A musician from Chester-le-Street has made it through to the final of the prestigious Soundwaves Music competition, outlasting thousands of applicants nationwide in the process.
Steve Ather's music style is indie/rock/pop, and he has now reached the last 14 of the competition, representing the North East at the final at the O2 in Birmingham in September
Steve has also recorded his first EP titled Sunnyside Up, as well as releasing his debut singles Don't Come Around Here (Anymore), Forever and Invisible Tears.
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In just three months from getting his audition, Steve learnt how to record his music with his own equipment, got a band together and started gigging, and he has since had 25,000 streams over all of his music.
Steve has spoken about his music journey, from starting to play the guitar at a young age, to the difficulties he has experienced more recently in trying to get his music out there.
"I started playing the guitar when I was really young. I started gigging and doing covers as well but I wasn't able to get anything to catch on so I had to let music go for a while.
"I am a full-time carer for my son, so I found it difficult to find the time for this type of thing. My friends have been telling me to do something with my original songs.
"I decided to enter this competition ages ago and had honestly forgot about it before I got the call saying I'd gotten through to the next stage of it", he said.
Steve then went on to speak about what it is that he wants people to get from his music, as well as going into some of the inspiration behind it.
"In terms of the stamp that I want to put on my music, I want people to hear the lyrics and be able to relate them to things that have happened in their own lives and recognise themselves in the song.
"I had mental health problems growing up and a lot of my songs are about these issues that I was having when I was young. I would also like to thank my band, Sunny, Pete and Daniel for all the help and support they have given."
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