T HE guitar-orientated rock scene in the North-East is currently bigger than it has been for many years.

With exciting upcoming bands such as Lisbon, Cattle and Cane and A Festival, A Parade among the big hitters, there is a huge buzz around the region when it comes to live music.

And one of the acts emerging as a fan’s favourite among the crowd is The Welcome Party, started two years ago by four former Prudhoe High School pupils.

Vocalist and guitarist Jamie Thomas and bass guitarist Scott Bowman formed the band alongside mates Cole Gilroy and Conor MacLeod, who have since left the band, with guitarist Josh Sercombe and drummer Lee Clifford joining the fold.

And the hard-hitting quartet are winning many fans along the way, having secured a place on the popular Evolution Emerging festival bill just days before playing their own headline gig at Newcastle’s The Cluny following the release of their debut EP Always Winter .

Jamie said: “We played an after party at Evolution Emerging last year when the bands had finished.

“We were brand new at the time and didn’t have any music out. People turned up, which was nice, and we were asked to open the Tyne Bar this year, which was the earliest, and in the most sunlight, we have ever played!

“That was a bit of a novelty but we had a lot of people turning up to see us, with the majority of the crowd never having seen us before.

“It’s really encouraging to be playing sporadic shows and the whole day was great.

“Especially this year, the festival was testament to how strong the whole North-East music scene is in terms of guitar-orientated rock bands.

“There’s a lot of good stuff out there and loads of great bands around Newcastle, and if we can be considered alongside some of these bands of the same ilk, then that is great for us.”

Talented artist Jamie had been working on some solo stuff for a few years when he decided he would prefer to be part of a band project.

At the time, Scott, Cole and Conor, who all knew each other from their Prudhoe High days, were around and up for forming, and The Welcome Party started its infancy.

They initially trialled the group as a demo, but it was pretty instantly clear that the formula was right and all four agreed to take it more seriously.

While the band has changed in line-up, the recipe for brilliant live music remains, and the four-piece is really making a big impression on the local music scene.

They have recently released debut, five-track EP Always Winter , the launch at The Cluny, in Newcastle, going down a storm.

Jamie said: “It has taken ages to put the EP together, but we wanted to be different to other bands who put out a collection of singles, as our offering is like a story.

“We wanted to try to make an actual record that is a concise and cohesive piece of music.

“We are really happy with the EP and it’s great to have that out there, and now we’re just getting ready to record some more stuff.

“We released the record and were really surprised to have a good turn-out at the launch.

“For a band that nobody really knows, it was great to see so many people there and we really enjoyed it.”

With the North-East music scene massively on the up, it is over to The Welcome Party to stand out from the crowd.

And they’re doing a pretty good job of that so far.

Jamie said: “I think, because we all have different influences and different approaches to music, we work really well together.

“I wouldn’t be able to produce what The Welcome Party does on my own, and as a four piece there is a lot going on.

“We are a straight progressive band, but we like atmospherics and we try to do straight indie rock songs a bit differently!

“I guess in terms of live shows, we want to perform our songs differently than how they are on record.”