St Albans band is ready to rock Parliament
Concrete Caverns - From left, Dan Fishlock (drums), Zach Stone (lead guitar), Joe Driffield (lead vocals and ryhthm guitar), Liam Banga (bass guitar) - Credit: photo supplied
Parliament is often considered to be a ‘stuffy institution’ but a local guitarist hopes to shake things up when he plays for St Albans in a battle of the bands.
Concrete Caverns - From left, Dan Fishlock (drums), Zach Stone (lead guitar), Joe Driffield (lead vocals and ryhthm guitar), Liam Banga (bass guitar) - Credit: photo supplied
Four-piece rock band Concrete Caverns, which regularly gigs around London and St Albans, has been chosen to play in the 2016 finals of ‘Rock The House’, one of Parliament’s largest competitions, next Monday, June 13.
The winner will then play a live set for industry executives, label representatives and national press at the Houses of Parliament. Prizes include equipment and studio time for the winner and runners-up.
St Albans MP Anne Main said she was “delighted to put Concrete Caverns through to the next round of this competition. It’s great that we are now able to showcase young musicians in our parliament.
“I am aware that parliament is often considered to be a stuffy, old institution so I was pleased to continue supporting this competition. Talented up-and-coming musicians can now gain the recognition they deserve.”
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Concrete Caverns’ bass player Liam Banga is from St Albans and a former pupil of Verulam School.
Liam, 20, said: “It is awesome to have our band selected by Anne to represent the St Albans constituency, and we are over the moon that the judging panel has selected us to play in the finals.
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“We love writing original music and performing live.”
Liam, who has been playing guitar since the age of 10 and is studying for a BA in popular music at the University of Middlesex, said he and fellow band members found gigging “a very natural experience”.
He said that Concrete Caverns would try “not to be overwhelmed by nerves at the final – we are confident. The secret to success is not to change anything. We are going to treat the competition like any other gig we do, and just go out and play, and enjoy ourselves on stage.”
Rock The House aims to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the intellectual property rights of artists among legislators and the public. Patrons include Queen’s Brian May, and Alice Cooper.
Liam said: “We write our own music, and have been doing so for the past two years. We have been told by people to protect our music – it is a concern.”
• Concrete Caverns’ next performance in St Albans is at the M Festival at the Marlborough Science Academy on July 9. For more information click here.
