All 5 tracks we played at our swansong performance at the Regional Finals of the Surface Unsigned Festival 2008 are now up for you to see on our profile. Re-live the glory, or see what you missed out on and keep an eye out for more Surface Unsigned showcase gigs soon.

Well last night was a hot and wet and surprisingly sandy night at the Rainbow warehouse in Digbeth, it was the regional final of the Surface unsigned competition, We had a short but fun set and we were greatful to play such a big venue with so many people watching.

We failed to get to play the mainstage at the Carling academy as we were one of  the many bands that didn't get through last night, however we are greatful to Richard and the team for having us play for so long, we started in Jan and have been surprised and humbled by all the cool cats coming to see us each time!

A special shout out is required for the Walsall Massive who have come to every single show, its been great seeing you all and hearing you all! The boys and I are going to sort a gig for you guys in your town to say a big thanks for coming and supporting us, we hope to continue rocking your socks off  for as long as we can!

Congrats to the 5 bands who made it through we hope you have a great time on the main stage at the carling academy.

We however intend to be playing the Sulking Party Bike Rally which info will be available for shortly, the Kavern club have invited us to make noise at there party which involves a ride out, adult games, food, drink, food, drink, music, drink and some drink. We are really looking forward to that one so keep your eyes peeled. Oh and there will be some drink there too.

Failing that you can always come and show your support this thursday at Cox's yard in Stratford upon Avon where we will be filling the support slot, doors 7.30 tix available now.

After this week we will be in the company of legendary soup maker and occasional producer Chris Tsangarides thats pronounced TANG A REE DEES for anyone who has trouble with the Queens English.

We will be re-mixing a few tracks with him and hopefully we will be previewing tracks from our new album on this very spot so stand by and cross your bits as we want to hear what you think (Any negative comments will be immediatley erased, only because we don't want to look bad, so basically just tell us we sound great and that'll be fine)

 

Thanks for staying with folks, without your support, we'd all be in prison.

Love to you all, espeically Jons Mum,

 

Matt and the boyo's.

Just a quick line for those waiting to hear what time we drew for tonight's showcase. Jon's lucky fingers picked out 7:55pm which I think works for most people. Still a handful of tickets going spare so drop me a line or send a text if you'd like to come and avoid paying twice as much on the door!

See y'all front row!
Love Bo. xxx

What-o chaps and chapettes!

Quick reminder about our big important industry showcase at the 2008 Surface Unsigned Festival Regional Final! Here's the facts and figures:

Date: THIS SUNDAY Aug 31st

Venue: The Rainbow Warehouse (Main Stage), Birmingham

Time: Between 5pm-9pm (we'll be told on the day!)

Price: £5 in Advance, £10 On The Door

Address: Adderley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B9 4EE.

Google Map Link:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Adderley+Street,+Digbeth,+Birmingham,+B9+4EE.+&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=19.721073,27.641602&ie=UTF8&ll=52.474468,-1.880958&spn=0.009894,0.013497&z=16&iwloc=addr


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come along if you can! This is a big deal for us as we'll be performing in front of a panel of music industry pro's who could hold our 'big break' in their pockets! There's no voting this time round, it's just a straight elimination decision from the panel, but we want to show the judges how much support we have from all you beautiful people out there as well as how hard we can rock! It's being filmed professionally so Breaker t-shirts, banners, cardboard cut-outs and brass rubbings are all welcome!

If you'd like to come and want to know about getting tickets, the simplest way is to send us a message ASAP and we'll reserve them for you. Then we'll meet you on the night to hand them over. Alternatively you can click on the PayPal link on our front page and we'll have your tickets waiting at the door. If anyone needs a lift, drop us a line and we'll help you out!

For all those of you who wanted to know the vital statistics from the Surface semi-finals the other day, we racked up an amazing 68 text votes counting for 1 'Surface Point' each and 46 audience votes, each counting for 5 points (making 230) and a grand total of 298. That actually put us 2nd on the night, as the last band had a LOT of fans turn out...but the judges took quality over quantity it seems! ;o) So thanks again to all of you who made it happen for us on the night and we hope you'll come back again for the regional finals at The Rainbow Warehouse, Birmingham on August 31st.

Below is the official review of our set, which I personally feel is just and fair...if a little light on percussive appreciation!

"The second band of the night was Walsall based three-piece Breaker. Sitting comfortably between the progressive and pop sides of Classic Rock n Roll, they've got a grand, atmospheric sound yet thanks to their three-piece make up and the intensity with which they perform, their music bursts with a raw energy making for a genuinely exciting noise. Matt has one of the strongest voices out of any of the vocalists in this year's Festival, distinctive, evocative and powerful; it drives their sound and suits their Rock direction perfectly. On the night they delivered a genuinely compelling performance thanks to an all-round strong and engaging stage presence and a set packed full of well-written, interesting Rock anthems-in-the-making – ensuring they deservedly stood-out as one of the best acts of night."

