What they say about ULTRA ?
This page is where u can find any articles and any news about
ULTRA .Yeah - I collected them all from the magazines and another sources . And I will update this page
always - that will make u get just a good - fresh news about ULTRA .
- Pretty boys and they can play too By the Express Sunday
- So Ultra Sure of Success !! By the Daily
- Ultra do the Mizz By the Smash Hits
One thing is certain , though : from Bros to Boyzone , they always have a gimmick .
"There 's no point denying it ," concedes James Hearn , the singer with ULTRA and destined
to become the next big thing in boybands .
"But our gimmick is a little out of the ordinary : We write all our own songs , play our own instruments
and don't feel comfortable being ordered around and packaged by some backroom Svengali looking to
make a quick buck ."
At first glance , however , Ultra appears to possess all the hallmarks of cynically manufactured musical
goldmine . Good looks , gushing worship from the teenybop press long before they released a record
- the boys were en route to Sheffield with the Mizz magazine tour when I spoke to them - and support slots with Boyzone
and 911 enforce the impression .
Luckily their music and speech will soon set the record straight .
I saw them supporting Louise at Wembley Arena earlier this year and -- although taking randy from the proverbial baby would have been
almost as easy as they stole the show with disummate ease .
Theirs is the sort of asamed pop exuberance -- a mix of Supergrass/Wham ! hybrid that had people dancing sound discos with their hands in about 10 years ago .
Say You Do , their debut single released tomorrow , is a satisfying part of anpretentious pop with internally catchy , cresendo chorus and eminently hummable melody .
The five tracks that I've heard in their album - in - progress confirm the impression that
the drummer Jon O' Mahoney , Bassist Nick Keynes nad guitarist Michael Harwood understand the mysterious alchemy
of a chart - topping tune better than any of the current crop of pretenders to Take That ' s still vacant throne .
"We never set out to be commercial , but our music inevitably draws on the stuff we grew up with - like Curiosity Killed The Cat
, Duran Duran and , yes , Wham ! - so our sound is pure pop , but we see that as a good thing ."
"It's been ages since a proper pop group did the business - playing and writing , instead of dancing around and doing backflips -
and we want to change that . " The first hint that Ultra did not spring fully - formed from the Take That template comes with the discovery
that the band's genesis lies not in the mind of a marketing Machiavelli , but in the playground.
" Jon , Mike and myself were at school together nad all played in different bands , " explains James , 21 .
" Jon was a budding entrepreneur nad used to organise balls . He 'd hire us to play dodgy covers of stuff like The Stone Roses
and The Farm ."
" After a while , we figured that we were the best musicians and it made sense to play together , so we got together as a band just after
leaving school ."
They rehearsed together during university holidays , started writing their own material and , when Jon returned from a stint at America 's
legendary Tennis Academy , began to pursue the pop dream in earnest .
There followed the usual round of small London gigs ,demo tapes and door - knocking which
give Ultra an industry reputation superior to all their alleged rivals formed from advertisements placed in The Stage .
Indeed , the second factor which elevates Ultra above the hordes of pretty boy bands is their attitude to the marketing manipulators like
Take That 's Nigel Martin - Smith or Tom Watkins , who moulded Bros and East 17.
It is , however , a lesson they learned the hard way .
" We spent nine months with Tom Watkins ," reveals James , " He said that he didn't want to change us at all ,
but would help us get the attention we deserved and we went for it ."
" Next thing we knew , we were called the Suburban Surfers , were dressed up in ludicrous crushed velvet suits and he' d hired people to write
songs for us , which , to be honest , sucked . We soon parted company ."
If any further proof is needed of Ultra's pop pedigree , the arrival of the final piece in their
musical jigsaw , bassist Nick Keynes , 23 , provides it .
" The bassist we had , who was an old school friend , wasn't quite up to it . Leaving him behind just as we got the deal
we 'd dreamed of was the hardest thing we ' ve had to do so far , but bass is crucial to quality live performances and live
is our favourite way to perform , " recalls James .
" We auditioned a million muppets before the Brand New Heavies keyboard player , who we 'd been in the studio with turned us to Nick ."
" The minute we played together , we knew tha band was sorted . "
It has not taken long for legions of girls - and , as witnessed by a herogram in next week 's Gay Times , the men who proved so crucial to Take That 's
early impact - to concur with this view.
Come tomorrow , when Say You Do starts its certain surge into next week 's top ten , Ultra' s boyish brand of perky pop will be wooing
everyone with an ear for timeless tunes nad catchy choruses . " James O' Brien "
Ultra frontman James Hearn reveals that the band , who are set to storm into Sunday ' s pop chart with their debut single Say You Do , have sent
a stream of wanna be music biz managers packing following rows over the band 's image .
" People often ask what Ultra is all about and - to be honest - we just write our own songs , play our own instruments , and know exactly what we want ."
" It' s as simple as that ! " The Buckinghamshire - based band , who appeared on BBC 1 's national Lottery show last night , also hit out at rival boy bands who think
dance routines and stage shows are enough to hide the fact that their music' s not up to scratch .
Ultra hunks Jon O'Mahoney , Mike Harwood and James Hearn all played together in bands at school .
They hooked up with bass player Nick Keynes after he arrived for an audition and was selected from thousand of candidates .
James reveals : "We turned down one muppet after another before we finally found Nick" " He was recommended to us by the keyboard player in the Brand New Heavies and , as soon as we started to play together , we knew thing were sorted ."
So sorted , in fact , that the Ultra boys began to attract a huge female , thanks to support slots on tour with 911 and Boyzone .
Mike jokes : " We might have had a few complaints about the way some managers have tried to treat us ."
"But we are not gonna complain about all the girls that are hanging around us now ! " Ruth Getz
He says : " We 've never felt comfortable being ordered around and packaged by some slimmy Svengali who 's only out to make some quick cash ."
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