On road to success

May 31 2007

THE past 18 months have proved a real hard slog for the band Yashin but, with a top Scottish music festival lined up and national airplay on the cards, there is no doubt it has all paid off.

The five-piece outfit have just secured a place at this year’s T in the Park and tonight (Thursday) they will receive their first airplay on Radio 1.

Over the last year Yashin, who are fronted by Uddingston’s Michael Rice, have been writing their first album Pay to Play and have relentlessly practiced their live performance in the Lofi rehearsal studio in Glasgow.

The band have lost a drummer and guitarist but with this, their final line-up, Yashin look set to have a great summer ahead of them.

They will play on the unsigned T Break stage at the festival in July sharing the same bill as My Chemical Romance, The Killers and Snow Patrol.

They beat off fierce competition to be named just one of the final 12 who will entertain at the popular event.

Their epic performance at King Tut’s in the T Break heat blew away the judges and earned them rave reviews. Now the rock/metal act have been invited to play live on Vic Galloway’s Radio 1 Scotland show tonight between 7.30pm and 9pm.

The two tracks they will play are Wake Up and So We’re Named After Saints.

Michael, a former Holy Cross High School pupil, said: “So We’re Named After Saints made a huge impact on the T Break panel judging by the comments it has received. It is a very epic song and a perfect way to end the set. We feel like we couldn’t play anything after it because it takes so much out of us.”

Despite having to work two jobs each to make ends meet while they rehearse, tour and promote their music, the band, who also include Paul Travers, Andrew and Paul McShane and David Beaton from Glasgow and Greenock, have steadily built up a fan base.

In 2005, they qualified for the King Tut’s TBreak Showcase and Emergenza Final at Glasgow Carling, and also went on a tour of America last summer.

Yashin’s main musical influences include Funeral for a Friend, Killswitch Engage, My Chemical Romance and Finch, and they describe their songs as “very emotional, uplifting, and honest” with “powerful catchy guitar riffs, great beats and choruses.”

For more about the band, and to hear three of their tracks, visit myspace.com/theyashin or www.yashin.co.uk