WATCH: Isles rockers appeal for support in online competition

Members of a local metal band are calling on the Shetland community to support them in their quest to secure a spot on the bill of a major music festival.

Quantana – comprised of Neil Preston, Dwayne Davies, James Johnson, Stuart Donald and Harley Gear – have already beaten off competition from hundreds of other acts to reach the second round of voting.

Now the group are tantalisingly close to securing a slot at the Camden Rocks festival in London, alongside the likes of Feeder and The Coral.

With over 20,000 votes cast in the first round overall drummer Davies said that it was “the support of the Shetland community” that had allowed the band to secure a spot in the top 50, alongside groups with “ten times the folk following them online.”

Hunter & The Bear, who have supported Eric Clapton and will be playing in Shetland later this year, are just one of the notable names vying for the coveted spot on the bill.

But this has not deterred the band, who believe that with the “help of the Shetland public” they can win the chance to break into the music scene in a way not often open to Shetland acts.

“You’re very limited with what you can do up here”, Davies said.

“There’s the cost of getting off of isle and with three of us being on shift it’s hard to arrange shows south. A festival is an amazing chance for us.”

And the group have form on their side in online competitions. In 2014 they entered another online competition, this time for the Download festival in Donnington.

Despite entering weeks late the metalcore band just narrowly missed out on playing at the UK’s biggest rock and metal festival, coming second overall.

• To vote for Quantana visit – http://woobox.com/u98oib/isok3s
Voting is open until Monday 24th April and can be done once a day.