Born in Salford and raised on romance, The Lottery Winners can be found pottering somewhere in-between the blithe of the Beach Boys and the suffering of the Smiths. 

The indie-jangle-pop quartet provide a melodramatic blend of momentous melodies, coupled with wistful and insightful lyrics. ‘The songs are the most important thing in the world to me,’ remarks Thomas Rylance, frontman and songwriting force of the band, ‘if they’re ever even a tiny fraction as important to other people, I’ll die a very happy man’. 

The band formed in Leigh, Lancashire, in October 2008. Thomas and Robert were best friends since school. The band  bond would begin almost a second after a ‘Bassist Wanted’ poster was placed on the notice board of ‘Heybrook Music’, Leigh’s only guitar shop. Katie just happened to be in there at that time on that day.

The band was completed when Joe Singleton, drummer, received a phone call from Katie, high-school best friend, insisting that he became a Lottery Winner. After many declinations, he finally agreed. 

‘Being in this band has completely changed my life. I’ve already met a lot of my heroes, and played shows that I’ve never imagined I would. When you’re having a beer with Zane Lowe, you know you’re doing the right thing’, Joe states, ‘I don’t think any of us could comprehend not being in this band and doing what we do, it’s what we love’.

It’s very much the beginning of the journey for The Lottery Winners, who refuse to subscribe to the fifteen minute, ramshackle, faddy band approach to making music, but it is sure to be a long and glorious one.