Southend: Skandal, rugs and rock 'n' roll...

Young, good-looking and bursting with confidence, Southend-based band Skandal are the latest hopefuls on the road to chart stardom.

Quiet Matt Baldwin, chatty Darren Keating, thoughtful James Cohen and Matty McKenzie (who appears to have been told to keep his mouth shut in the company of journalists), are steadily climbing the ladder that could lead them to success.

Success is what they want of course, but it is already causing them problems. The boys, who live together somewhere near the seaside, have already had to move house.

"We had a flat in Westcliff - it was dreadful. It was broken into four times," explains Darren, self-appointed spokesman for the band. "We had problems with the neighbours - because of our fans."

It appears that two years of playing under-18 clubs and the Essex FM Too Smart for Drugs campaign has given the band a bit of a following - they can boast a data-base of around 8,000. Some of their fans liked to congregate outside the flat.

The nature of the band means that their fans are teenage girls. Put a group of teenage girls together and the words silence and golden are unlikely to apply.

"When they were there at 2am the neighbours were, understandably, unhappy." explains Darren.

Apparently it became enough of a problem for the lads to be moved to a secret address. "This address mustn't get out," says Darren darkly. Why not? "Because they'll be evicted," interjected road manager Matthew Fletcher.

It appears that some fans may have already tracked them down. Returning from Scotland on Valentine's Day they say they found flowers through the letter box.

There is nothing about the house from the outside that suggests it could contain the next Robbie Williams. It's Southend at its unimposing best. So if any fans have tracked them down - apart from their mums of course - either the lads let the address slip, or it's the postman.

This is not just another group of lads with a half-baked dream. They have already supported B*Witched, Steps and Billie and have just appeared on tour with Brit award winners 5ive including four gigs at Wembley. In fact James was at school with 5ive's Basildon boy, Scott Robinson."We were in the same class," grins James who, with Scott, attended the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School.

The band was created following an ad in The Stage. Matt joined after another lad left for family reasons and the four are now a product, being marketed as a boy band. They also say they have become good friends - which is lucky, living in such close proximity.

"We don't base ourselves on anyone else," says James. "But in people's mind there will always be associations.

"What we do is basic pop with an edge. Not as aggressive as 5ive but not as clean as Take That."

Darren adds: "We are just four normal lads out to have a party on stage."

They all agree that they like the music they produce. They are committed to it, it's the sort they would buy themselves.

At the end of the summer they hope that everyone else will feel the same way. That's when their single, Champagne Highway, is being released.

The song was written by John Mclaughlin and David James, who wrote hits for Take That and Louise, and the lads have already performed it on tour.

Wasn't it difficult to get up and perform as a warm-up act, the first of four, when the thousands of screaming fans were wanting and waiting for 5ive?

"We were worried, but once we were out there the crowd just went wild." says Darren - although they admit to having to work hard at lad-dominated under-18 nights.

Everyone knows that housework and youngsters only appear in the same sentence when being yelled by an irate parent. How do the lads live on their own?

"I'm the most house-proud" says Darren. "I vacuum - I did this room before you came - take a look at that carpet!" Indeed the only things on it were two large milk cartons, which Matt and Matty were swigging from. Milk and rugs and rock and roll? I wondered.

"Matty's the worst," says Darren. "I flush the toilet!" was the swift response.

"I cooked Matty a pizza the other day," says Matt. "It didn't take long so I didn't mind. I chopped up this sausage and fried it and put it on the top. Later on I found bits of sausage all the way up the stairs, in the toilet, all upstairs." It could have been his mother talking.

James spends too long in the bathroom, the others agree.

Matty, who will only say: "I always say the wrong thing," when asked about his silence, is accused of killing songs by playing them repeatedly. "You have to learn them," he says defensively.

Although the lads don't want fans outside the house they do like to be approached in the street. They want fans to say hello - they're not even adverse to signing the odd autograph.

And if any young fan is reading this, I can tell you how to find their hideaway. Look for the neat and tidy house that smells strongly of soap-powder.

This Saturday Skandal will be performing as part of the Essex FM Road Show on Chelmsford High Street at 3pm.

Over the May bank holiday weekend the boys will perform at the Southend Airshow.

Boys next door - thoughtful James Cohen quiet Matt Baldwin, Matty McKenzie and chatty Darren Keating are Skandal, four normal lads who enjoy partying on stage

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.