Impromptu garage gig lands teenage band record deal of a lifetime (From News Shopper)

Impromptu garage gig lands teenage band Carousel the record deal of a lifetime

2:27pm Wednesday 28th March 2012 in Music By Nikki Jarvis

Like Shakespeare told us, “All the world’s a stage”.

And it is exactly that mentality which landed three plucky teenagers the musical opportunity of a lifetime.

Acoustic rock band Carousel never imagined serenading a garage security guard with an impromptu gig would lead to anything more than a good laugh.

But little did the 17-year-olds know a famous music mogul was standing in the queue, listening to every note.

Just two weeks after that fateful night in Eltham, the trio from Mottingham are still reeling after signing a four-album deal with Jordan Kensington’s record label Invincible.

The founder of the Urban Music Awards has even said Carousel “has what it takes to become the biggest band in the UK without a doubt” with “potential to reach a worldwide audience in a very short time.”

Jamie Dighton, vocalist and guitarist in the band, said: “We were just playing at The Crown in Eltham and after we played our set it got a bit dead.

“But then we went to the local Tesco garage and we had our guitars with us so when we saw the security guard we just decided to brighten up his day with music.

“We gave him a little treat and did a cover of Charmaine by Plan B.

“It was one of those out-of-the-blue things.

“Some other guy in the queue was like 'that’s good' - he thought he was on a hidden camera show.

“We just got his number, we didn’t know who he was.”

Jamie was on a train returning from his electrician apprenticeship when he typed Jordan’s name into Google and realised just how influential he is.

“I was going mad.” He said.

“I couldn’t get my head around it.”

The excited teens, who formed Carousel in 2008, arranged a meeting with Jordan at his Invincible headquarters and played him two songs including their own single Writer’s Block – now set for release on April 25.

There and then the songwriter signed the lads to a four-album contract and told them they were performing at the National Luxury and Lifestyle Awards to celebrities.

After the show singer Stacey Solomon tweeted the band saying: “lovely singing!! Made my day!! X”

Jamie continued: “It just gets weirder and weirder.

“When we saw our press release on the Invincible website it was mad.

“Today I just found out we’ve got 7,000 followers on Twitter – we only had about 50 two weeks ago.

“I thought it was fake, I couldn’t really believe it.

“Apparently we’re going to have 10,000 by Friday (March 30).

“We are just ecstatic really and we’re going to work as hard as we can, banging out songs all the time.”

Carousel, who are inspired by Foo Fighters, The Beatles and Rihanna, hope to smash the Guinness World Record-holding tube station tour.

In the near future they will play in as many London stations as possible in 24 hours to promote their new single.

Jordan Kensington, who also signed chart-toppers JLS, said: “I have complete belief in Carousel.

“The boys are talented musicians/songwriters with a humility, creativity and genuine passion for music which is refreshingly rare in today’s music industry.

“Carousel has the crossover potential to reach a worldwide audience in a very short time and the credibility to last in the music industry for a very long time.”

Follow Carousel on Twitter @CarouselUKMusic and on Facebook at facebook.com/CarouselUkMusic