'Just playing the 02 is a prize in itself'

Sep 22 2010 By Neela Debnath, Harrow Observer

A BAND from Wembley is gearing up to perform at the national finals of a music competition at The O2 in London.

Rock group Anaam beat 12,000 bands to make it into the final 16, who will all play at the Surface Unsigned Festival national showcase on Saturday at the south-east London arena's Indigo venue.

Since making it through the regional heats, the four-piece group have been rehearsing non-stop for the event, which will be filmed by Channel 4, and say they are now 'quietly confident' about their chances of scooping the winning prize, a package worth £60,000.

The band will be performing a 25-minute set of original songs including, Justify, Enigmatic and Strung Along.

Guitarist Kandarp Thakkar, 31, of Harrowdene Road, Wembley, said: "We are spending a lot of time practising, getting all the finer details right.

"However, being an unsigned band means we have to work hard on all our own promotion, so we are doing everything from handing out flyers to merchandising. It's a very busy time."

The band has had its current line-up for three years and comprises Kandarp, bassist Shaon Mukerjee, lead singer Arup Roy and drummer Ricky Prasad.

The name Anaam means 'nameless' in Bengali and Hindi, and was chosen to reflect the Indian roots of its members.

However, the group's music owes a lot to Western rock influences, including artists such as Rage Against the Machine, KISS and Guns N' Roses.

Shaon said: "We have always been quietly confident about doing well in this competition.

"We knew that as soon as people heard us play and saw us perform, audiences and judges would warm to us."A part of us is still in shock that we've suddenly made it to the national final; it's a pleasant surprise.

"We are not cocky though. It's our fans that make us pull out all the stops when we write our songs and give it 200 per cent on stage.

"We are going to love performing at The O2, which is a prize in itself."