Ones to watch: The Making

A four-piece indie rock band are already 'Making' waves in Shropshire's music scene – but have their eyes set on bigger things.

Hailing from Newport and Telford, The Making formed at a school attended by two of their members. Frontman Dan Oakley and bassist Scott Ridgway originated as an acoustic duo, forming to take part in a school battle of the bands.

"We actually realised we weren't very good as we were so we recruited Tom (Lowe, drums) and Matt (Pownall, rhythm guitar) and it all stemmed from there," Dan said.

It's worth noting that prior to that Scott hadn't actually picked up a bass. "I had three days to learn before our first show," he laughs. "He's still learning now," jibed drummer Tom.

"Grunge-laced-indie-rock-with-melodies-hooks-and-lashings-of-electronica" is the description the band rattle off from memory, when quizzed over their sound. Annoyingly you'd struggle to find a more accurate description.

It seems that the band surgically extract riffs from the 1960's rock 'n' roll playbook, transplant them into an indie back line, mix in the occasional burst of electronica, layer it all with a generous helping of teenage angst et voila: that is their modus operandi. Oh, and by the way, it works brilliantly.

The band have already shared the stage with names such as Razorlight, Hard Fi, The Wombats to name but a few. "I (Matt) loved the fact people would see us and say are they famous? . . . then realise no, no they're not". With a performing history like theirs' under their belts, days such as those would appear to be numbered.

On top of all that, the lads managed to release a stunning four track EP 'The Night Before the Morning After' at the end of last year to a great reception. Featuring stand out tracks 'Double D's' (four teenage lads, what do you expect?) and the awesome 'Pretty Little Thing', for which they've recently recorded their first music video, with the help of the girls from dance troupe 'Dance Connection', it is an impressive work.

The EP is available for download now on iTunes (£3.16). What's more, the uber-generous Making posses have made spanking new track 'Signals' free for download at https://soundcloud.com/themakinglive/signals.

You can catch the band yourself live in June at Shropshire's very own 'Newfest' on the 29th in Newport (£10) or at the Robin 2 on the 30th (£5) where they will be playing with acts Jump the Shark, The Limelight, Rosary and Tinned Astronaut .

For more information and dates you can visit www.facebook.com/themakinglive