Ripon teenage indie-rock band have been invited to California to record with producers at a Los Angeles record label.
Purple Mafia, is made up of five, 15 to 17 years olds. The band has been together since four of the boys met as pupils at Ripon Grammar School and they have been performing for more than three years building up a strong regional fan base and an following online.
The video for the band’s first single ‘She Thinks It’ attracted almost 9,000 views on YouTube and their new single,‘ Gadgets’ is about to be released online.
They recently won the Harrogate AMP Music Awards 2012 which saw Purple Mafia performing on the stage of the historic Royal Hall in Harrogate
As a result of the publicity generated by the Award, the band was contacted by Mitch Goodman, the Label Manager, at Unison Music, an independent record label in Los Angeles who was impressed by their energy, talent and enthusiasm.
Purple Mafia are scheduled to fly out to Los Angeles on 23 August and return on 3 September. During the trip, they aim to record several of the band’s original songs and also perform a ‘live’ show at a Hollywood club.
Mr. Goodman said:
We’re excited at the prospect of working with Purple Mafia who really caught our imagination with their talent and obvious enthusiasm. Not a “boy-band”, but a young rock outfit with a great sense of melody and hook, fun, bouncy music and tongue in cheek lyrics that give honest insight to the mind of today’s teenage guys.
Purple Mafia have obviously worked hard to build up an impressive following and it is this kind of drive that gives an act the ability to survive and succeed. Talent alone is not enough; it’s about making the most of that talent by putting in the hard work and that’s something these boys clearly understand.
We are really looking forward to working in the studio with the band and will decide what the future may hold once the recordings are finished. At the very least this will be an amazing experience for the boys.
Purple Mafia is made up of singer Dan Reynard, lead guitarist Josh Stockdale, rhythm guitarist Harry Yates, bassist Tom Stringer and drummer Alex Boulton.
The band said:
We are just so excited at the prospect of recording in California with such respected and successful producers and can’t wait to board the plane. We realise it will mean long days and lots of hard work in the studio but this is a dream come true for us and we aim to make the most of such a fantastic opportunity.
