Toy Valentine
Toy studied vocals at The Brighton Institute of Modern Music after being awarded a Ronan Keating Scholarship. After graduating with a distinction, she signed up to the songwriting course with the intention of doing a degree but joined all girl pop-rock trio ‘The Faders’ as bassist/backing vocalist at the end of her first year.
The Faders signed to major record label, Polydor, and released two top 30 hits including debut single ‘No Sleep Tonight’ which charted at 13. The Faders toured in South East Asia and also supported Kelly Clarkson on her tour of the UK and Ireland, playing live to around 100,000 people in two weeks in venues including The Hammersmith Apollo, The Dublin Point, Birmingham NEC and The Manchester MEN.
The Faders songs were used in TV shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Sugar Rush and Veronica Mars, adverts including the Cingular ROKR phone with iTunes (US) and the Vodafone ‘Stop The Clock campaign (UK) and films including ‘She’s The Man’, ‘Bratz The Movie’ and ‘The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants’. The band also rerecorded two tracks in Simlish for top selling computer game, ‘The Sims 2: Nightlife’.
Toy has extensive live, studio and TV experience and has appeared on shows including Top Of The Pops, CD:UK, Popworld, The Disney Channel and also on American hit TV show, Veronica Mars.
Matt Steemson
Matt first started playing guitar age 14 and started playing in a local band soon after. With high aspirations to develop his musical skills, he started singing and song writing, becoming the front man and creative force behind his band.
Matt went on to study at the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) earning himself a Diploma and Higher Diploma in guitar. During this time he was chosen to sing and play guitar at the Music Publishing Associations (MPA) 125th birthday party as well as perform at the Guilfest festival in 2006 alongside Billy Idol, Gary Numan and The Stranglers.
During Matt’s guitar studies at ACM, his vocal talent was recognised from stepping up to front many college bands. He received special recommendation from ACM’s head vocal tutor Nic Rowley to proceed onto studying a BA (Hons) Degree in Vocals and graduating in 2009.
Matt has extensive live, studio and audition experience as well as playing on BBC radio, Red Funnel ferries and UK Entertainment TV. He has also worked as an Artist Liaison for the Great Escape Festival and Oxjam events with such bands as Kasabian, The Maccabees, Kissy Sell Out, Metronomy, Dan Black, Mumford & Sons, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, ABC and White Denim.
Vikki Hewitt
Classically trained in both piano and vocals from an early age Vikki decided to bring her love of contemporary music into her own style of playing and singing, following idols such as Eva Cassidy and Nina Simone. By the time she was 14 she had begun songwriting which brought her love of music to a new creative level, and she started showcasing her material from the age of 15, performing in numerous venues and festivals in the south west and on local radio. Vikki has also played a vital role in many local amateur dramatics shows in her hometown in Devon as rehearsal and orchestra pianist.
Vikki is currently based in Guildford whilst studying her Vocals Degree at the prestigious Academy of Contemporary Music. Eventhough her course is vocals specific, Vikki has shown no hesitation in backing bands with her keyboard skills too. As a part of the ACM Gospel Choir (as seen on ITV’s ‘Last Choir Standing’) she has recently performed backing Michael Ball on ITV’s ‘Ultimate Movie Toons’, hosted by Danni Minogue and featuring other artists such as Mika, Pixie Lott and Beverly Knight to name but a few. The ACM Gospel Choir are also scheduled to perform in front of the Queen at The Royal Tattoo this year.
As well as fronting her own originals band, Vikki was recently taken on to play keyboard and sing backing vocals for up and coming artist, Linda Harrison, during her showcase at The Indigo2, situated inside the O2 Arena, infront of many industry professionals. Vikki is interested in pursuing a career as a songwriter, and is currently working with Platinum Publishing to secure synchronization of one of her original tracks.
