If Jesus thought that getting 5000 meals out of a plate of fish and a loaf of bread was a tricky task, he obviously never tried getting a sensible answer from any of the Jackpot Golden Boys. Ever tried getting blood out of a stone?

Listen Up caught up with Preston’s loudest mentalists after their Battle of the Bands sound check and saw them pass, almost unnoticeably, in and out of Nonsenseville more times than I have laughed at The Office.

Carnival freakshow

Having said that, one thing separates the Jackpot Golden Boys from most other bands around at the moment – they’re almost brand new. The insane quartet, whose music has been described as ‘Carnival freakshow meets Earthquake metal,’ have only been around a few months and see their Battle of the Bands heat as their first ‘real gig.’ Therefore they lack all the rock and roll stories of punch-ups backstage and drug-fuelled all-nighters.

None of the band is backward in coming forward and have
clearly come together well since meeting in college
two years ago:

“We didn’t so much do the whole ‘college thing’ as the whole ‘getting kicked out of college thing,” says bassist ‘Jackpot Mike,’ as the band insists on being called by their codenames, “We met two years ago and generally caused havoc from there.”

“I was probably the shyest of everyone, until I met these guys,” adds
Jackpot Dan, “then I came out of my ball bag a bit.”

Apologetic

Dan appears the most thoughtful and modest of the group, and is promptly shot down in flames by Mike when he nearly blurts out a serious answer about their Battle of the Bands semi-final:
”Stop being so bloody apologetic, no, we don’t really need to see the bands we’re up against, we’re very confident.”

Despite their short history, The Jackpot Golden Boys have 14 songs completed and more on the way as singer/songwriter Alex, who is adamant that he turned 63 this year, explains:
“We’re trying to vary our set from week to week. As well as the stuff that is ready, we have loads of ideas and work in progress.”

Dan: “The Halloween MP3 was recorded round my house because we do not have the money for studio time.”

Alex: “Yeah, but we’ll get more recorded with the studio time we get for winning this competition.” Little did they expect that a mere four and a half hours later they would be eliminated from the competition.

Exploding planet

The band, who claim vehemently to have landed on earth from exploding planet Zeborg, seem committed to their cause, with a clear desire to take their music afar.

Jim: “We’ve got contacts with humans in Liverpool and Southport, and should get out to Manchester soon.”

Alex: “We’ve put in a lot of work, and had to learn English along the way, there’s a lot of people who are interested
in helping us out.”

Regardless of their unsuccessful semi-final performance, the Jackpot Golden Boys can be seen back at The Mill on May 29, before embarking
on their interplanetary tour.

Written by Dan Jeoffroy

Photography: Dan Jeoffroy