If you think you can do a better job at freelance journalism, then write your own review and we'll publish it in the next FaceBook newsletter and MySpace blog. If you're on Facebook and wanna join our info group there, follow this link: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13336277487

Remember, the next one's at the end of the month, so
SEE YOU FRONT ROW!
Love Bo. xxx

OMG! WTF! And other modern-day acronyms....WE WON! AGAIN!

You glorious people! You ambassadors of rock! You swift, sure messengers of divine deliverance...you did it again! Last night saw us go through to the regional finals of arguably the biggest unsigned band competition in the UK. Seven bands played, ranging from rock to R'n'B to soul...it was a real battle of the genres. And in all honesty, faced with the crowd-pleasing, party-tastic vibes of a 14 piece funk band stuffed full of fit blonde chicks in mini-skirts, especially at the level of musicianship on display last night, your average rock band tends to sneer and spit and crawl back to the niche-market it came from.

So despite the utterly....UTTERLY fantastic response from you guys with the votes and texts, it was with a familiar sense of reticence and impending disappointment that we awaited the music industry mogul's judgement of the one single band from an evening of very respectable performances that had that magical mix of X-Factor ingredients to be crowned King Of The Barfly. With Matt being so ill with flu he had to be taken home straight after we played, we felt sure our slightly subdued set would leave the door wide open for the other bands to take the lead...but the representative from MAS Records (headed by Led Zepplin uber-god Robert Plant!) decided that was still good enough, and we were through!

The final figures of exactly how many votes we clocked up, and the official review of our set have yet to be posted on the Surface Unsigned website (www.surfaceunsigned.co.uk), but given that most of the other qualifying bands happened to have the highest number of votes on the night, I've got a feeling you guys have out-done yourselves this time! I'll send another post with the stats as soon as we have them, but for now, our heartfelt thanks to all those who turned up and raised their hands, and to all those 'there in spirit' who put their mobile phones to good use that night! Jon's Walsall Massive was out in force again and made sure our booze-ridden Black Country roots were well represented! Also a  special mention for our friend H who spent £12 randomly texting every single one of her work colleagues to vote for a band they didn't know in a competition they probably didn't give a shit about! If you lose your job due to harrasment charges hun, we'll take you on as our Head Of Publicity!

From now on it's all down to the judges, no more audience voting, so in that respect your work here is done! HOWEVER, a few rows of screaming looneys down the front at the regional finals would go a long way to proving to the record company people that any faith they may place in our music is well-founded and backed by the great British public! So we hope to see you all there again next time round! Dates and venue details to follow!

Thanks guys, and when the regional final rolls around we'll
SEE YOU FRONT ROW!

Love Bo. xxx

Quick reminder to all you Midlanders that we're hitting the stage once more for the national competition Surface Unsigned Festival this friday 25th July at the Barfly Birmingham. It's the SEMI-FINALS (how did we manage that!?) so this time the music industry big-wigs will be there, and we want to show them how much support we have from you guys and prove we're not just another unsigned band!

Doors are at 7pm, we're on at 8pm. Tickets are MUCH cheaper from us, only £4 (Should be £8 but we're paying the rest...because you're worth it!) so drop me a line here (or send me a text if you know me) to reserve your ticket and I'll meet you there and get you in half price!

If you can't make it but still wanna help you can text-vote on the night by texting "Surface 691" to 83149 between 7 and 10pm. There are bands in this competition who are winning their rounds almost entirely through text-votes, so it really does make a difference! Just one text-vote per phone number, so don't go mad! But you can text from as many numbers as you like, so if Granny's got one in her linen drawer for emergencies, go grab it! Each text costs a quid plus normal network charge, but some of that goes to Oxfam, so you'll feel good afterwards!

Quick hello and welcome to all you guys that have become our friend since the last broadcast...thanks so much for taking an interest and hope to see you up close and personal real soon!

Updates on the album coming next!
SEE YOU FRONT ROW!
Love Bo. xxx

SURFACE UNSIGNED FESTIVAL SEMI-FINALS!

FRIDAY 25th JULY 2008 @ BIRMINGHAM BARFLY

Out of the 11,000 bands that applied to this competition, we've made it through to the last 84! Thanks to you guys turning out each time to support us, and sending your votes by text, we've come a helluva long way in this major national competition! In this next round, we get to play in front of the music industry panel, which for us is what it's all about. We're playing to win, but even if we don't, a good gig in front of the right people could still see us getting the breaks we need. Like Will Young in Pop Idol. Only without the lisp. Or the bumming.

