Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

City indie-rockers Aeroplane are hoping to fly high with the release of their first album, titled Wishstar, on Monday, 21 April, 2008.

The four-piece - made up of singer Nigel Harris, bassist Simon Taylor, drummer Ady Blyth and guitarist Marcus Nunn - have spent a year working on the record, which is being distributed across the country by Norwich label NRONE Records.

"It feels like the end, but hopefully it's just the start of something as we go out and do loads of gigs to help promote it," said Nigel, who worked as a recording engineer and producer for six years at Purple Studios and now owns an audio company.

The album's title track has already been picked as Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Norfolk's record of the week from Monday, 28 April and has been broadcast to thousands of listeners across the county and beyond.

Sellout gig

The band's headline gig to launch the album at Norwich Arts Centre on 2 April was a sellout and has been the boys' highlight so far.

"The experience of selling out a concert and playing in front of people who all really seemed to enjoy it was great," said Simon, who also plays bass for local band Cutback.

"Having that many people turn up to see us was really good and a good start to the album," added Nigel.

Aeroplane are now working towards booking gigs around the country to support the release of their record and hope to head out on tour later in the year, with dates in Europe the next step in their promotion plans.

Tough decisions

With a diverse range of influences, from The Police through to Longview and The Foo Fighters, choosing what songs to record hasn't always been a harmonious process.

"I always like the initial stage of the writing," said Nigel, a self-confessed control freak. "Even now with the boys in the band, they help a lot more with the arrangement and the more musical part but the song will come from me.

"I tend to put a demo together and let the rest of the band hear it, they will then come up with their own individual bits, and we'll have a huge fight," he laughed.

Despite the occasional row, the band have managed to keep their friendship intact and buoyed up by their sellout gig, they're already thinking about their follow-up record and how they'll approach it.

"We're looking forward to the next album because we'll probably approach it completely differently and lock ourselves in a rehearsal studio somewhere and just try and see what happens," said Nigel.

Wishstar is available from all the main digital sites and at myspace.com/aeroplanerock

Listen to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Norfolk Introducing between 7 and 8pm on Fridays on 95.1, 95.6 and 104.4FM and online and for seven days after broadcast here at bbc.co.uk/norfolk