Band formed in Clonakilty primary school wins UK recording deal

Members of a band which was originally formed to compete in a primary school talent competition, have just signed a deal with a UK record company.

Fusion guitarist Jake Ellis, 19, from Clonakilty and lead vocalist Micheál Collins, 16, who is still in 5th year at Maria Immaculata Community College in the nearby town of Dunmanway, have signed the EP deal with MHM Records Ltd and are now on schedule to launch their first single:

“We have recorded five songs and the first is to be released in early May,” said Jake, recalling that it all began when he and Micheál recorded a single together last September.

In November, the duo submitted the single to MHM for consideration and, a month later, were messaged by a talent scout from the A&R division of MHM Records.

“They picked up on the song, and the contract came from there,” said Jake.

The band was formed several years ago for their primary school’s talent competition, Scoilavision, by Jake, classmate Jack Archibald, and a number of other pupils, all of whom were in sixth class at Scoil na mBuachaillí in Clonakilty.

“We had a number of conversations with the A&R man over Skype and then the decision was made to fly us to London,” said Jake.

In late February, the pair flew to London to record a number of songs with MHM.

“We’re very excited about this because it means that our music will be strongly promoted across social media, and our profile as a band will be really heightened,” said Jake.

“We hope to tour the band after the release. The single will help us take things to the next level. We’d really like to tour in Ireland and the UK, and further abroad if everything goes to plan.”

And, while nothing has been confirmed as yet, music fans can look forward to seeing Fusion perform at some of the Irish music festivals this summer.

“Our band has been going since 6th class in primary school,” said Jake.

“Everything started with the Scoilavision contest at Scoil na mBuachailli.”

Over the years, different people had played with Fusion as the band changed and developed. Current lead vocalist Micheál Collins has played with Fusion for the past two years.

“After a while, the band whittled down to myself and Micheál Collins, with Jack Archibald joining us for live gigs,” said Jake.

“We’d like to pay tribute to Scoil na mBuachaillí which encouraged us strongly to perform from a young age.”