Boy Genius
FemaleFirst are holding the only Band competition worth entering this summer, and through the sackfuls of entries we’ve had over the past few months, we finally have our five finalists who are poised and ready to compete on July 12 in Manchester.
But before they draw their drum sticks and battle it out in front of our industry judges for the chance to win some incredible musical prizes, including a weekend at 3 Sixty Studios in London, a makeover by The General Store and a year’s Public Relations from momentum PR, we thought it was only fair we introduced our musical warriors.
Let’s find out more about Boy Genius;
Who are you?
We are Boy Genius.
Who does what?
Kyle plays guitar and sings, Michael plays bass and Charlie plays drums and sings.
Where do you come from?
We come from various small villages in the North West, but we're primarily based in Preston.
Describe the sound of your band?
We've been described as catchy and melodic, but also extremely heavy. We feel that a band is only as good as the songs that they write, so the style of our music is overshadowed by the pop overtones. We write pop music, but it's very cleverly disguised in a mask of raw energy and heavy riffs.
Who do you look up to within the music industry?
We've always looked up to people who do things their own way, and make their own success through hard work and effort. We've always respected bands like Reuben, Biffy Clyro, The Bronx and Oceansize, because they all dared to do something different for the longest time without the aid of major label industry support. If you can big without somebody throwing a load of money at you, then you know you're in a truly great band.
What makes your band different from all of the others?
We have absolutely no agenda, and we don't believe in the idea of a front man. Kyle sings, but he's an integral part of the machine, and the machine doesn't work without each member of the band bringing a key element to the mix.
We don't have any gimmicks, or novelties. We try to let our music speak for itself, as opposed to leaving the music as an afterthought to outlandish costumes, or over-the-top guitar solos. We just want to make people dance, and if people leave our gigs with one of our songs in their head, then we've done our job.
What have you achieved as a band so far?
Since we formed in 2008 we've played with the likes of Pulled Apart By Horses, KONG, Failsafe and The Automatic. We've also been asked to play a couple of festivals this year, and every time we play we get asked to play again, a little further away from home each time. We also consider getting into the final of this competition to be a huge achievement for us.
Where would you like to be in 10 years from now?
Whatever happens, we'll always keep playing music. In 10 years time we might have a record deal, we might still be playing the same venues as we are today. Either way, we love the music, so you can guarantee we'll still be playing, and that's all that matters.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison