5ft Fez walking tall

Photo: PICTURE by SHARI DENSON

BIG HAT BOYS: bassist Ross Fearns, drummer Joe Leach and front-man Matt Cummings.

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EXCITING teenage mod trio 5ft Fez are definitely an Oldham band who are going places.

Not only are front-man Matt Cummings, bassist Ross Fearns and drummer Joe Leach heading off to Manchester, Holmfirth, possibly London and maybe even Spain to play this year, they are hoping their first three-track studio EP – due for release next month – is set to be a hit with their ever-increasing army of fans.

The threesome, who first gigged together while still at primary school, are picking up new followers almost every day.

5ft Fez have played some high-profile dates since the turn of the year alongside the likes of Bruce Foxton’s”‘From the Jam” and the “Sex Pi##ed Dolls”.

Three new original songs will feature on the EP – all recorded with producer Adam Briffa at the FutureWorks Studio at Manchester University. The June 19 launch night promises to be a cracker.

The supremely confident and well-spoken outfit has been approached by Hard Rock Cafe in Manchester to stage the launch there - and they’re buzzing.

Cummings said: “With it being such a great venue, we’re hoping to get as many people down there as possible to support us.

“We’ve been told we might be able to get on at the Hard Rock Cafe in London in the near future, too.”

The 5ft Fez lads are unsurprisingly keen to branch out as far and as wide as possible. Drummer Leach added: “We want to play at as many venues as we can - the further the gigs are spread out the more people are going to see us.

“We’d all love to be the next ‘Jam’. That’d be fun, and that’s the dream I think.

“We’ve got college and university to concentrate on for the immediate future, but we’ll just see where our music takes us after that I guess.”

The 5ft Fez EP features title track ‘Watch me fall’, ‘Find me’ and ‘Control’.

“We want to be known as a band that doesn’t follow a particular style of playing music,” said Leach. “We want to try a bit of everything.”

5ft Fez are popular with former Specials front-man Drew Stansall, who has featured them at his mod-inspired Quadrophenia Nights at the Witchwood in Ashton and the Citadel in St Helens.

Check out the 5ft Fez Facebook page for details of spring and summer gigs and tickets.



LISTEN to Simon Smedley’s exclusive audio interview with 5ft Fez on the Chronicle’s Facebook page.