Meet Cosmic Raygun – possibly the youngest band in North Devon
As far as earth years go captain Tom O' Leary (guitar and lead vocals) and mid shipman Daniel Tucker (bass guitar and backing vocals) are both 10 and communication officer Conor Bellis (drums) is 11. In space terms though, I'm led to believe they have hundreds of light years behind them.
Obviously I'm unable to visit outer space to interview them so we decide to communicate via e-mail. The actual whereabouts of their spaceship remains a mystery.
"We can't tell you exactly where we are for security reasons but it is based on the NASA Galileo spacecraft with updated modernisation like popcorn machines and chocolate fountains," they inform me. "We have the largest plasma screen you have ever seen."
The band say they do get transported back to North Devon once a week for a rehearsal and attend The Centre of Contemporary Music, a group run by Devon County Council and Devon Youth Music.
"It's a bit like Rock School," they inform me.
At The Centre of Contemporary Music they learn about very early orchestral classical arrangements right through to today's popular styles. They describe their own music though as space rock.
"We like to jump around the ship to space rock music. There are some great things to come out of Venus at the moment."
The band have written two lively songs and have a CD out which can be heard at www.myspace.com/cosmicraygunband. They certainly work hard at their music.
"We are practising some of the earth's most popular songs and writing more originals. We have concert dates booked back on the planet for 2009. We have sent copies of our new mini album to radio stations so we will wait and see."
They are excited about the response of earthlings to their music.
"We have had overwhelming numbers of plays and downloads of our new single from our myspace site. More than 1,500 in two weeks. It's great."
Before they decided to live in outerspace, apparently Tom went to Sticklepath School, Daniel to Caen School and Conor was at Bratton Fleming.
They seem to be enjoying their cosmic lifestyle.
"I think we will all miss Christmas though but our parents are sending us regular food parcels and Father Christmas doesn't live too far away from us so we will be his first call so we are all happy."
What myspace says:
Tom O'Leary, captain of the ship, plays guitar and is lead vocalist. He may appear to be 10 years old but apparently is 350. "He is in contact with Earth frequently and has regular food parcels sent by his parents, as space food turns him bright shades of green and orange."
Mid shipman Daniel Tucker, 10, plays bass guitar and backing vocals. He is said to come from a far away planet across the solar system, transported by a sonic beam hotter than any sun. He has been on board the ship for 10 months.
Communication officer Conor Bellis, 11, plays drums and according to the website: "Wears special sonic x-ray spectacles so he can see straight through you. The boys play games with him by eating strange objects and he has to guess what they are."
● To hear the band's upbeat intergallactic sound for yourself visit www.myspace.com/cosmicraygunband
Comment on this story