Jack Peñate

Teenage dreams of rock stardom started for the South Londoner when he formed a short-lived band called Jack's Basement with schoolmate Felix White (now guitarist in The Maccabees). After its demise he headed out as a solo artist to play every spit and sawdust bar and club that would have him, and started to garner mainstream interest when the spiky indie pop of EP Spit As Stars was given relentless airplay by BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe. Grouped together in the press with fellow young Londoners Lily Allen, Jamie T and Kate Nash (he's sometimes referred to as a male Kate Nash...) debut album Matinee (2007) made it to No.7 in the UK charts with single Torn On The Platform becoming a small hit. Second album Everything Is New (2009) signalled a dramatic departure, taking in dance, funk and soul influences to spawn the singles Tonight's Today and Be The One.