A MOVE to the capital has paid off for a Coniston man and his Furness band who have signed their second record deal.

Guitarist and second vocals with Gear, Dan Colagiovanni is just waiting for the imminent release of the band's second single A.K.A Butcher and a big gig at the infamous Islington venue The Rope and Anchor.

Describing the group as "British punk/grunge/rock with an ironic twist" the group are Pete Mills, bass; Dominic Gooding, drums; and Ross Matheson, vocals.

Dan cut his musical teeth at 14 while playing with Coniston school band Wax Lyrical before forming Gear with fellow students "who were on the same wavelength" at Barrow Sixth Form College.

After finishing their A-levels the band upped and left for London. Unlike many before them the move paid off and, shortly after recording demos at Paul Weller's studio - their manager was Paul's sister, they were snapped up by indie label DirtE Records.

"Two years ago we moved down to London to see if we could get a record deal," said Dan. "It took three months. We were signed up for a one-single deal at the end of 2001. I was surprised at how long it took."

At the beginning of this year the band signed a two-single, two-album deal with the same label and have released their first record James Bond (song for a psycho).

These boys are serious about their music and have just joined Coda music agency whose books boast the likes of Asian Dub Foundation and Radiohead.

"The band is the be all and end all for us. We are very pleased with how things are going and hopefully this year we'll get to play at Glastonbury."

But, despite the band's promising future, Dan said the band still miss home. "It's quite lonely in London. Everybody here has got an agenda and there's no communication. We miss back home and visit our families but there just aren't the opportunities there."

A.K.A Butcher is released in six weeks time. For more details log on to http://www.gearsflyingcircus.com

May 1, 2003 11:00