THE BAND
Ollie, Liam and Birdy got together in 2018 coming from their hometowns of Macclesfield, Glossop and Manchester to rehearse at Blueprint Studios in Manchester.
With the help of former band member Sara-Beth, the band released their debut album "Broken Bones" and for over a year, the band performed the album across local venues picking up new fans along the way.
Sadly due to the Covid Pandemic, the band were forced to put larger gigs on hold but were kindly offered the chance to rehearse at Heart for Art Tattoo Studio by their founder Danny Birch. Thanks to his support, the band were able to continue working on new material.
Over a number of months, the band created enough material for a new album and decided to move onto pre-production rehearsals at South City Studios run by Paul Bowe (Federal Charm) and legendary guitarist Johnny Marr (The Smiths).
In 2022, the band went into the studio to record with Mark Wainwright at Alien Sound Recording Studio in Lathom and in June 2023 their new album "The Darkest Room" was released on digital platforms.
One of the bands finest hours came later that year when they were given the opportunity to support the legendary band Cast at the Picturedrome following their new release.
Influenced by many artists (Guns N' Roses, Soundgarden, Radiohead, The Beatles, Mastodon, Pink Floyd to name but a few), the band are ambitious and their dream is to play at the Glastonbury festival.
MEET OLD BEN
Here are the trio who make up the band Old Ben.
Drums / Percussion
Ollie
Ollie started playing music when he was about twelve years old. “I started playing the drums and going to gigs. My first band was with some school friends. From there I studied drums at a musical college in Coventry.” Ollie has played with various bands over the years but then met the boys from Old Ben at North Trafford College in Manchester.
Bass
Liam
Liam started playing guitar at the age of twelve and his first ever band was with some school friends. “I studied music at University level, prior to that I had met the guys at North Trafford College. I’ve played in several different groups over the years with various line-up changes and have now settled with Old Ben.”
Guitars / Vox
Birdy
Birdy has been writing songs since the age of fourteen. “They come out of the sky. That’s the only way I can explain what happens.” Since the age of fourteen, Birdy has been a song-writer and been in many different bands over the years (Whistler, The Swirl, The House Band, For Tomorrows, The Virginmarys, Sunlighter and now Old Ben) and he’s been lucky enough to perform at many venues in the UK and also in Los Angeles (Key Club on Sunset Boulevard).
Over the last decade, Birdy has written many solo acoustic albums which culminated in the recording of a debut album entitled “13 Songs” back in 2015. He has also been fortunate enough to attend the red carpet event the Ivor Novello awards in London with BASCA.