Boy Jumps Ship set to release their debut album

A sneak peek of Wake Up came in the form of single Burn, which fired up the national media, receiving its premiere in Daniel P Carter’s Radio 1 Rock Show, reached No 10 in the Kerrang! rock chart and being added to MTV’s Rock Playlist.

The four-piece, who’ve toured with the likes of Only Rivals, Young Guns, Arcane Roots and We Are The Ocean, say they’re looking forward to stepping into the headline-act spotlight.

The album is the result of months spent at The Premises studio in Hoxton, London, where the band honed the 12-track record.

Bass player Jonny Rob, from Whitburn, said: “We’ve been sitting on the album for about a year, so it’s great that it’s finally coming out.”

Jonny and bandmates Si Todd (vocals and guitar), Jonathan Douglas (guitar and backing vocals) and Gav Gateson (drums and backing vocals) formed in 2012 after meeting at college.

The former Whitburn School pupil added: “We’re lucky in that we applied for a grant with the PRS Music Foundation, which is available to artists and bands going on tour and releasing records and albums.

“We were successful after applying a few times. It meant we could do the record off our own backs without waiting for a record label. It put us in a good position.

“It gave us a lot more options and meant we could do what we wanted, when we wanted, without a label breathing down our neck.

“We recorded the album in Hoxton, and there are a lot of costs that go into a record that people don’t think about, like accommodation and travel, but the grant meant we could pay for that.”

Si added: “We’ve always said that when we eventually recorded our debut album, we would take our time and get it right.

“From a performance aspect, we all pushed ourselves to completely different levels this time around, we put our heart and soulinto these songs and we couldn’t be more proud of how they turned out.”

Their passion and talent didn’t go unnoticed and the band has since signed to Newcastle-based Amazing Record Co.

Si said: “Signing to Amazing Record Co. was pretty special for us. We wanted to make sure that our album found a good home and we definitely feel like we’ve achieved that with these guys.

“Even though we plan on taking this thing as far as we can globally, we always want to make sure that we remember our roots and where we came from.”

In keeping with their roots, the video for Burn was shot by film-maker Ollie Rillands at a warehouse in Philadelphia, Houghton-le-Spring.

Jonny said: “Because of budget constraints, we had to film from 8pm to 4am. It was a tough night in a pitch-black warehouse, but it came out well.

“We used a ton of pyrotechnics, including three two-metre fire walls, and four fire canons. They kept us warm!”

Jonny says it’s a great time to be a band in the North East: “It’s certainly better than it was. A few years ago it was a bit saturated,” he said.

“Every other bar was putting on bands and not paying them. Now there’s one or two good quality gigs a week, instead of one every night of varying quality.

“I think what Frankie from Frankie & the Heartstrings is doing is a breath of fresh air.

“He books the acts to play at the Fan Zone at the Stadium, which we’ve played. It’s a massive platform for local bands, where you perform to thousands of people.

“There’s always a battle to get acts to play in the North East, but there’s lots happening with venues - places like The Point in Park Lane and the plans to have a stage at the Beacon of Light at the stadium, which can only spur more bands into coming here.”

Boy Jumps Ship are currently on tour supporting Fatherson, which finishes in Newcastle next week, and they’ll be returning to the Tyneside stage in April with their own headline show to launch their album.

Jonny said: “It’s a real eye-opener, going on tour to different cities. It’s great to play your last gig so close to home and see those familiar faces in the crowd.”

• Boy Jumps Ship play Cluny 2, Newcastle, in support of Fatherson, on February 26.

• They play their own headline gig at O2 Academy, Newcastle, on April 23.

• Wake Up is released via Amazing Records on April 22, and is available to pre-order HERE.