The Mosaics drifted together and began rehearsing seriously as a band in November 2004 after a year of 'talking about it'. Dan 23, Steve 24, and Dave 23, all became part of a group of mates on a 2 year Music Production course at their hometown Newcastle College and soon realised the potential of one another as musicians. It wasn't until Dan's older brother Ben 27, took up bass, and convinced the lads it was a great idea that they began to take it seriously.
"I had never met the other lads, but Dan was writing his first songs at the time and I knew he had mates at college that could play…There was just a bass player needed", Ben explains.
Steve had been drumming since the age of 10, while Dave was stealing his dad's guitar from an early age in order to learn his favourite Oasis songs. Ben learnt music from the age of 16 as a clarinet/saxophonist in orchestra's and big band jazz groups while Dan learnt from his brother and did the same on trumpet from the age of 12. A far cry from what was to come.
"We were all broke at the time, the idea was that we could make a bit of cash if we learnt 25 songs. We got so bored of learning other people's music though that one day we just decided to play and write our own", says Dave.
Days and nights of rehearsing followed in a factory rented by Steve's friend of the family, who owned a printing company. It was here where the band really began to develop their sound and the songs began to flow.
"The factory was brilliant for us, we spent hours there…playing as loud as we liked, kicking a football around and taking trips to the nearby 24 hour Asda for beer and grub", Dan explains.
It wasn't long until The Mosaics began to make a real impression at gigs and attracted rave reviews and comparisons to bands like U2, Coldplay and Jeff Buckley around the North East. Their Debut E.P 'Runner' was released in December 2005 and has gone on to shine with many features on North East radio stations Metro and BBC Newcastle. They were selected from a record number of national entries for the 2006 Jack Daniels Unsigned Set, held in London, and came out winners in the event ahead of many top unsigned bands.
Steve explains: "We're just really proud of our stuff. We're not trying to be the next this or that, just trying to write songs that we love"
Artist biography from Discogs