Member Article

Teesside band to play at O2 Academy

A TEESSIDE band is practising hard after making it through to the finals of a renowned music competition.

Aces & Sinners, a band from Hartlepool will travel to Newcastle’s O2 Academy at the end of January to perform and compete on the main stage in the prestigious SoundWave Music Competition final.

The band, which is made up of Jamie Ainslie (23), Chris Guy (24) and Andy Graham (24), has made it down to the final 14 out of some 300 entries.

Jamie, 23, the band’s guitarist and lead singer, said: “We heard about the Soundwave competition and were really keen to enter.

“The competition offers unsigned bands and artists in Northern England and Scotland the chance to battle it out and win through to a live music final, getting to play in front of music industry representatives and win a recording package

“The competition process was quite intense – we applied online and we were then invited to play in front of a judging panel. That was actually much more nerve-wracking and intense than playing to a large crowd”

“We played track three from our album, A Rose By Any Other Name, and the feedback we received was really positive. From that we were asked back to the second round of auditions which were in front of a live audience and then heard we’d made it through to the final at the O2 Academy in Newcastle on 31 January.

Jamie continued: “It’s fantastic that we’ve been invited back, there is such a diverse mix of bands and singers in the final that we can’t wait to take part in it. Last year we were invited to play on the second stage at the O2 as part of the ‘One’s to Watch’ show for JAR Music Live – that was an amazing experience and we can’t wait to play on the main stage in January’

Aces & Sinners launched their first album ‘Feel the Fire’, at The Showroom in Hartlepool at the end of 2014 with support from White Tones and Andi Grainger.

Jamie added: “We were really pleased with how the launch went. It’s tough for up-and-coming bands to get themselves heard these days so we are always grateful to people who come along to hear us play or who follow us and talk to us on social media.”

The band are now working on their set list for the final at the O2 Academy and are ramping up rehearsals while it tries to get a foot on the music ladder.

Anyone who would like to go along and support the band at the final can buy tickets from www.o2academynewcastle.co.uk

Follow Aces & Sinners at https://www.facebook.com/Acessinners or @AcesSinners on Twitter.

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