good bands have been few and far between. We want to bring back the good old days, the days where rock and indie bands ruled the charts, not overpaid ‘performers’ who don’t even write their own songs. Well that’s our opinion anyways, and we think the music scene is ready for a change up. So help us bring bands back to the top.
Romeo & What’s Her Face
Describe your sound and how you formed.
Romeo & Whats Her Face are a punchy, fast-paced rock ‘n roll band without frills or fuss. Instead, this band puts out high energy songs with rhythmic riffs and mosh-inducing breakdowns. Not only do they sound good, but they know how to capture a crowd with their onstage antics. Their catchy originals will have you tapping your feet and you can be sure that Romeo & Whats Her Face are a band that you’ll remember after every performance!
Why should fans check you out?
We’re the new kids on the block, bringing hard hitting, fast paced, no frills original hard rock to your ear holes. If you like fresh new music, you’ll love us.
Jawbone
Describe your sound and how you formed.
Forming in Bournemouth during 2014, Jawbone are a fuzzed up blues duo, with a vintage drive. Soaring vocals and ferocious drums, underpinned with complex guitar work are shaped by their intense chemistry on stage. A must see.
Why should fans check you out?
Jawbone don’t rely on smoke and mirrors. No costumes, uniforms or production tricks, just raw talent that unfolds in a sweaty frenzy between 2 best friends.
Find out more about the Pogues Irish Whiskey: A Shot At Discovery competition over on the Academy Music Group website.
Grab tickets to all of the A Shot At Discovery regional finals through our friends over at TicketWeb.
