Published: Friday, 19th March, 2010 9:00am

Good Prospect

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SARAH STEAD met the schoolboy band breaking all the rules...

WHEN a star is born, a lot of changes happen very quickly. There's a lot of dust. But when the dust finally clears, a bright, shining star emerges. The same could be true of The Prospect.

It's still very early days for this fledgling band, but they've already undergone some drastic changes.

My first listen of the tracks on their Myspace told me they're pretty talented young guys, who draw inspiration from Britpop acts like Kasabian and Oasis.

All good.

Unfortunately, that first listen also told me that they take a little too much inspiration from American punk pop names like Green Day - with the emphasis on American.

On those first few tracks, the singer's accent places The Prospect far from British shores, although they are Reading through and through.

But a line-up reshuffle has meant a new direction for the schoolboy band.

The acoustic tracks they recorded for BBC Berkshire last week are a little rough around the edges but they have the right things in the right places and show promise.

"We've changed singer," said drummer Tom Drakeley Burr, when I met him with new vocalist Dom Rolfe. "He was a really good guitar player and he was good live, his voice was very powerful.

"He did musical theatre too. But everyone said the EP sounds really good apart from the American-style singing."

That EP, A New Beginning, was recorded at Reading's Whitehouse studios last summer.

Now, with Dom on board, the four-piece are hoping to update it with re-recorded the vocal tracks. At the moment that's a pipe dream, but there is a live record on the way.

Tom said: "On Saturday night we played Bracknell Drama Club which was professionally recorded both visually and audio so hopefully we'll be releasing something from there in the next month if all goes well."

I'm betting it will all go well - everything The Prospect touch seems to be turning to gold at the moment.

Tom, Dom and bassist Talib Jetha are all pupils at Maiden Erlegh School - lead guitarist Jon Ralls goes to Reading School - and three of them are 16-years-old. Dom is 17.

But don't let that put you off. They've attracted some serious attention, are working hard, and their constant gigging is only boosting that profile further.

Dom said: "We organise a lot of our own gigs, we've done probably 40 or 50. We've played at Sub89, The Oakford Social Club, The Facebar and Play as well as places like community centres, Christmas parties, this Christmas trade fair in Bracknell Leisure Centre and Costco!"

"Plus we were the last band to play Sub89 when it was Jongleurs which is pretty cool," said Tom.

It is pretty cool, and these young stars are definitely ones to count on.

See www.myspace.com/theprospectuk

The Prospect play...

The Facebar, Reading, tonight

Magnet Leisure Centre, Maidenhead, on Friday, March 26

The Facebar, Reading (battle of the bands) on Friday, April 2

The Facebar, Reading (with Valour) on Thursday, April 15