Wallasey teen band Hippys On The Hill aim to move mountains

Nov 19 2008 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

Hippys on the Hill

MEET the Hippys on the Hill!

The foursome from Wallasey are making a name for themselves as one of Wirral’s best young bands, with a string of competition successes and praise from the critics in the last year.

The Hippys, who describe their music on their website as rock/alternative/progressive, are Brad Done (vocals/guitar), Craig Henderson (guitar/backing vocals), Sean McMinn-Davies (bass/backing vocals) and Mike Priest (drums/backing vocals).

All four are aged 15 and 16 and are juggling their music career with studies at Weatherhead High School and Mosslands.

Brad said: “What brought us together was that we all have a massive love for music.

“It started off as an indie band then it became more punky, then we finally got to the style we have now.

“We just love playing music. We don’t say we’re going to write a punk or a rock song, we just start jamming and then it evolves from there.

“Life in general is a massive influence on us - if we’re feeling happy we’ll write a happy song!”

From small school gigs in Wallasey, the Hippys are now playing across the North West and have gigs in Birkenhead, Liverpool and Southport lined up before the end of the year.

The band have recorded three CDs of their songs but say their proudest achievement is their latest, Sparrows and Stories To Be Told, which is available at gigs.

In May they were runners-up in a Liverpool Battle of the Bands competition and will be going into the studio in the New Year as part of their prize for winning another competition.

Judges at another Battle of the Bands competition last year called them ‘the most energetic band we’ve seen this year’ with ‘great future potential’.

Craig said: “We’re going into the studios at Riverside College in Runcorn after Christmas.

“We won the college and Radio City’s School of Rock competition and the prize was some studio time and artwork for our next CD.”

Sean added: “If what we come out with is good enough quality we’ll add it to the other three.”

Brad said: “There’s thousands of bands trying to be heard so it just depends if someone sees us in the right place at the right time.

“We just want to keep on writing songs and playing music.”

l Hippys on the Hill will be at the Swinging Arm, Birkenhead, on November 27 from 9pm.

Keep reading the Wirral News What’s On guide for information about future gigs or visit www.myspace.com/hippysonthehill