Ralanbek

We're Ralanbek: classic British rock from south Cheshire, making music the way it's supposed to sound.

We started in Alsager in 2010: Ben Carter on guitar, Paul Holmes on vocals, John Stringer on bass and James Latham on drums. That same year we put out our debut EP, Ninth Life, produced by Sean Lowe. We played The Box in Crewe and the Alsager Music Festival, then gigged hard through 2011 and picked up some great reviews along the way.

Then James moved to Egypt, and by the end of 2011 we'd split.

It didn't stick. Within a year, Ben and Paul were back at Greenway Studios, writing again. Jake Schofield came in on bass, a Cream, Free and Queen man who swapped guitar for bass at 15. With Nick Joyce on drums, we played the Bakers Vaults in Stockport, then went back to the Alsager Music Festival in 2013 to a reported crowd of over 4,000. We gave away every CD we'd brought.

After the festival, Ben Thompson moved to the drums. He had already played keyboards and second guitar for us. Paul's verdict: "He's absolutely fantastic on the drums."

We've been quiet on stage since then, but not in the rehearsal room. New material is on the way.