BBC Introducing The Lost Soldiers

The band supported the Coral during the TT festival in 2008

The Lost Soldiers have picked up a loyal local fan base, using social networking sites to promote their gigs.

In July 2008 they thrilled when they were asked to support The Coral during the TT festival in Douglas.

More recently success came when they appeared in the line up at the Mannifest Music and Film Garden party at the Nunnery.

It was their biggest gig so far and lead singer Marc Preistnal said it inspired the band to do more shows.

"We always promote our gigs on Facebook, as long as we do it in good time we usually get loads of people coming along. The social networking sites are really good to get the word out there.

Marc Preistnal guitar and vocals for The Lost Soldiers, Isle of Man

Social networking

"We are lucky because we have a lot of friends and they have always been interested in our music. They support us and come along to gigs. A lot of the other bands on the Island are starting to come along to watch us too.

"We are definitely inspired by Oasis but because we are a three-piece we have a very different sound. You could probably compare us to a few bands but I don't think we sound like anyone in particular."

All three members of The Lost Soldiers live near to each other which makes rehearsing relatively easy.

There have been a lot of changes for the group over the years but the current line-up is the happiest combination so far.

"Everything is spot on at the moment," said Marc.

"We are all really happy with the line-up because it works. When we made our demo CD we gave it out to our friends and the next gig was amazing because people were actually singing along to the songs. That felt amazing!

Simon Gilman, bass and vocals for the Isle of Man's Lost Soldiers

"To learn an instrument is one of the greatest things you can do. Every time I see someone playing an instrument I am impressed. I think it's amazing. The first time I picked up a guitar I was in school.

"If I'm honest, I took it up to get out of English lessons but I just fell in love with playing.

"It's weird when you play a gig because you can't really hear how it sounds. You have to watch the audience closely to get an idea of how you are coming across. It's like listening to your music from the outside in."

The band have recently been recording together and hope to release an EP of five songs which will be made available locally and online.