SO let's hit em again! We're gonna be playing against some VERY popular local bands who've all been pulling in punters and text votes by the hundred in previous heats, and while playing well and impressing the judges will get us so far, a band lives or dies by it's fan-base, and the voting system takes that into account. We need EVERYONE here for this one, with as many of your mates as you can muster. Tickets are £4 in advance, either by clicking on the PayPal button below or direct from any of us. As before, we're selling the advance tickets cheaper than face value, as we think £8 is a bit much for a local gig, and we want you guys to be there!

As always, if you can't make the show, you can vote by text. Simply text "SURFACE 691" (including the space) to 83149 any time between 7 and 10pm to help. One text only per phone number, and texts cost £1 + standard network charge. For each text vote, 10p of the price goes to Oxfam. Thanks again to all of y'all who've gotten us thus far, and for god's sake....DON'T STOP NOW! Let's keep up the pressure and write another chapter of rock 'n' roll history!

SEE YOU FRONT ROW!
Bo & the Breaker Boys.

We're through to the Semi-Finals! Thanks to another great turn-out at the Custard Factory on tuesday, and a stirling effort from all you text-voters (43 this time - wow!), Breaker not only qualified for the next round but are now ranked 8th in the Midlands Surface Chart and 13th overall in the National Chart! That's out of hundreds of bands....RESULT! So give yourselves a big slap on the back and accept our heartfelt thanks for all your efforts!

The Semi's will be held in July at the Birmigham Barfly, just round the corner from the Custard Factory. This one's a showcase, which means industry bods will be there, so we're gonna be going all-out to impress, and it'll look a whole lot more convincing if you guys are there to help! I'll announce the date as soon as we hear from the festival organisers.

Here's the review of our set from the official festival reporter:

"Kicking off an evening of Rock at The Custard Factory's Factory Club was Birmingham based three-piece Breaker.  Tight basslines, energetic guitar work and sharp percussion creates a surprisingly substantial Classic Rock sound for a three man setup.  It's the sort of loud, melodic Rock that really benefited from the larger venue, with the band cranking up the intensity in their performance, making for a first-rate set from a band with some real potential.  It's once again Matt's vocal and the quality of their material which really made the band stand out, their songs are well-written, have a strong range (albeit all firmly rooted in Rock) and really captured the Tuesday evening crowd's attention."

None too shabby! If you're interested in finding out more about the festival and who's behind it, they have a decent website updated after every show at www.surfaceunsigned.co.uk, where you can see exactly how many votes each band got and who got the all-important bonus A&R vote (Yep...it was us!) as well as pictures and the charts.

There's some very popular local bands out there that are pulling in the punters and getting HUNDREDS of text votes every gig, so if we're gonna survive this thing, we'll need to step it up a notch once again. So please play our tunes to your friends and tell them about the live shows if you've been to see us and let's build an army for the next show!

Thanks so much to you all again and see you at The Barfly!
Love Bo. xxx

Only 10 days left till our second round of the national live hootenanny Surface Unsigned Festival 2008! If this were a Rocky movie, we'd have Apollo Creed stunned and howling for a re-match. Even after only one round, the level of competition is respectably high, so we're really gonna need you guys in our corner! The turn out last time was fantastic, and hopefully you've spread the word and can drag a few noobs along with you for the next show-down at the Custard Factory. Tickets are on-sale NOW, and if you buy them from us direct, we're knocking quids off the door price. Technically we should be making money off ticket sales, but instead we're giving it back to you guys...if we wanted to make money, we'd have chosen a different career! There's a handy Buy Now button on the left of our profile page, or if you'd rather pay cash in hand, drop us a line and we'll arrange a rendez-vous in a back alley near you!

This is a big deal for us, especially with our album on the way. Getting through even just the next couple of rounds will get us lots of exposure to all the right people and really help get us on the map. As always, the fate of the band lies in the hands of the fans. It's a big responsability huh? But we know you won't let us down!

Remember, if you can't make it to the show on the 20th, you can still vote by text message any time on the night. Simply text "Surface 691" to 83149 to clock up another point for us! Texts cost £1 plus standard network charge, and you can only vote once per phone number. But that doesn't stop you voting off your mates phones too! ;o)

We're on first again, half 7, so even though we recommend you stick around for the other bands ad make the most of your ticket money, you don't have to stay out late if you don't want to! Please please please come down and show some love, and we promise to do the same!

SEE YOU FRONT ROW!!!
Bo and the Breaker Boys.