BANK ON HEIST TO RAISE CASH FOR YOUTH
Southside band The Heist is preparing to play its biggest gig yet - and all in aid of a good cause. Rocktober - tonight at Jumpin' Jaks in the city centre - is a concert which aims to showcase new musical talent while raising funds for a young people's charity.
Youth Music is a nationwide not-for-profit network which provides musical training, equipment and classes to underprivileged youngsters.
Guitarist Brendan O'Reilly (22) is happy the Heist is involved in supporting such a unique charity. He told Scene: "We are reallyprivileged to be helping out Youth Music in its efforts to make sure every young person has access to musical opportunities - no matter what their background is."
The Heist consists of Brendan, lead vocalist Erin McDermott (21), lead guitarist Paul-Michael Scoular (20), percussion from Liam McGee (20) and on bass Mike (19).
Brendan, from Newlands, explained: "The band was first formed as a cover group with friends Liam, Erin and Paul. It wasn't until a family wedding that my cousin, Liam, enlisted me to play guitar. Then Mike was added to the mix. Soon we started writing our own songs and became a lot more serious about where we wanted the band to go."
Both Brendan and Paul combined writing talents to create a whole host of original songs - sighting their musical influences from such diverse sources as Ben Folds Five, Smashing Pumpkins and Neil Young.
The Heist started out performing in smaller venues such as the Halt in the Westend. AN ever-growing fan base soon propelled the band to pack out larger venues such as Viper and the Cell.
These occaissions have provided the opportunity to showcase new songs such as the increasingly-popular rock anthem Dirty Hands and the racey online dating ballad You said you were a Britney... But you look like Beck.