A short way up for Vienna Ditto

By Linda Serck
BBC Berkshire reporter

Hatty Taylor is a second year photography student

Vienna Ditto from Reading have enjoyed a meteoric rise since being supported by BBC Introducing.

Since winning the demo panel on BBC Radio Berkshire in April 2009 the trio have played Glastonbury for the BBC and recorded a BBC Maida Vale session.

They're now gearing up to play at a music show for the soap Hollyoaks and have been hailed as ones to watch in Q music magazine.

Vienna Ditto release their single A Long Way Down on Monday 14 November.

"We don't really have any rules"

When Nigel Firth and Scott Lawrence were enjoying underground cult fame with 90s indie band Riser, young Hatty Taylor was still an infant.

It is however a winning combination between the 20-year-old photography student and the two musicians, who formed Vienna Ditto from the ashes of their previous band One Dollar Peep Show.

Nigel Firth was formerly in Reading cult band Riser

"I think we're different because we don't really have any rules but we've got style," says Hatty.

"I also think there's a lot of layer in the work. Nigel is a very talented musician and really gets music".

She adds: "Although I've had a bit of training I don't have any deep knowledge of melodies or structures so you get a mix of knowledge and naivety - experienced music with a really raw quality."

"I find it utterly 'rabbit-in-headlights-esque'"

Within a year the Reading indie rockabilly trio have managed to unleash their cool sultry sound onto various national and local BBC radio stations as well as the BBC Introducing Glastonbury stage.

Watch Vienna Ditto on the Glastonbury BBC Introducing stage

They recently recorded a Maida Vale session that will be broadcast on Tom Robinson's show on Sunday 15 November 2009 to tie in with their single release the day before.

"It was quite intimidating to start off with," says Nigel of recording at the famous studios, "I'd been expecting a small studio but it was actually big room with loads of lights, those cameras on little train tracks, a plaque commemorating Bing Crosby's last session that was recorded there and suchlike.

"The filming and sound people were all lovely though and put us right at ease.

"We rattled off a clutch of tunes, it was a bit mad having all these people paying such close attention to you. I find it utterly 'rabbit-in-headlights-esque'."

Hollyoaks music show

Vienna Ditto are now scaling the dizzy heights of TV music shows with an appearance on the Hollyoaks Music Show as one of nine unsigned acts who could win the chance to perform on the soap.

"Yeah that's nuts," says Nigel about being chosen to perform. "I sent them an MP3 for their competition and then forgot all about it.

Vienna Ditto chatted to Tom Robinson playing Maida Vale

"So when the producer phoned up and said we were on the shortlist I was desperately trying to remember what it was supposed to be for."

The band are recording their set on Saturday November 7 2009, at a random location on the Hollyoaks set in Liverpool, and will be broadcast on Channel 4 in the same month.

"The viewing public votes for which unsigned band they liked best," says Nigel, "and that band plays on an episode of the proper Hollyoaks. It'll be utterly surreal."

You can vote for Vienna Ditto by joining their mailing list here.

Single launch night

Vienna Ditto are holding a single launch party on Saturday 14 November 2009 at Plug 'n' Play, Milford Road, Reading with in support Reading duo MidiMidis and New York's Aluminum Babe.

From that date mailing list members can download the single, A Long Way Down, for free for a month.