Schools of rock

Around the country, in small towns, big cities and rural outposts, real teenagers (who aren't being marketed by big record companies or hoping to appear on reality TV) are in real bands, writing songs, playing their instruments, doing gigs – just for the fun of it. They're not children of the rich and famous, following in parental footsteps. They just like playing music. And while there's not much that's rock'n'roll about your mum dropping you round to your friend's house for a jam, everything – even world domination – has to start somewhere.

Black & White

Surrey

Henry Bird, 14, guitar and backing vocals

Matt Lamb, 15, vocals and guitar

Guy Allison, 13, drums

Ed Price, 15, bass and backing vocals

If you thought Tippex was consigned to the Eighties, Guy will prove you wrong. Smudges of the corrective fluid across his black shirt have neatly customised his garb; a hint of rebellion from another era. Last year's winners of the XfM Rock School competition, Black & White have performed in Brixton Academy as part of the prize, and know that image counts. Each band member is very carefully put together, from Ed's spectacular sweep of hair to Matt's spikes and Henry's shaggy locks.

Don't let that punky image fool you though: they're consummate businesspeople. They won a bit of money from the competition, but didn't split the spoils; sensible from the off, they got a bank account to save up for a recording space. Or perhaps that was the idea of the parents lurking around the waiting rooms of their rehearsal space and whiling time away in parked cars, waiting to ferry them about. The parents play a big part: Guy's mum filmed their music video in a deserted car park and did the promotional photos for the press pack Guy's parents put together.

While Ed concedes that Sunday morning rehearsals can sometimes be a bit grouchy, they plug away, rehearsing, writing new material, trying to get gigs in venues that cater for under-18s. Modestly, the boys admit that they were dumbfounded that on the day of their XfM win, they were big news. "It was the top news story," Henry says. "Yeah, ahead of murders and stuff," adds Matt. It wasn't bad for their street cred. "We were pretty praised at school," Matt says. "They'd been listening." And, ahem, it hasn't been bad for female interest either. "It's one thing you can talk about," Ed says. Excellent tactics.

Watch Black and White rehearsing

Black & White's Myspace page

The Fallen

Bath

Charlie Allan Gething, 13, drums

Oli Holliday, 14, bass

Johnny Eamer, 15, guitar

Ivan Kashdan, 15, lead vocals and guitar

The Fallen owe a lot to Flash Gordon. While the television character might have been a bit before their time, they've managed to come across a real-life one (yes, it really is his name), who lets them use his studio on the back of a community centre, and record there. So we meet the band just as they're about to embark on their debut recording stint: they plan to perform one cover ("Zombie" by the Cranberries: they're going to make it their own by "speeding it up and making it heavier") and two of the Fallen's own songs, "Inflamed" and "Loony Bin". And while it's exciting, this is pretty nerve-racking stuff. "I'm nervous," admits Johnny, the guitarist. "It's going to take a month or two, and we're going to have to work really hard."

Ivan, whom Flash got in touch with first through MySpace, is still flabbergasted that the band is getting the opportunity to record their songs for posterity. "It's actually a miracle," he says. "Usually you have to pay for this kind of thing, but it's a youth community project, so we don't have to."

They're all working hard to get their songs going, and while crediting some influences such as Slipknot, Babyshambles and the Killers, the band are hesitant to define their music too proscriptively. "We've only got four songs," Ivan explains, "so I'm not sure what genre we are." At the beginning, Johnny adds, "we wanted to be a rock band, a bit like Nirvana, but now we want a mix, because being in secondary school means you meet more people who listen to different types of music. Your tastes broaden." They'll find out what their style is as they go along, with plenty of live performances in school lined up (the teachers are very encouraging, they say) and a jamming session once a week at Flash's studio.

They do try to hook up to jam at other times, but it can be tricky. Oli, who has an eclectic taste in music, from punk and hard core to rap (and even finds the time to take in a few older bands along the way, like The Clash) explains how hard it is to get together to fine-tune your beats when you're a struggling musician without a driving licence. "We go to each other's houses if we're bored," he says, "but we don't really live close, so that doesn't go down too well sometimes with the parents."

No matter. Charlie, the drummer, currently has plans to sell off his electric drum kit – "it doesn't feel like a real drum kit – it's a bit plastic," he laments. He's going to buy a pair of cymbals with the proceeds, so there's no doubt that it'll all go off with a bang.

The Fallen's Myspace page  

Roxxi

Epsom, Surrey

Emma Hallahan, 11, guitar

Georgia Edington-Vigus, 12, vocals

Sami White, 12, drums

Forget the Spice Girls in their heyday. Roxxi have all the girl power now. Unlike certain all-girl bands, they can sing and play their own instruments, and they're not even quite teenagers yet. "Sami Staxx", the drummer who has always liked "tapping things out" (and cites the drummer/producer Thomas Lang among her influences) is extraordinarily efficient, and explains that even though the band formed just before Christmas, they get together once a week to jam. "If a gig is coming up we practise more," she says. "We're all sort of in the area, so we work it out by e-mail." Sami met Georgia and Emma by chance at Realistic Rock, a music tutorial school. Georgia sings, while Emma, guitar veteran, has been playing since she was seven. A big fan of "girl rock" – Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff – and New Found Glory and Guns N' Roses, she shared similar music tastes with the others. Not only that, but the overarching sartorial theme among the three involves a great deal of pink and black clothing. Their tutors thought they'd make a good team, and history was made.

