‘The Strays’ have built up a strong following in Gloucestershire in recent years. Known for their high energy performances, the band are looking to build on the success of 2018, a year that has seen the Cheltenham-based band earn plenty of plaudits for their crowd-pleasing performances.

With recent gigs at the Witney Music Festival and a headline performance at Cheltenham’s Summer Jam event, the band are enjoying a real breakthrough year and lead singer Estelle Chamberlain is certainly enjoying the extra attention that comes with their increased popularity. She said: “We’ve had a really hectic summer so far, it’s been an amazing few months. We’ve performed pretty much every weekend, it’s been very busy but at the same time a whole lot of fun. We played at the Lechlade Festival earlier this summer which was a great experience, the crowd were great, and the atmosphere was really positive. We were invited to several other festivals and we’ve also been playing at some great pubs and music venues across the county as well.”

The band’s recent performances have caught the eye of many astute musical judges here in Gloucestershire, with two awards finding their way onto Estelle’s mantelpiece. Estelle continued: “2018 has been an amazing year for us. We managed to win the Tadstock Battle of the Bands and we were voted best band at Sounds of The Cotswolds 2018. All the hard work that we’ve put in is starting to show, everyone in the band is very excited for what lies ahead. There’s so many great music festivals here in Gloucestershire that we’d love to play so the awards are very helpful in increasing our profile. It means a lot to get recognised.”

Estelle is joined in the band by Sam Cordery, Gary Chamberlain and Krisztian Jakab and the flamboyant lead singer says her band mates complement each other well. She continued: “Our current line-up has been in place for nine months, we welcomed our new bassist, Krisztian, into the band at the start of the year. We all enjoy each other’s company and love getting on stage and performing.

“I’m the sort of person who loves to get in amongst the crowd. I love performing and interacting with the audience. If I’m not having a great time and dancing about I can’t expect everyone else to, that’s how I view playing live. I want us to be a band where everyone can get involved and feel part of our performance.”

As well as performing most weekends the band recently found time to record a video for one of their new singles. Estelle added: “The video was shot at The Playhouse Theatre in Cheltenham. It’s for one of the tracks on our EP called ‘Go Go Boy’ which we’re really excited about. We love what we do, we just want to carry on writing songs, performing and hopefully we’ll continue to be asked to play at all the amazing venues, both here in Gloucestershire and further afield.”