Birr Community Online

Surreal Help for a Surreal Band!

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Starting a band and getting yourself known can be hard work, and there is no guarantee you’ll ‘make it’! At tough times like these you can often find a light shining at the end of the tunnel, and hope is rekindled for you hopeful youngsters. And so Coca Cola Blastbeat is introduced! Coca Cola Blastbeat is a worldwide social enterprise and music business competition for Second Level and High Schools. The aim is for the participating schools to establish and register their own Music and Multi-Media Company and aim to promote the musical talent of the youth today, as bands from all over Ireland battle it out for a years recording contract with the very successful Blastspace Records. This year, Loughrea’s mini-company, Surreal Sounds from County Galway, are working like mad to be the best mini-company in all of Ireland. With the help of Coca Cola Blastbeat’s fantastic mentors, Robert Stephenson, Jon Pearson and the beautiful Ruth Blaney, Surreal Sounds has been fortunate to find a very talented young band, Reef Stained, and are promoting them all the way to victory. This rock quartet hailing from Birr and Portumna are Ireland’s up and coming success story, and ranging from only 15 to 17 years old, they are giving many bands in Ireland a run for their money! Introducing Mikey D’Alton (lead singer), Mark Finnerty (lead guitarist), Brian Murphy (bass guitarist) and Pete Kelly (drummer) who make up this brilliant group. These gifted young musicians have fought off bands from all over the country to win the Coca Cola Blastbeat Connaught Regionals held in the Blackbox not so long ago. With many amazing covers of such songs like ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna and their very own original proving to be very popular, ‘Let Down’, there’s no stopping them! The boys, who are representing Offaly and Galway, will be battling it out in the Tripod for that very exciting prize, a recording contract with Blastspace Records, in Dublin on May 17th. Please support this outstanding band and help make their dreams a reality! Of course their dedicated fan-base in Surreal Sounds will be supporting them all the way!!

Sandra Duane