Jersey’s fiercest young talent will this weekend be tuning up, turning up and battling for glory at the annual Battle of the Bands, with everything from tuba-powered indie to grunge throwbacks on the line… Express got the lowdown on those taking to the stage…

Hosted at The Watersplash and free to attend, the under-18s musical showdown for is now in its third year since local musician Jess Donoghue brought it back in 2023.

Her aim was to give young bands a real platform – and to reignite “the sense of community in the live band scene following the pandemic”.

This year, the event has joined forces with Youth Arts Jersey to help “expand and continue developing its ever-growing community” – and, if last year’s winners ‘4K’ are anything to go by, this gig is just the beginning for young talent.

Pictured: Battle of the Bands 2024 winner was ‘4K’ who have gone on to perform at venues all over the Island.

Since scooping the 2024 title, the band have played all over the island – including the Blue Note Bar, Chambers, The Troubadour, The Corn Riots Festival and even the Made in Jersey stage at the Weekender music festival.

Doors open at 4pm this Saturday 17 May, with the show kicking off from 5pm to 9pm.

It’s free, it’s loud – and the prize categories range from Best Vocals, Stage Presence and ‘Rock God’ to the coveted JMA BOTB title.

So, let’s meet the bands…

Pretty in Pink

Pictured: Pretty in Pink consisting of Ellie-Mai, Ben, Delilah, Ollie and Evan.

First up is pop-rock band Pretty in Pink, who will be hitting the stage this week, consisting of Ellie-Mai, Ben, Delilah, Ollie and Evan.

2+2=Pumpkin

Pictured: 2+2=Pumpkin is made up of Logan, Fred, Caleb and Josh.

Tribute and cover band 2+2=Pumpkin will be playing hits from Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins.

The group – made up of Logan (bass), Fred (guitar/vocal), Caleb (guitar) and Josh (drums) –said: “We entered BOTB as a means of growing our following.”

“This band was a way for us to play music from two of our favourite bands,” they added.

Heartbeatz

Pictured: Heartbeatz consisting of Laura, Issy, Raf and Filip.

Pop-rock based band Heartbeatz is made up of Laura (vocals), Issy (guitar), Raf (drummer) and Filip (bass).

“We are very excited to be playing at this year’s Battle of the Bands!” the group said.

The Salute

Pictured: The Salute, made up of Jack, Hannah, Finlay, Owen and Senan.

Runners-up at last year’s Battle of the Bands, The Salute, are aiming high for the prize.

The group that is best known for playing a mixture of indie, rock and pop music have won the stage presence award two years in a row at the Island’s BOTB.

The group is made up of Jack (drums/piano), Hannah (vocals/acoustic guitar), Finlay (lead guitar/drums), Owen (rhythm guitar) and Senan (bass).

They said: “We are known for our stage presence and having a good time. We have plays at two Under-18s BOTB competitions and two School of Popular Music BOTB competitions.

“We also played live in town for the Corn Riots Festival last year. We won runners-up last year at the Watersplash. We are a tight knit group of friends who are ready to rock!” they added.

The Shades

Barley (vocals), Ben (guitar), William (guitar), Harry (drums), Billy (bass) and Flynn (tuba) together make up The Shades.

“We like to play songs that will get the crowd moving and singing along,” they said.

“Some of our musical influences are The Beatles, Queen, Oasis, BLUR, Madness, and the Arctic Monkeys,” the group added.

TAB (The Amazing Band)

Pictured: Winne, Molly, Aspen, Isla and Rosie from TAB.

Next up is TAB (The Amazing Band), which is made up of Winnie, Molly, Aspen, Isla and Rosie

“As a band, we pay alternative and indie rock, mainly from the 1990s and 2000s, including bands such as Mansun, Elastica, Ash, The White Stripes and The Pixies.”

“We also perform our original music. When writing our music, we are sonically inspired by bands such as Mansun, King Adora, The Llama Farmers, Unwound and Sonic Youth. Lyrically we are inspired by artistis such as Tori Amos, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette,” they added.

Nenja

Pictured: Joshua, Edgar, Noah and Andrei who make up Nenja.

Nenja are a rock band, made up of schoolmates from Le Roquier consisting of Joshua (drums/guitar/vocals), Edgar (vocals/guitar), Noah (drums/ keyboard/backing vocals) and Andrei (bass/keyboard/backing vocals).

The band said they take influence from the likes of Radiohead and Oasis.

RIOT

Pictured: Jack, Owen, Austin and Shay from RIOT.

Last but not least, we have the rock and mental band RIOT.

Made up of Jack (guitar), Owen (bass), Austin (drums) and Shay (vocals), the group said: “We applied to Battle of the Bands to show people what we are made of.”

DON’T MISS…

Doors will open for the free non-ticketed event on Saturday 1 May at 4pm, with the event taking place 5pm to 9pm.

You can find out more about this year’s under-18s Battle of the Bands HERE.

This year’s sponsors are Madhatter, Mailmate, Island Music, Blackstar Amplification, Music Managed, Josh Hearmon and Stage 2 Productions.