A band that played the Caterham Street Party in June, has just reached the final of a national competition to find the country's best unsigned act. Andrew James, 17, the lead vocalist who lives in Old Coulsdon, entered his band The Red Route, into the Surface Unsigned Festival last November. More than 12,000 bands applied for a place in the competition and during the past six months, the band have played in a number of heats across London, before qualifying for the National Showcase last week at the Regional Final in Tufnell Park. The band will now be heading to the IndigO2, in the O2 Arena on Saturday 25th September to compete against the UK's remaining 16 best unsigned acts. They will have the chance to win a share of over £60,000 worth of prizes, including a first prize of £5,000 and an opportunity to play at the Sziget Festival, Europe's biggest music festival!

Andrew said that getting to the final stage was an incredible achievement: "All the bands we have been up against are much older than us, so we are really thrilled and honoured to have got through to the O2. Our fans have been behind us every step of the way and we are so looking forward to the next gig! We're on at 1pm on Saturday, quite early, so hopefully everyone will be there in good time. To be able to say we're playing the O2 doesn't seem real, we're all still at college! It's definitely something I'm going to remember forever. To win would just be a dream come true for all of us. Our lives would be set!"

The band, inspired by Arctic Monkeys and the Kooks, are hoping to release their new 4 track EP entitled Footprints soon after the National Showcase and we wish them the best of luck!

Visit www.myspace.com/theredroute to view the band.