BackBeat

Special Offer!
* Book Backbeat for any event taking place on a Friday and receive a £60 discount! See booking options or speak to an Alive Network booking agent for more details.

Highlights
*Young, cool, professional 5 piece
*Covering a mixture of Rock, Pop, Soul, Funk, Motown & Disco from all eras!
*Repertoire provides something for everyone. From Stevie Wonder to The Killers, Aretha Franklin to Girls Aloud, Michael Jackson to Kings Of Leon & more!
*Solo Piano & Acoustic Duo sets also available for earlier in the day.
*Available UK wide & Internationally!
*Music via MP3s between live sets

Weddings and Smaller Events
If you want a live band to perform at your wedding, birthday party or staff Christmas party, our 5 piece band are the perfect option. Available for all budgets, this 5 piece create a huge and energetic sound to keep your guests dancing all night long.

Corporate Events
Backbeat also offer the option of a 6, 7 or 8 piece band for those on a slightly bigger budget, perfect for corporate events, university balls or larger weddings. This includes the options for extra brass sections and additional vocals to really wow your guests or clients.

Biography
BackBeat are an amazing group of professional musicians hailing from Leeds. Each member is a graduate of Leeds College of Music and has performed together for the last 4 years. 

Their repertoire covers a huge range, including: 60's ‘Rock'n'Roll’, 70's Funk and Motown, 80's Disco and Ballads through to modern day Rock and Pop classics. Their performance skills match the high quality music they provide and guarantee a full dance floor all night long. 

As a band, BackBeat provide the professionalism you should expect; highly reliable, smartly dressed and punctual, with the ability to cater for every audience. Whether reminiscing to our 60’s classics, or partying to the current chart smash-hits, BackBeat can provide the perfect musical backdrop to any occasion. From Stevie Wonder to The Killers, Aretha Franklin to Girls Aloud, Michael Jackson to Kings Of Leon, BackBeat really do provide something for everyone. 

A wealth of experience is contributed from each member of the band, and in addition to their outstanding musical ability, a great lighting system and high quality PA support every gig. Venues Backbeat have played at recently include Edgebaston Cricket Ground, St James Park, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Newburgh Priory, Goldsbrough Hall and Swinton Park, among many others.

Your Event
Customers get the choice of ‘2 x 1 Hour’ Sets or ‘3 x 40 Minute’ Sets. Backbeat also offer a range of pre-band reception warm ups at varying prices, including:

-Soulful melodies from our piano and vocal duet: Covering a range of jazz standards and pop classics, BackBeat's Piano and Vocal Duet are the perfect warm up to your event, ready for the full band extravaganza!

-Solo Piano: You might want to hear the distant sound of smooth piano playing whilst you’re eating your dinner, or maybe you want something a little different as you walk down the aisle? A beautiful lounge piano playing that will remain unobtrusive yet entertaining could be the perfect backdrop.

-Smooth grooves from Acoustic Beats: Sometimes less is more, so if you’re in need of a little ‘less’ for your night’s entertainment, then why not use ‘The Acoustic Beats’. Three members of BackBeat combine to create a groovy, cool alternative on Acoustic Guitar, Cajon and Vocals.

-Solo Classical Guitar. A beautiful and melodic classical guitar provides the perfect Backdrop for your wedding breakfast. A combination of Classical, Baroc, Spanish or Modern Popular hits can be offered by our highly talented and experienced Classical Guitarist.

-Brass Section: Looking for the ultimate live music experience? Why not add a 1 or 2 piece brass section that really packs a punch to Backbeat's standard 5 piece line up?

Band Members

Hayley - Vocals
With over 15 years as a professional singer, Hayley has performed all over the world on Cruise Ships and in Hotel Resorts.

She has toured the UK and Europe playing a leading role in the Hit Musical Vampires Rock. She has supported renowned artists such as Billy Ocean and performed for Oasis front man Liam Gallagher.

Andy - Guitar
As an alumnus of the Leeds College of Music, Andy holds a Degree (BA Hons) in Popular Music, with over 10 years experience in performing rock and pop music. This includes significant training in both ensemble and solo performing, as well as education in World Music, Cultural Studies and Music Theory. 

