The Jons win Southend battle of the bands PDF Print E-mail

The Jons celebrate their success in the Battle of the Bands contest 5:54pm Monday 2nd November 2009

HUNDREDS of people jammed the phone lines to crown the Jons this year’s Battle of the Bands winner.

The group, described as a mix of ska, punk and indie, beat off stiff competition to win this year’s contest by a “clear country mile”.

Organisers of the competition, which is in its second year, say they received around 2,500 texts in total as revellers cast their vote for their favourite act out of this year’s four finalists.

The Battle of the Bands competition, organised by Southend Radio and Southend council, began seven weeks ago as local bands played before judges at Chinnerys in Marine Parade, Southend.

The judges had a hard task, but managed to whittle down the auditionees to the four finalists – the Jons, Lazarus Rose, Vacant Touch and the Peppermint Apes.

All four groups played in front of an audience of hundreds at an outdoor gig at Marine Parade car park, Southend on Saturday night.

Once all the finalists had played, concert goers were treated to a set by last year’s winners, Heist, as the text lines opened for listeners to cast their votes.

But Tracy Cooper, presenter of the competition and a DJ at Southend Radio, said the Jons won by a “clear country mile”.

She said of the contest: “We were really pleased with the whole thing.

“There are lots of great bands in Southend and it was really hard to pick the final four. They were all very different.

“The standard of bands was really incredible and shows that Southend has a great deal of talent and an amazing music scene.”

The prize won by the Jons includes £1,000 to spend on Peavy musical instruments, a professional photography and PR session, an image consultation, an interview and acoustic session on Southend radio and a support slot with last year’s runner-up Soliss.
 
LIVE and UNSIGNED NEWS and SOUTHEND BATTLE OF THE BANDS PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Saturday, 07 November 2009 20:08

Music and lyrics – Tom McFaull of the Jons has taken control of the band’s vocals

THE JONS MAKE IT TO THE REGIONAL FINAL OF LIVE AND UNSIGNED

 

After seeing 500 bands at the Essex Auditions Judges had the following to say on the LIVE and UNSIGNED website

Steve Anunab from The Way Studio said, “I thought The Jons were the best performers on the day! There were a few other bands that stood out but they shone. Impact played a good song and Robert Brown showed originality. I thought Façade www.myspace.com/facaderocks were confident although they need to look at their vocal harmonies.

”Claire Hankey, Features Editor from the Basildon Echo was impressed with the local acts, “Foreign Legion have the type of lead singer every band covers! I thought the most animated band of the day was Appollo With Stands www.myspace.com/apollowithstands and I spotted a very talented drummer in Silver Space. Other acts that impressed me were The Jons www.myspace.com/thejonsofficial and Verax www.myspace.com/veraxband.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9:20pm Thursday 5th November 2009

INDIE punk band the Jons are still buzzing after emerging champions of the Southend Battle of the Bands competition on Saturday.

They saw off competition from Lazarus Rose, Vacant Touch and the Peppermint Apes to win the seven-week contest and take the £1,000 prize.

“We didn’t think we would get through the first round let alone win it. It hasn’t properly sunk in yet – I keep texting the rest of the band saying ‘we won!’” says lead singer Tom McFaull. “It sounds like a 15-year-old’s pipe dream, but we would like to get a record contract.

“We are going to buy a PA with the money we won and we want to do gigs in Southend and in London, and a university tour.”

The Jons got together in 2006, consisting of Southend lads Jack Burgess on guitar, Ollie Stone on drums, Neil Hickson on guitar, and Sam Catton on bass (the first letter of each name makes the anagram Jons). Initially, Neil and Jack would sing and do backing vocals until nine months ago, when Tom joined the band.

“They weren’t doing that much as a band at the time. Jack is a family friend and I had been going to see them play since I was 14.

“I was too young to play then, but I had been in a lot of different bands over the years and so they asked me to play,” explained Tom, who is 18. “I brought melodies to the band and let the rest of the band focus on the guitars, bass and drum and I took control of the vocals.”

Tom has always been interested in songwriting.

“I have always written in other bands and I like to make the lyrics clear because, I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but some of them are quite clever.

“I write about things people can relate to, we’re everyday blokes not superheroes. It’s the old themes of girls, fights and break-ups,” explains Tom, who lives in Hornchurch.

Jack and Tom grew up watching their dads, Steve and front man Colin respectively, in the influential streetpunk band Cock Sparrer.

“My dad has been a big inspiration to me. He is the biggest idol you could have. To grow up seeing your dad performing in front of thousands of people is amazing.

“Both mine and Jack’s dads are chuffed to bits that we won,” says Tom.

“They were big in their time, and still are, and have a faithful following. We are doing our own thing now and we are accessible and appeal to all different people.”

And seeing their fan base grow since the competition has been encouraging for the band.

“We played in front of a crowd of about 600 at the competition final and it was the most we have played to before.

“When I joined the band initially we played to a crowd of 300 and after that it was more like 150. Now we have to keep going because we don’t want to lose our momentum,” says Tom. “Before we had hypothetical fans who said they would come to gigs and didn’t. Now we have a faithful following who would follow us to Inverness if they had to.”
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 19 January 2010 10:49 )