By Cathal McGuigan
County Derry band Aria Sail are looking forward to “a dream come true” as they prepare to play at their first festival just seven months after forming the band.
Paul and Charlene Bradley, the husband and wife team behind Aria Sail, will perform alongside acts like the Rubberbandits at Sunflowerfest in Hillsborough this weekend.
Kilrea native Paul said that he and Charlene (from Upperlands) always wanted to play music but that other things got in the way and that the band was formed just before Christmas.
“At the end of last year a friend, Gerard McHugh (Runaby), asked us to play one song at an open mic night he was hosting,” he said.
“We learned one song, played it and got asked to play a full gig two weeks later. So in two weeks we had to learn 40 songs but we decided we would be including our own songs. We played that gig just before Christmas in Marrions, Randalstown and had a packed bar.”
He described their sound as having “a very 1990s feel,” having been influenced by bands like REM, Counting Crows and U2.
“Although we are playing acoustic at the minute, we plan to go electric very soon. Our influences would be the like of Sia & Imagine Dragons, very big sounding songs, with a dramatic chorus and plenty of emotion,” Paul said.
Aria Sail competed for their spot at Sunflowerfest after a ‘Battle of the Bands’ held in Belfast last month. After receiving 1,600 applications, 15 bands duked it out over three nights, with Aria Sail finally finishing second and claiming their spot at the festival.
“It was won by a band called "Dreaming of Jupiter" who are a fairly established band from Dublin and are excellent, it was hard to argue with the result,” Paul said.
“The day after the announcement we were contacted by the Sunflowerfest guys to tell us we were runner up and had been given a spot on the Saturday on the Forest Acoustic Stage.”
According to Paul, to say he and Charlene were ecstatic after hearing the news would be an understatement and he thanked everyone who came along to support the band. The couple are now very excited for this weekend’s gig and the future of the band.
“The thought of standing on the stage like a proper musician is a dream come true,” Paul said.
“On the outside it might look like this is happening quickly but it was something we dreamt about for years.”
Lined up for Aria Sail in the near future is the Belfast Guitar Festival on Saturday August 5, followed by a performance in support of James Bradley from Maghera at his EP launch.
“Other than that, we have our first single out, The Author, and we are recording two more with two different studios, just to get a slightly different sound on each,” Paul said.
“We want our next songs to get radio play, not just a once or twice like we are at the moment for a newcomer, we want to played every day across the country and have good enough songs that people are proud that we are from here.”
Tickets for Sunflowerfest, which runs from Friday to Sunday, are still available and can be bought by visiting https://sunflowerfest.co.uk/tickets/
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