The tutors turned out to be spot on – when Roxxi played their first gig this year at the Epsom Playhouse, a local theatre, to a packed crowd, every ticket sold out. And even though it was nerve-racking – how do you play and sing and move around the stage? – it all went well. "I froze at first," Georgia admits, "but then started to bob along to the music." Her singing teacher, Toy, helps her work on her performance ("we do silly dances to make me smile while we're doing harmonies," she laughs). And when they're not rehearsing, Georgia will be found singing along to her iPod at home – mostly listening to the Sugababes (whose song Roxxi are covering at the moment) or Avril Lavigne. Now, excitingly, the band are turning their talents to song-writing – they're going to have a guitar-based song with a pop edge, and even though the words can be tricksy ("we're getting a bit stuck at the moment," Georgia confesses) they're planning to reveal some of their work in a few gigs they've got coming up in the summer.

All this girl power is facilitated, naturally, with the help of a parent or two, and the band – despite their rocky-rebel aspirations – is mindful of this. "My parents encourage me," says Sami seriously. "When I get a proper drum kit, I'll probably get complaints, but my parents are happy for it to go forward." Which is, of course, the only direction for Roxxi.

Roxxie's Myspace page

ICON 66

Falkirk

Scott Blackhurst, 15, guitar

Ryan Neish, 15, drums

Stephen Cosgrove, 15, bass

Rob Beagley, 15, guitar and vocals

This Scottish band pull no punches. Ryan and Rob started a band when they were 10, but, Ryan says, their genre – if they had one – was "crap". "We'd all just started playing our instruments," Rob laughs. "It never went anywhere."

Five years down the line, and they'd all like to think they're a bit better. Pretty laid-back, they only accidentally heard that their local council was putting on a Battle of the Bands competition last year – they entered, throwing caution to the wind, and even though they didn't think it went very well, got through to the semi-finals. That's when it felt a bit more like being in a band, and suddenly everything started to take off. They've been offered gigs here and there, and an Italian band got in touch through MySpace to say that when they're touring in Scotland in September, ICON 66 can support them.

The band gets together to jam every Wednesday night and the tunes seem to flow together naturally. Scott usually puts together the main riffs ("when I'm bored, I play the guitar and come up with something I like") and everyone else contributes whatever they've got. "Normally when we're at a practice, if anyone's got a good wee tune, we work with that," Rob says. "Me and Ryan normally write the vocals, and everyone else chips in too. It puts itself together."

When it comes to putting themselves together sartorially, their style is – wait for it – ICON 66. They're not attempting to ape anyone or anything, although Stephen concedes, tongue in cheek, that if you're to measure them up as a band, he'll stand out. "I'm the most suave," he confirms. And what would qualify him for that description? "Just everything. Though my walk is what especially makes me suave."

They're all into punk and a bit of Blink 182, and the Ramones feature in their top bands, as well as the Beastie Boys and the Sex Pistols. Ryan claims that the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys have had an influence on his musical tastes, but given that he's the drummer of a punky collective, it's hard to detect that particular strain of pop.

Jokes and mockery aside, it feels like the start of something. "I'm planning to continue being in the band," Scott says, speaking for them all. "Hopefully – I mean, definitely."

Icon 66's Myspace page

fRankie

Streatham, London

Jacob Munn, 14, guitar

Oliver Pressman, 14, drums

Jacob Snowden, 13, bass

Joe Williams Langley, 13, vocals

The members of fRankie aren't overly concerned about a hard image. Presenting a unified front in school uniform (all shoes shiny), they're nonchalant about the potential fame and fortune that awaits, yet ever since their first gig a year ago, they do have a fan club. Modesty is an errant trait for a rock band, but they're working it. "Mmm," Oliver says. "I don't know if we exactly meet, as much as end up in the same place, because we're all at school."

And what about the name? "Well we really didn't know what to call the band," Joe admits sheepishly. "We had a couple of other names which both had the word inferno in, so eventually we changed it." Frankie, it turns out, was the name of a girl who went on a school trip with them, and the object of a friend's unrequited love. Frankie lives in Portsmouth, and is flattered they named a band after her. And why the big "R"? "That's just us being difficult – it's boring without it."

It all started back in Year 7, when Jacob Munn and Joe were in music class and the annual Rock Burst event at their school inspired them. They didn't make it into the gig that year though, admits Jacob Snowden, to much guffawing. "We didn't get stuff together – it took quite a long time when you're having one band practice every three months."

The competition spurred them on, though, and now they're rehearsing for their next performance. "We're playing a gig, it's like a..." Oliver hesitates. "A party," Jacob Munn fills in. "We're getting £50," Joe says with a grin. "That's £12.50 each. It's Oliver's uncle and his friends – well, not like an uncle..." There is a bit of confusion. "No, he is my real uncle," Oliver clarifies. "But he's only 35." Oliver's (real) uncle has instructed them to play The Who, which they're speedily learning.

Whenever Jacob Snowden isn't swimming (he's very into competitions), fRankie get together on a Saturday. And, for now, that's the extent of their plans. Yeah, they say, they imagine they'll send a demo to a record company sometime (which will be rejected, they believe), but for now, they're happy kicking around some tunes. "We're still at the naive stage," Joe says. "We just like playing music."

Watch fRankie's rendition of 'Let me stand next to your fire"

fRankie's Myspace page