FOR a band whose first gig was supporting Kasabian on their first ever tour, it is no surprise that White Sunday have been making an impact across the music scene.

BBC Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman has even picked up their latest single, 90s Hangover, out on Monday, May 19, as a bed for her own website, where they feature alongside fellow Reading favourites The Colours.

James said: "We are hoping Edith will give us some airplay."

The five-piece, which includes bassist Luke Parry, guitar and keyboards Mike Walton, lead guitarist Alex Kaupa and drummer Tony Chapman, have just embarked on a UK tour, which ends in Reading at the Oakford Social Club on May 31.

James said: "It is all about gigging, that is what we like to do the most. We've been playing in the town for a few years now and now we've definitely got a bit of a following across the country. Sometimes we'll play gigs to just a few people but if they go crazy it can be great for us."

The current line-up has been together as a serious band for a year and a half.

Landscape gardener James, 25, explained: "It is really hard work. We have been playing as many gigs as possible, which is not easy when we all have day jobs.

"The others all work in offices, but our bosses are all pretty good and let us leave early when we've got a gig to get to."

The boys hope to give up their day jobs in the next couple of months and make music a full-time career.

James said: "This tour will make us enough money that we don't have to pay out anything and the plan is the next tour will make us enough money to live on."

Earlier in the year an unofficial Reading Festival website �€�leaked' details of the line-up, listing White Sunday as one of the bands on the bill. Reading organisers, Festival Republic, have distanced themselves from the website and James confesses there was never any truth in the rumours.

He said: "We played the Nokia unsigned tent last year after winning a competition but we've heard nothing from them this year.

"We're still crossing our fingers as we'd love to play there again, and it'd be great to see a Reading band on the bill."

White Sunday recorded their debut album Why Do I Still Do This Everyday? in just over two weeks. It was produced by Dave Allen, who worked with The Cure and The Charlatans, and Massive Attack's dance mixer Mark Ralph.

James said: "It didn't really feel like we were recording our debut album, we were just fitting it in when we had time. It felt like we were making a demo, but it's come out really well."

James believes the band's diverse music tastes helps their sound.

He said: "We are essentially a rock and roll band but there are different sounds within White Sunday. We all like Oasis and stuff like that but I like 60s/70s stuff.

"Mike and I write the songs and were both into The Beatles and The Kinks but Luke's big into Muse and more modern stuff - which helps bring our sound into this century."

James explains that their single is about how the 90s seemed to be a big party but was not all it cracked up to be.

He said: "Labour came into power and musicians were getting actively involved in politics, it all seemed great. But now people are waking up and realising it was not as great as they thought."

He added: "I tend to write about things that annoy me - I'm a better song writer when I'm in bad mood."

White Sunday, are just one of the many bands emerging from the Reading scene.

James said: "We like to play live here once a month and we all think it is a shame the Fez closed but other options are opening up. We've played the Plug �€�N' Play recently and really enjoyed that.

"There are a lot of good bands making their way out of Reading. We're big fans of Six Nation State, who gave us a lot of advice and prompted us to get out there and try to make a living from it."

You can download White Sunday's single 90s Hangover from Monday, May 19, at www.indiestore.com/wsunday or on itunes.

Meanwhile, you can catch their end-of-tour party at the Oakford Social Club in Blagrave Street, Reading, on Saturday, May 31.

Visit www.whitesundaymusic.com