As far back as I can remember I have always had a huge interest in music.
From 10 years old I have aspired to be as good a guitarist as my idols. I wasn't interested in music that was around when I was growing up, instead I was heavily into Queen and Brian May, Eric Clapton and later Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.
All through secondary school I practised relentlessly, and eventually joined a band at school with a few mates, we were quite good for our age.
When I left school I got some gigs in the local pubs of Middlesbrough, my mates and family would come and support me - this is when Andy my big bro joined me on stage for the first time.
We both had a great love for music right from being young kids, as my mum and Dad would always play music around the house (especially Billy Joel which we both loved and still love to this day). Nothing could have prepared us for the chemistry we both had on stage. We had never even thought of singing together before and our voices blended so perfectly. I knew from this point on that we were a unit and we named ourselves "The Answer" after a beautiful song by Richie Sambora.
Seven months later we formed our first band. Still calling ourselves The Answer, we started writing our own songs and recording demos which we sent to loads of different companies. Even then we desperately wanted success.
Nothing really came off for us, the chances of our music getting listened to was very slim. I don't think we were ready at this point as the material wasn't strong enough, but we kept on writing and never gave up.
In the summer of 2000 we packed up our belongings and the four of us set off for stardom. We had searched for decent accommodation but to no avail, so our home from home was infact a static five berth caravan that Andy had paid for on a whim on his credit card. This was to be the first of many expensive but essential purchases we would make.
The caravan, situated on a ex-haven site in a remote part of Essex called Harwich, was typical of its kind with a bathroom you couldn't swing a cat in and shoe boxes for bedrooms with Andy getting the biggest. Why? Apparently because he's the oldest. Four fully grown men in a tiny caravan simply don't go together, especially when a band member snores so loudly it would keep you awake all night long and drive you nuts.
All through the summer we practised hard, played football and had lots of barbecues. It was a laugh but things weren't working musically with the other members so we had to change the line-up, but it was a very difficult thing to do as they were our mates.
There was only me, Andy and the Bass player left as the original line-up. We auditioned a new drummer and hired him straight away. We sold the caravan and moved nearer to London and threw ourselves into relentless rehearsing for our first live showcase where we invited press and A&R from every record company we could think of. This was an exciting time for us all, including my Mum and Dad who were now missing us terribly.
The night arrived and we played out of our skins. We gained some great positive feedback from the industry but nothing as concrete as a deal.
We tried for another year until we decided enough was enough. Andy and I returned home disheartened but with an undeterred belief that we still had what it takes, it just wasn't our time yet.
However this was all to change in 2005 when we auditioned for the X Factor. We didn't take it too seriously at first as we didnt think for one minute we would be suitable for it. How wrong we were.
That first audition with Simon, Sharon and Louis was so nerve racking. I kept my eyes tightly shut trying to forget about the fact that these hugely famous and influential people were only a few metres in front of me. When we got through with three yes's it was pure elation and partial disbelief, I even asked myself if it really had happened. We sailed through to boot camp and then onto the live shows, it was finally happening for me and my bro. I felt that we had been through so much together we deserved a break.
The live shows were an amazing experience. Every Saturday we gave it absolutely everything we had. The buzz from the studio audience was electrifying as was the thought of millions of people watching you at home. When the result show was aired both of us always feared the worst never once thinking we had walked it. To get through any week was amazing so to get through to the final was totally out of this world.
Although we didn't win the show we still secured a recording deal with Simon Cowell's Label and released our first album on mother's day 2006. We went straight in at number one and went on to sell over half a million copies.
After the success of our first album we immediately started writing material for our second as it was important to us that we gained recognition as songwriters. We travelled to Stockholm in Sweden and wrote with people such as Jorgen Eloffson and Carl Falk. We had a great time over there and wrote some great songs such as What I Love About Home, Do You Think Of Me and Ill Be your Desire. All three songs eventually made it onto our second album. In the autumn of 2006 we embarked on a 39 date UK tour we played some beautiful theatres and such places as Hammersmith Apollo in London which was unreal to headline such a prestigious venue.
I remember walking into sound check and noticing our name up in lights above the entrance on a huge sign, this was an amazing moment for me. Night after night we played to packed crowds and played our new songs to them - to see the crowd sing them back to us was incredible.
Our second album was released in October 2007 we called it "Home". I am immensely proud of it as it's all our own work and I feel is exactly what JS should sound like. The following year we began another tour to promote our new album "Home". I loved every minute of it as we had put our heart and souls into the whole production of this tour. The set list was great and we actually found ourselves struggling to pick which songs to play from the new album as they were all so good.
The future looks rosy for JS. There will be many more tours and albums to come. We are currently enjoying great success in South Africa with our album we have released over there and are waiting for the go ahead to go and promote it. Not bad for two lads from a small North east town called Middlesbrough.
Love
Carl xx