Band name:

Jeramiah Ferrari

Members names, ages and where they are from:

Ryan Barton, aged 24, Joshua Aitchison, aged 23, Hanson Pollitt 23, aged 23, Stuart Welch 23, all from Leigh

When and where did you form?

We were all playing the covers scene in Wigan and Leigh pubs when we were in high school. Josh, Hanson and Ryan were in a Punk band called Halfway to Victory and Stuart was in a rock band called Chaos Theory. We decided that we were getting sick of the covers scene and really wanted to start doing shows with our own music, so Josh, Hanson and Ryan asked Stuart if he'd be interested in doing something different, that we didn't hear any other bands doing in our town, and start a reggae rock band. He was keen — and Jeramiah was born.

What is your sound and who are your influences?

We play a mixture of groovy roots inspired dub reggae, hard rock and ska. Every song we write has reggae at the core, but we always try to blend in different genres as much as we can to try and create a sound unique to us. Our influences come from Jamaican roots reggae bands such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lee Perry, Jimmy Cliff and Burning Spear, as well as rock acts like Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Sublime.

What is the biggest gig you have played to date?

In terms of capacity, the biggest gig we played was at the Manchester Arena in 2013. We entered a battle of the bands type competition, which was run by radio station Key 103, and after several heats we actually ended up winning the competition and got the chance the Key 103 Summer Ball with massive acts such as Rizzle Kicks, Labrinth, Tulisa and Will Young. We got to play to 18,000 people and it was an incredible experience.

If you are not already, is it your ambition to become professional?

We take our band very seriously and put in a lot of work, because we know that's what you have to do in order to get to a professional level. It's what we what to do with our lives, because it comes naturally to us to write and perform music. We are playing several shows each week, and when we aren't playing we are practicing and writing, so with time and hard work, we are hoping to become full time professional musicians.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Hopefully we will have increased our fanbase, be in demand and touring, be on a credible label, released a few more albums and developed our sound to something we can truly call our own.

Is there anything unusual or interesting about the band?

In 2012 we played at a festival called GoMad in India.

Forthcoming gigs?

Weyfest in Farnham, Surrey, with level 42 — Sunday, September 6

Manchester Academy 3 with Stereo MCs — Friday, September 11

Empress Ballroom Blackpool with The Selecter and Scaface — Saturday, September 19