WHEN Northwich alternative-indie band Pacific played their sold-out headline gig at The Salty Dog in High Street in January, many were tipping 2019 to be a big year for the four-piece. And the five months that have followed since then have not disappointed.

With several sell-out gigs and radio appearances, including an interview and acoustic set on XS Manchester and a live 30-minute on-air set on BBC Introducing, the band, who now live together in Manchester, have been making waves so far this year.

Northwich Guardian:

Now the band, made up of Kingsmead brothers Anthony (lead singer and pianist) and Daniel Orzel (bass guitarist), along with Northwich guitarist Dave Bithell and Warrington drummer Drew Burns, are hoping to kick on this summer, after winning a national competition to play at the prestigious Y Not Festival in Lincoln on the last weekend of July.

They’ll join the likes of Foals, Two Door Cinema Club and Elbow on the line-up, but are yet to find out when their slot is.

Whatever stage Pacific find themselves on, former St Nicholas High student Anthony says it will be a huge opportunity to make themselves known on a national level.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have won the public vote to play Y Not Festival this year,” Anthony said.

Northwich Guardian:

“It’s been an ambition of ours for a while now so it’s definitely a proud moment. The momentum has been high ever since the Northwich and Manchester sell out gigs earlier this year, and we can’t wait to join some really great bands at the festival.

“We’ve always wanted to play Y Not Festival. We’ve played festivals in the past such as Liverpool International Festival and Rochdale Feel Good Festival, but this one is definitely the biggest. And it’s just good to say that as a band we’ve a public vote out of so many bands, it’s humbling.

“We got shortlisted out of thousands who apply. You apply on the website and out of the thousands that apply, it gets cut down to a few hundred. Then it goes to a public vote and the winner gets a guaranteed slot at Y Not Festival.

“The exact time and stage is yet to be decided, but last year the winner got to open the main stage, so that would be really good if we got that slot.”

Northwich Guardian:

Y Not Festival has been used a springboard for many bands that have gone onto achieve great things in the past, and Anthony named a couple that the band are aiming to emulate.

He added: “You get a lot of agents and managers coming to these festivals so it’s a great opportunity for us in that regard as well as being able to play in front of a lot of music fans who haven’t seen us before.

“The likes of The 1975 and Bastille played at Y Not Festival and have said that playing that festival was like the turning point for them, so we’re really hoping that it can have that same effect for us.”

Pacific’s following has been gathering momentum in recent months, and Anthony says it’s largely down to a lot of new music being released and a positive reaction from fans.

“This year we’re releasing a lot of new music but we’re kind of drip feeding it,” Anthony said.

Northwich Guardian:

“In the past we’ve released singles several months apart and you lose the momentum, so this year we’ve been putting a new single out every eight weeks or so and it’s been going really well.

“We feel like it’s a good way to keep our fans interested and to nurture new fans as well. It’s very DIY these days. A label can only do so much, so you have to do it all yourself in terms of getting your music out there and building a following. Record labels are now looking for bands that have done it all themselves, they’ve got a following of fans and are pretty independent.”

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The band’s latest single, Bottle This Love, was released last Friday and has received a great reaction over the past week.

Anthony said: “We released Bottle This Love last Friday and so far so good. We’ve had a lot of good reviews and it seems to have gone down the best out of our recent singles so we’re really pleased with it.”