Virgin Soldiers are an eclectic group of musicians who share a passion to create innovative music. One of the band’s unique selling points is the incredible rhythm and energy of the songs – achieved without the use of a drum kit – and unable to find a genre to fit their music they created their own, Strock.

2012 looks set to be an exciting year for Virgin Soldiers. In March the band supported McFly at the Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone.  In July they will be supporting Keane in Hastings and in October they will be opening for the legendary Joan Armatrading at the King’s Theatre, Portsmouth.  In February they performed at the Tunbridge Wells Forum as special guests of Steve Cradock, guitarist for Ocean Colour Scene and Paul Weller.  The band also supported Juan Zelada at the same venue in April.

In 2011 the band burst onto the Festival circuit with Main Stage appearances at Lounge On The Farm alongside Ellie Goulding, The Streets and Echo And The Bunnymen; Good Weekend with Art Brut, WORSHIP and Hot Club de Paris and Out Of The Ordinary Festival.  Virgin Soldiers also performed at SkyFest 2011 in Middlesex, a festival featuring Tinie Tempah, Eliza Doolittle and Calvin Harris.

In the same year they released their debut EP which resulted in radio plays on BBC Introducing: The South; BBC Radio Kent; The Beat on BBC Radio Nottingham and numerous local radio stations. The band followed this up with a second EP release in January and are working towards the release of their debut single, Moon Song on August 20th 2012.

The band have appeared at venues all over London including Union Chapel; The Bull & Gate; Water Rats; The Bedford and The Good Ship.  They have also gigged in Brighton, Nottingham, Southampton and Portsmouth and appear regularly in their local area at The Tunbridge Wells Forum.

The band was formed in the summer of 2009 by singer/guitarist/songwriter James Beeny. He had studied piano for three years but eventually his music teacher suggested that his parents might consider saving their money! He was clearly very musical, but quickly became bored with playing set pieces over and over again, preferring to play them in his own original way. Becoming a member of an orchestra was clearly not an option. James borrowed an acoustic guitar and despite his lack of formal training taught himself to play the instrument and started writing music. As an opening batsman for Sussex Second XI, he planned a career as a professional cricketer but in 2009, at the age of 23 he realised that his heart wasn’t in it and that all he really wanted to do was to write and perform music. It was then that he formed Virgin Soldiers.

James liked the idea of using classical instruments to play contemporary music – not just as backing musicians but as an integral part of the band. He had a head full of violin, viola and cello parts but like many self-taught musicians was unable to put the music down on paper. He put an ad in the Wealden Advertiser and received a response from Mike Parkin, a classically trained violinist from Hastings. Mike just happened to pick up the paper and saw the ad. He was able to write down James’ sometimes-unorthodox ideas and together they started gigging in London and the South of England with John Hinchliffe, a viola player, who was at college with Mike, and a part-time girl singer, a bass player and a cellist. In the meantime James worked as a freelance runner for various television companies to finance the band’s equipment and early recording sessions.

In 2010 James asked his good friend James Luke, who played the guitar, if he had ever thought about playing the bass. They had always dreamt about being in a band together and James Luke, who regularly attended Virgin Soldier’s gigs, was keen to give it a try. He quickly mastered the instrument and became the band’s permanent bass player.

As the gigs increased and the band became more serious they began to realise that they needed other permanent members and began to search for a full time girl singer throughout Kent and Sussex. It was during a rehearsal that Mike Parkin happened to mention that he knew the perfect person, Gina Georghiou. Gina had been playing the piano since she was 4 years old but despite her great love for music she was planning an academic career, possibly teaching overseas. But the text she received from James aroused her curiosity and Gina decided to meet up with the band, thinking that they just needed someone for one performance. One gig later Gina made a life-changing decision and joined Virgin Soldiers.

But it wasn’t until 2011 that the line-up was finally complete. James was on his way to work in London and saw Hannah Masson outside Hammersmith train station. Noticing that she was clutching a large cello shaped case he plucked up the courage to approach her and asked her if she had ever thought about joining a band. Fortunately Hannah, who is an accomplished cellist, loved the idea and she too joined Virgin Soldiers. All they needed now was a permanent viola player and numerous phone calls to teachers across the south-east of England finally paid dividends when the band was put in touch with Georgia Morrison, a viola player at the Royal Academy. Georgia became the final piece of the puzzle. The band has created its own identity, playing the music that began in James Beeny’s imagination, and produces the sound that is now uniquely Virgin Soldiers.