Interviews and Reviews

One of the Swindon music scenes brightest lights - hip-hop trio Beatbullyz - who have been around since early 2005 have recently come first in a national unsigned band competition run by Channel 4.

Along with thousands of hopeful national acts, the band entered the 4Unsigned 'Get Played on HOLLYOAKS' competition late last year, and were announced as the winners on Wednesday 23rd January.

The judges who chose them were made up of Hollyoaks production staff and actors.

The Beatbullyz trio are Bully (Andy Bullimore), Bozo (Daniel Dubose), and Disco (Stuart Anderson), and their sound is a skilful blend of ska, funk, hip-hop, soul and big beat.

As well as wowing audiences in local venues such as Swindon's Brunel Rooms and The Apartment and Moles Club in Bath, the band have played all around the country and in Europe.

They have previously played the Snow Bombing festival in Austria and are due to return there in 2008.

The band have also appeared on MTV, ITV and BBC News 24. However, the chance to be seen and heard on one of Channel 4's most popular shows is something the band hope will give them some much needed exposure.

Exposure

Bozo from the band explained: "In March we are releasing our album so we're hoping to get a good push out of this. The possibilities are endless, we want to get as much out of it as we can."

When they first entered the competition last year the band were confident they'd do well.

Bozo from Beatbullyz

"Well we are pretty confident about our music," said Bozo. "I definitely thought we'd come in the top five, without a doubt.

"Our music is pretty diverse, and wherever we play we never fail in making the whole crowd jump and sing along to our songs as they're so catchy they stick in your head."

And for a band who describes their sound as cutting edge, Bozo is not afraid to risk their credibility by appearing in a mainstream soap aimed at teenagers.

He said: "The way we look at is if we're going to appear on the show and our music is going to be played and one million people are going to be watching, if only 10% like us, that's 100,000 people digging what we do."

'Rootz'

The band are set to travel to Liverpool where Hollyoaks is filmed in four weeks time to shoot their scene and shortly after that in March, their debut album entitled 'Rootz' is released, and will be available to purchase via iTunes.

The album contains 'Keyz to Life' - the song which won the band the 4Unsigned competition. You can listen to the track by clicking the link below.