THIS is the new Manchester-based boyband that former Take That guru Nigel Martin-Smith believes will emulate the chart heroics of his former record breakers.

They are called ASBRO, they already have a major record deal, and have been secretly rehearsing at Nigel’s city centre studios for the past six months.

“I am really excited about the band,” Nigel tells me. “And so is the record company. We expect big things from them when they release their first single early next year.”

Nigel has scoured the region for the last two years looking for young lads with enough charisma and talent to make up the members of the five-piece band.
And he is delighted with the lads he has found, who he believes will shortly enjoy all the trappings of pop stardom.

The lucky lads to be hand-picked by the multi-millionaire pop svengali are: Lewis Conroy, 16, who has just left school and comes from Wythenshawe; Dean Kelly, another school leaver, aged 16 and from Stockport; Warrington born 18-year-old Jayme Kontzie; and Craig Worsley, aged 19, from Crewe.

Nigel is still hunting for one more candidate to join the quartet and make the band into a five-piece. You can upload an audition video here .
“It’s the very beginning of this band but they only have to look at Take That and the success they had – they’re all now multi-millionaires – to realise what is potentially out there for them,” Nigel says.

“With Take That we had all the members in place except for the fifth too. There was an article in the Manchester Evening News appealing for lads to audition to become the fifth member. That’s how we found Robbie Williams. He saw the piece and got in touch. The rest is history.”

Different

That is where the comparisons with Take That end though.

“The music is quite different to Take That, the look of the band is quite different too. There will be no Million Love Songs from ASBRO. They are singing about knife-crime and issues that are more relevant with the kids today. The sound too is more R&B, soul and hip-hop than Take That.

“I searched for these lads in council estates all across the north-west. I wanted them to be ‘streetwise’ as well as having bags of personality, a good voice and looking good in front of a camera.

“I haven’t put together a boyband since Take That and I believe there is a huge opening for a boyband that is relevant to today – not just one that sings big slushy love ballads.”

Anyone wanting to audition to become the elusive fifth member of ASBRO should contact Nigel at his Manchester offices by telephoning 0161 228 6465 or by emailing him at n igel@nmsmanagement.co.uk  or submitting an audition video here. All applicants must be aged between 16 and 21.