Rock’s latest unstoppable sound is ready to break out in the North

The soaring sound of UNM has been proving as unstoppable as it is unmistakable in these parts for a while now and that sound is only set to get louder.

After coming through the second “Oh To Play Sound City” heat at The Talbot the band is now preparing itself for a semi-final showdown at The Grand in Clitheroe on Saturday.

And lead singer Callum Bates said they were looking forward to continuing what has been a memorable 12 months.

“We really enjoyed the gig at the Talbot and the atmosphere was fantastic. We’re looking forward to the semi-finals and hopefully we go on to win it.”

Marcus Del Bono (guitar), Sam Bisset (bass) and Anthony Leggett (drums) make up the rest of UNM (Unstoppable Noise Machine for those of you wondering), which was formed out of the ashes of another band in March last year.

“We were all in a band together called Community but we got ourselves a manager and decided to remodel and rename ourselves,” explains Callum. “As Community we won the Nelson and Colne College Talent Show at the end of 2009 but we were really more of a covers band then. Our sound hasn’t changed that much really but we are concentrating more on our own stuff now.

“We covered classic rock like ‘You Really Got Me’ to more modern rock like ‘Sex On Fire’. We have around 50 covers which we can put in our set and we still use a lot of them at our gigs now even though we are focusing more of our own material.

“We have quite a heavy rock sound but our influences actually differ. Despite us having different tastes in music we are all professional and respect all genres. It comes together really well and we’ve had no problems whatsoever. In fact all of us get on like a house on fire.”

The “Oh To Play Sound City” competition, which sees the final being held at the ACE Centre in Nelson on Friday, May 7th, has been organised through Sound Investment – a project close to UNM’s heart.

“It’s great what Sound Investment is doing by helping support new bands,” said Callum (21). “We actually organised a peaceful protest outside Nelson and Colne College because of cuts to performing arts and music courses there. It was only organised in three days but it was a real success. The band all met at the college and it’s been a big part of our lives as these courses have been a big part of people’s lives around here for generations.

“Sound Investment has come along now which is trying its best to help promote up and coming bands but then you have these courses getting cut and it all seems a bit contradictory.”

With an army of fans behind then and a 2011 diary already filling up with gigs, Callum is more than optimistic about the future.

“We have been in the studio recording and a lot of our songs are online ready to be viewed or downloaded. We’re going to carry on gigging and hopefully a label will see us and become interested. We’ve got a really good group behind us and have a real loyal fanbase so we think we have a good chance.”

More information on the band can be found at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=103892866315973 while a number of their tracks can be heard at http://soundcloud.com/u-n-m.

The band are playing at The Talbot, Church Street, Burnley, on Sunday, the day after their semi-final appearance at The Grand.