A band is part gang, part family, but ultimately a collection of musicians who build a sound through a set of songs.

And if enough people enjoy it then a living can be made from being in a band. But when do you call it an end?

For ‘The Rebs’ the writing was in the scene and on the radio: “It was less about electro pop and more about the likes of Florence And The Machine.” Lamented singer Russell Edmonds. “We peaked to late.”

The split came twelve months their debut album ‘In A Heartbeat’ was released and Russell told me it should be seen as.. “a greatest hits compilation of three years of song-writing. We spent a lot of time, money and effort making that record the best we could.”

As sad as it may seem at least the band have a properly recorded legacy that will stand the test of time.

Meanwhile Russell has continued as a solo artist and the first single will be out at the end August.

It’s titled ‘If Your Heart Feels Mine’ and he’ll go under the name ‘Martha’s Man’ – which was inspired by a track from the Beatles White album.

“During this writing period Paul McCartney had a dog called Martha. His dog inspired him to write ‘Martha My Dear’, so that’s where my name has come from!”

With the lessons and experiences of being in ‘The Rebs’ for guidance hopefully ‘Martha’s Man‘ will have his day.

First published in the Southern Daily Echo July 29th 2011

This week in Southampton three bands released new material that does this area proud.

Dlugokecki, The Rebs and Broken Links have all recorded quality songs that deserve being heard by a wider audience.

But the frustration they all share is that local and regional daytime radio will ignore their music.

It’s true that BBC Radio Solent, Wave 105 and Play Radio have slots giving local musicians air time but you’ll find these at safe moments in the schedule where people have to make an effort to listen.

During the day, however, you’ll hear new music from the rest of the country promoted as fresh and exciting.

In fact the easiest way to spread the look of horror across radio faces would be to suggest that Dlugokecki, The Rebs or even Broken Links should be scheduled into the daily playlist.

Radio’s reluctance is based on fear: fear that the listener will switch stations when they hear something unfamiliar.

This is why most radio stations sound like audio museums.

They celebrate the 80’s as if it’s a recently discovered trend and their ever narrowing taste in music is making many parents’ record collection seem hip and trendy.

But tell a radio station’s news team they can’t report ‘local’ stories, or their sales team to avoid ‘local’ businesses, or that local callers can’t be put on air and there would be wide spread hilarity over your inept attitude towards broadcasting.

Does it matter? Well ask the Liberal Democrats if a little extra airtime helps.