Sara Hawley & The Bang Bang Club
THE JOURNEY
Performing since the age of nine, Sara's vocal talent was way beyond her years. She honed her skills by covering artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Janis Joplin.
A call from T REX co-manager and Rive Droite CEO Sir Harry Cowell led to a meeting in London when Sara was just 13 years old. He advised her to develop her song writing skills and learn how to be 'herself' in terms of vocal style and ambition. Armed with this good advice Sara soon found the confidence to write alone and her first songs were recorded when she was just 14, at Cottage Studios in Macclesfield.
Nirvana photographer Ian Tilton agreed to take her first 'professional' pictures at 14 years old. Sara was now really growing into her own unique style, both physically and musically. Steven Howard (ex Zomba CEO) and Ian McAndrew (manger for Travis) both advised Sara to finish her education and to allow herself to grow into her music.
The Strokes producer Gordon Raphael heard Sara's version of Janis Joplins 'Piece of my Heart' while in New York recording 'Room on Fire'. He got in touch and has been a close friend, supporter and producer ever since.
Building on her skills, Sara recorded her debut EP with Gordon Raphael at his London studio. She had just turned 16.
During this year, Sara met photographer Tina McClelland and quickly formed a strong friendship. She wrote new, stronger material and again turned to Gordon Raphael to record and produce her material.
In 2005 Sara decided to develop a profile on purevolume and myspace and currently has thousands of fans on both sites. Responding to demand, Sara shot the video for 'Sad and Gone' in the summer of that year. During that same year, the band played at Truck Festival, supporting the Magic Numbers and Forward Russia! Tracks have been played at clubs right across America, on numerous podcasts worldwide, on Sirius Radio in New York, BBC local radio here in the UK, Talk Sport Radio etc. Tracks have also been selected for various videos, including a female wrestling video!! Ruckus, the college radio station for students across the States have streamed the 'Sad & Gone' video into thousands of campuses. The British Tourist Board in America selected the band as ambassadors for new music in the UK on the 'Visit Britian' website and distributed the track to students on a cd all across North America. The BBC played the video for 'Sad and Gone' on rotation on the big screen in Exchange Square in Manchester all thru May 2006.
As 2005 drew to a close, Sara and her bad had acheived a total of over 725.000 plays and downloads worldwide of their music across various web sites.
Throughout 2006 the band played gigs the length and breadth of the UK, from Cabaret Volatiare in Edinburgh down to Alan Mcgees Death Disco in Notting Hill.
The response to Saras music has been overwhelming, with plaudits from the industry and public alike.