Since graduating, Andy has set up his own private guitar tuition business, teaching electric and classical guitar to pupils of all ages and abilities in York and Leeds. Andy is also employed by the School of Rock and Pop, a nationwide company specialising in educating school aged pupils in playing and writing popular music as an ensemble.

Andy is not only a regular performer with Backbeat; he is often putting in energetic performances touring with his Stone Roses tribute band, The Total Stone Roses, having played at many prestigious venues, including The Cockpit (Leeds), The Assembly Rooms (Leamington Spa), Fruit (Hull), The Leadmill (Sheffield) and The Waterfront (Norwich) to name a few. He also plays classical guitar to audiences nationwide.

Chris – Keys/Audio Engineer/Backing Vocals
Having graduated with a BA(Hons) Music Production degree from Leeds College of Music, Chris is the Course Leader for Music at Doncaster College and lecturer on the Music Practice / Music Technology HNDs. He also works amongst the programming team at Leeds based Radio Station ‘Radio Aire’ and produces the JK & Joel Reloaded Show. Chris also finds the time to run a successful recording and production company.

Having trained as a pianist from the age of 7, Chris has grown up playing in bands and ensembles. He loves combining his enthusiasm for music with his knowledge of technology; utilizing them fully whilst playing keys with BackBeat.

Phil – Bass/Backing Vocals
Although a bass player for BackBeat, Phil earns his living as a guitarist.

Specialising in classical guitar, Phil is not only an avid performer at weddings, restaurants and functions, but also finds the time to teach classical guitar to
young pupils in Yorkshire. He also teaches guitar and bass privately in the Leeds area. 

A fellow graduate of the Leeds College of Music, Phil also does session work; his talent and professionalism reflected in the studio work he has been
involved with since graduating.

Tom – Drums/Backing Vocals
Tom has been drumming for over a decade, his talent underlined by the First he received in his performance module during his Degree (BA Hons) at the Leeds College of Music. 

As well as playing for BackBeat, Tom also performs with Neeta Sarl, a singer songwriter who’s work has been credited by the BBC Asian network, and is a pit drummer for local theatre ensembles in the Blackpool area. 

When not performing, Tom teaches Drums and Percussion privately around Lancashire, and is a secondary school music teacher.

Please note: Due to availability or illness, deputy musicians of a high professional standard may sometimes be used.

Recent Client Reccomendations

"Backbeat are the perfect wedding band, couldn't of asked for anything better, not only did they perform a very difficult requested song incredibly well for our first dance, their showmanship, balance, volume and set list were perfectly suited to our audience. 

Since the wedding many guests have commented on Backbeat being an excellent band. I wouldn't hesitate in booking Backbeat again or recommending them."
- Russ Mizon

"Dear Andy and everyone,

We've just got back from our honeymoon and just wanted to say thank you so much for playing at our wedding in York on the 5th October. Everybody was raving about you and its not often you go to a wedding when the dancefloor is jam packed all night and ours was! I don't think we stopped dancing. It really was brilliant and everyone loved it.

Also thank you for taking the time to put our song requests into the I pod Disco. We saw you enjoyed the Will Smith track at the end :) Also thank you for playing Greatest Day for our first dance ( or first shuffle in Daniel's case!)

I wish I could do it all over again so I could go to another evening do as good as that! If you ever need a recommendation please just let us know! I would recommend you to anyone.

Thanks again and best wishes"

- Helen & Daniel

"Hey just wanted to say thanks a million. You guys rocked and everyone was talking about how fab you were the next day. It was the best day of our lives and we'd recommend you to everyone. The dance floor got a pounding! Haha. Xxxx"
- Heather Stoddart

"I just wanted to drop you a line after Lucy and I got married on the 9th to say how fantastic Backbeat were. 

The band were brilliant and we (and our guests) thought the music and performance were superb- full of energy and enthusiasm which is exactly what we were hoping for. 

I will be delighted to recommend you to any weddings that are in your area and would like to thank you all again for helping to make our wedding such a great party."
- Nicholas Roberts