San Harbor

San Harbor is a band from The Wirral in Merseyside. It forms in May 2009 and has a line-up of Michael Sheldon on vocals and rhythm guitar, Richard Barbour on vocals and lead guitar, Jamie Sturgess on bass guitar and Tom Longman on drums. All four members attend the same high school, although in different years.

Formation and early development

The band begins when Michael Sheldon and Richard Barbour discuss forming a group while Sheldon is on leave from the Royal Marines. Barbour has previously played in a cover band, but in San Harbor he uses his guitar skills for original songs written by himself and Sheldon. The pair start jamming in Sturgess’s spare room and record different tracks they have written separately over the years. Sturgess, who has not played bass before, starts learning the instrument so he can join the group, and after a few weeks he is playing bass lines on most of the songs. Barbour then contacts Tom Longman, who has played drums in jam sessions before, and the band chooses him after their first studio session because of his self-taught style.

Recording and live work

San Harbor quickly completes a large amount of written material and rehearses one day a week at weekends while Sheldon is away with the Marines during the week. The band then records a six-track demo in October 2009 with Mike Johnson, a studio producer who has worked with Joy Division and New Order, with the session completed over one weekend. Their first gig comes after four months of writing and refining their set, when they headline the Masque (Barfly) Club in Liverpool.

They soon play their second gig at the Zanzibar Club in Liverpool, where they are also asked to support Andy McKee on his UK tour. They continue to perform at the Zanzibar Club and at other venues in Liverpool and Wirral. The band is also booked for the Sunset Festival in May 2010 and is due to support Stephen Dale Petit at the O2 Academy in Liverpool on 19 July 2010. They plan to return to the studio to record more tracks in early August.

Style

The group’s sound is described as hard to categorise, drawing on a wide range of influences to create its own style.