Meet the Brylcreem boys!
Published Date:
19 September 2007
UNSIGNED Fife band B Raymond and the Voicettes may have only been together since January, but they are now appearing on adverts all over the country after one of their songs was snapped up by styling giants Brylcreem.
Ex-St Andrew's High School pupils Sean 'Doc' Docherty (20) and brother Scott (18), Lee Hayes (18) and Joe Docherty (18), formed the band with the funny name - the consequence of a joke that went too far - while three of them were still at school.
And now, only eight months later, they are receiving national coverage in the new Brylcreem 'B Effortless' advert, which plays their song "Old Man Marley".
Scott, who, despite having his older brother in the band seems to be the leader of the pack, told The Fife Free Press: "I was on the Xfm website and I saw the competition.
"All we had to do was upload a song onto Brylcreem's Myspace page and wait."
Soon the band had received a phone call inviting them down to London to record the music for the advert.
Lead singer Doc said: "We went to a posh reception and thought we'd be put up in a posh hotel, but then they told us we were staying across the road - it was like a shed!
"It turned out to be really cool though - we got to see the proper TV set and I ended up in the advert."
Despite only Doc making it into the final cut, guitarist Scott and base player Joe claim they were only "a wee bit jealous".
One gripe the band do have, however, is the lack of good music venues in the Kingdom.
"The music scene is good but there's a real lack of venues in Fife," Scott said. "We would play here more if we could, but there's just not enough places, and I think the Greenside are probably getting fed up with us now!"
B Raymond played their first gig in the Greenside, Leslie, which is fast becoming one of Fife's best live music venues.
Reagan Gallagher, who runs the music side of the venue and is also the manager of B Raymond, added: "It's always hard for local bands here to build up a fan base because it means following the band to Glasgow, Edinburgh or Dundee.
"More options in Fife would really help, but if anything I think this Brylcreem advert has really opened doors for B Raymond."
The boys say everyone from Elvis to The Beach Boys has influenced their music, and describe their own stuff as "pop & roll".
"We went out with the purpose to play different music, but still to be mainstream," said Scott.
"We're not afraid to say that we might be compared to McFly. It's a lot better than fading into the indie-pop background that's everywhere at the moment."
The boys are obviously proud of the Fife music scene, where they say the local bands are all supportive of each other, and you can see everything from hard core dance to funk and soul in one venue - there's just not enough of them.
So what does the future hold for the band from Fife who are now part of a national advert set to push them into the limelight?
"We just want to go for it," said Doc.
"To play music as a profession, to make a career out of playing music would be great. Not many folk can say they do what they love for a job," added Scott.
Joe and Lee chip in: "I'd definitely be happy with that."
The full article contains 598 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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Last Updated:
20 September 2007 9:17 AM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Fife Now