 Born from one of those studio moments when a mess about turns into an interesting jam, Dartz! neatly stumbled onto their skewered punk rock sound by mistake late last year. Instruments were swapped, band members disappeared and the trio began making sweet, dance-inducing music beyond their years. Here's the Dartz! rollcall: Henry! - 21, and a drummer who now plays guitar; Phil! - 18, a guitarist who now plays the drums and sings; Will! - only 17, a bassist who plays the bass like it's a geetar and sings. Oh, and there's the enigmatic and ever-present ! - a masked man who wields a saxophone like it's a machine gun. They like the eclectic sounds of Dismemberment Plan, Minus The Bear, Q And Not U, The Shins, Mates Of State, The Police and Talking Heads but don't sound like any one of the aforementioned acts - they sound like all of them and more. "Teaching Me To Dance was the first song written from the first riff I sat down and played," admits Henry! over a soft drink in a local boozer. "And we'd only been together for two months before we did our first live gig." That was the beginning of the year. Since then, there's been a flurry of shows around Teesside and beyond, including a fantastic opening slot at this summer's Music Live and a rain-baiting turn at Stockton's Riverside Fringe Festival. Things may have got off to a pretty swift start, but Henry! will be the first to admit that Dartz! are not ones to rush into things. "I suppose it's every band's dream to get signed and make music for a living, but we're just going to see how it goes really. We're enjoying playing anywhere and just want to get our music out to anyone who wants to hear it." Many record label scouts pop up at their shows, taking notes and a keen interest. "Yeah, we've had A&R men at our shows, but it's like, 'What are they doing here, really'?" says Phil! "We get talking to these people and they say they're really interested in us, but we don't take too much notice," adds Henry! "They all want us to send out our demos, which we did at first, but then it was getting expensive - and we were just getting lazy!" he confesses. Don't mistake this disclosure as flippancy, though. Dartz! are clearly having too much fun at the minute to take things too seriously. They're also certainly not hanging on any hyperbole surrounding the band at the minute, but there's no denying that the level of interest in Dartz! is growing. Their MySpace account has helped more than 20,000 people listen to their songs - including their foremost Teaching Me To Dance and the quite marvellous Laser Eyes. With all this attention then, it comes as no surprise to find the band heading to Manchester this weekend for two In The City showcase gigs after Generator and Orange hounded the band to join their roster - which also features top Darlo band We Start Fires and Geordie punkers Kubicheck! There, they'll play in front of new fans (and a busload of travelling Teessiders) as well as many of the industry's top dogs who'll be sniffing out The Next Big Thing. With the showcase insiders ranking the Cleveland lads in their list of the country's Top 20 unsigned bands, who knows where Dartz! are going to be a year from now
. "When we started the band last Christmas, I couldn't play guitar and Phil! couldn't play drums," confesses Henry! "Yet nine months later here we are! It's impossible to predict where we'll be next summer. "deally, we'd like to be at the stage to be putting an album out and to do some pretty cool tours. But anything is a bonus on our initial aspirations for the band..." As well as the In The City shows this weekend, Dartz! are touring up and down the country, including a show at the Arc's Unsigned night with Ask My Cat, The Snowfall Report and Motionview Emergency on Thursday. With all this touring, the band must be getting used to the rock'n'roll lifestyle, so cue crates of Jack Daniels and vodka backstage, eh? "We don't like to drink at our shows," admits Phil! - which is just as well, as Will! is still a minor. "We'll usually play anywhere for a bag of apples and a good salad," says Henry! "And Tizer," adds Will! Dartz! grace stages at The Life Café (1pm) and 14 Lloyd Street (7.15pm) in Manchester on Sunday and Arc Unsigned in Stockton on Thursday (8pm). Tickets for the Arc show are £3.50 from the box-office on 01642 525199. Their forthcoming limited edition EP Who Built The Buildings will be available next month on Fake Dreams records. Check out www.dartzisgood.co.uk and stick with Sounds for more info. | 
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