College band 'Up In Smoke' will be hoping to bowl over a massive crowd when they go live at the Ageas Cricket Bowl, Southampton, after coming out tops at the annual Solent Sound Festival 2014.
The band, with its line-up of Auburn Lewis, Lennon Yates, Guy Keep, Nick Cowan and Jack Wellman, all second year Level 3 students at The Bournemouth & Poole College, saw off ten talented rivals groups from colleges from across the south to win the award.
Their reward is a final live concert to end this year’s festival in front of a packed T20 cricket crowd at the famous cricketing venue. The date is to be fixed but will be early in July.
Lennon Yates, from Swanage, said: “It is a fantastic achievement. We’ve only been together about a year and 7 months having met at the college and to win this contest, in the face of such talented opposition, is really amazing.
“We were up against some excellent performers but all the hard work and hours of commitment we invested in practice over the last five months paid off.
“We must acknowledge the back-up we’ve had from the college. The rehearsal and recording facilities here in North Road, Poole, are first class and we were given full access to all the state of the art equipment for recording and rehearsal purposes.
“College music staff were here to advise and I think that helped us to focus on creating our own distinctive funky-hip-hop sound.
‘Up in Smoke’ pipped ten other young bands from colleges across the south in a Battle of the Bands to land the award.
“It’s a marvellous achievement for a band starting out. We're all excited to see what happens next for the group, so watch this space!” said James Greenwood, Team Leader for Music BTEC Level 3.
Up in Smoke will be releasing their debut album in June. Plus they will be arranging performances in Bournemouth and Poole.
