Your Stories

The music students at Preston College's Music Academy were one of two acts voted to share the bill with McEwan who supported Melua on her European Tour.

No Man's Land tell us about the 53 Degrees gig, the joys of getting their own dressing room and their new album...

Who's who?

Stu Blundell (lead vocals & rhythm guitar)
Joe Wilkins (lead guitar & backing vocals)
Matt Maher 18 (drums, backing vocals)
Dan Fitzsimmons 17 (bass guitar)

How did you get the gig supporting Andrea McEwan?

The College is a Roland Music Academy and Roland were giving two acts the opportunity to support Andrea. There was a vote among all the students and we were picked along with Chris Monaghan.

What set did you play?

We played a collection of nine of our original songs. You can listen to the set - it is on myspace.com/nomanslandpreston.

How do you reckon it went?

We feel we performed well and received a good reception from the crowd who seemed to enjoy it. We couldn’t have asked for more at this stage.

How did it feel playing in front of a home crowd?

It’s a lot more comfortable playing in front of a home crowd because you get the feeling they want you to be a success. It also helps if people we know are in the crowd then we can get feedback and improve for next time!

Has it given you the taste for success?

Yeah! It was brilliant having our own dressing room and our own stage crew – it’d be nice to have that at every gig!

Did Andrea offer you any advice?

Yeah, Andrea was really nice and supportive. She told us to always believe in ourselves and keep writing new material and putting it out there.

How would you describe the band’s style…

We're an indie band but we have other elements that make us different. I play a harmonica, and our drummer has been trained as a Jazz drummer so he helps put that across in his technique.

Your influences?

We have various individual influences such as The Beatles, The Libertines and The Smiths. We’re like a mix of them all!

Do you write your own material?

Definitely!

What’s next for No Man's Land?

We’ve made a collective decision to take a gap year after we finish college to concentrate on making the band a success and getting to where we want to be. In the short term, we’ve got our self-published album on the way.

Can we expect to hear more from No Man's Land?

Of course! We plan to do more gigs and more busking in Preston as we do at the moment. We've got the album coming out soon so we hope you’ll be hearing plenty of us.