Feel Good Festival: Next Stop Mars

Photo: SKW Events

Feel Good Festival - Next Stop Mars

Scroll down for Video

Next Stop Mars, a four-piece pop rock band from London settled down with Rochdale Online after a vibrant and lively set at Friday’s Feel Good Festival.

Speaking about their experience performing in Rochdale, vocalist Shanel said: “We loved it. We came off buzzing and we had a blast on stage. We always build the set up like we’re performing to 20,000 people. We bring the arena show to you. We’re not a mellow band: we like to hype up the crowds.”

Brother and fellow vocalist Denis agreed: “It was the most fun gig we’ve had. It’s nice to have a big stage and perfect sound.”

The band originally formed when brother-sister duo Denis and Shanel Jemal both 22, performed together as a duet, SD Jem. Their style began to shift from pure pop to pop with a rockier edge, and they decided to branch out. Shanel cites some of their influences from all genres, including Motown artists, Carol King, Michael Jackson, pop-rock, grime and underground music plus any ‘uplifting’ chart tracks.

Their different tastes in music are truly eclectic as guitarist Dan, 22, favours hard rock like Guns N’ Roses, whereas drummer Jon, 21, likes “feel-good pop, the kind of stuff you sing when drunk.”

Denis explained: “It felt weird performing to a full band backing track. We posted an advert online and stumbled across Dan and Jon. Funnily enough, we received their applications and videos an hour before we were going to take the advert down. It had been up for almost a month and we were about to give up. When we received their applications, it was like a movie: we both thought they were really cool and we just clicked. We’re like family.”

Their bond was immediate as Jon and Dan were accepted into the group without a rehearsal. Now, two years later, they make up Next Stop Mars: tipped to be ‘the UK’s hottest new band’ by Busted’s James Bourne.

Shanel said: “It was our first time in Rochdale. We had a good reception: we always do from folk up north.”

“Cold Water always does really well. It’s such a crowd jumper. I think we’re best known for DNCE’s ‘Cake By The Ocean’: it was one of our first viral songs,” Denis added.

The group also performed some of their own original material to the crowd such as ‘Bad Bitch’, ‘Torn Apart’ and ‘Always’ plus an exclusive in the never-heard before track ‘Make It If You Try’, where the band’s sound has evolved to pop with a dance feel.

Their appearance at the Feel Good Festival was their last performance of summer ahead of time in the studio, working on some new tracks in a similar direction to ‘Make It If You Try’.

Denis commented: “We’re hoping to have a whole album’s worth of material like that for release late next year.”

Shanel added: “Thank you Rochdale for having us. You were an amazing audience and we had a wicked time. We hope to be back soon, whenever we’re welcome.”

Next Stop Mars’ debut EP ‘History’ is out in August.