The Guest List play festivals but still rehearse in a garage

They are all in their early 20s and practise in one of their parents’ garages, but Greater Manchester band The Guest List have spent the year playing gigs in front of thousands of people.

From playing Neighbourhood in Warrington, to festivals in Japan and then Reading and Leeds over the bank holiday weekend, the band have performed on a number of large stages.

And they say being from Greater Manchester, has a huge impact on them – as does the area’s musical heritage.

“Because of that heritage, the underground scene is still very active and healthy which has been a massive help for us coming through,” said vocalist Cai Alty.

Four of the five members of the band – Alty, guitarists Leio Hunter and Tom Quigley, and drummer Angus Gilchrist, met at school in Altrincham while playing in the school’s swing band, with bassist Sid Wallace joining them later.

Alty said the band had grown up listening to Manchester bands, in particular The Stone Roses who went to the same school.

“We’ve all had that experience of listening to those bands and taking influence from them and certainty the attitude,” he said.

“As we’ve got older, we can dive into the depth of the scene a bit more, get into Joy Division and The Smiths as well, so that’s had a big influence on us as well”.

He said he felt in the area there was a “hungry audience” wanting to see new music, still off the back of those big names.

“It’s been a massive help for us coming from around here and having that access to venues and an audience that has really kick-started our career and so we could pursue music professionally at such a young age”.