Echo

Hailing from the south coast town of Bournemouth, Echo are by far and above the best new band to emerge on the scene in years and although having only been gigging together for about 6 months are already establishing a solid following and fanbase. The band was founded by best friends Grant Barratt and Tom Parrett with Darren Sheppard quickly putting himself forward for the position of 'Man With The Sticks' and charismatic Lead Singer Neil Tallant firmly cementing the role as his own after responding to an advert placed by Grant in their local music store. The line-up wasn't finally complete until nearly 6 months later however, when 'Wing-Commander' Jack Woolston emerged from the chaos of the early days gigging to step naturally into the Rhythm guitarist role.

Taking their cue from the great British bands of the past they draw heavily on melody and a 'Fuck-it' rock 'n roll attitude that they take to the stage to perform sizzling sets. This isn't a one trick pony either. Grant Barratt, the band's chief songwriter and lead guitarist has been writing songs since almost the first time he picked up a guitar and has developed his craft to the point where he is now churning out classics on an almost daily basis. "We may only have a set list of twelve or thirteen tunes," insists the guitarist, "but I've got at least thirty more written - there's bugger all else to do but write songs when your out of work."

And that is exactly what Echo have in abundance - quality songs. Every one is a potential single and the band know it - getting annoyed at anyone who says that the 'look' of a band is almost more important than the music. "Look - what it comes down to at the end of the day," snaps Grant, "is, do these fuckers have songs that are worth listening to? Because otherwise what would be the point in playing music? No one is gonna come see an unsigned band that doesn't have a tune worth mentioning even if they do look like the love-child of Slash and Freddy Mercury. It's important to put on a show sure, but don't let that get in the way of what makes a band worth seeing in the first place."

With this attitude it's no wonder that Echo have already started to receive local airplay on local radio and digital radio stations as well as rave reviews from those that come to see them on a regular basis. They may all hail from a town renowned more for it's beaches than it's musical heritage, but they definitely have grander plans than touring the seaside.