A BAND who have played together since secondary school have been crowned best young artists in Europe.

Brother, a four-piece indie pop band formed at Blatchington Mill School in Hove, had to win two rounds in Jar Music Live’s emerging talent contest before going on to perform at the Primo Maggio Festival in Rome.

Twenty-year-old band members George Ireland, the lead singer, lead guitarist Isaac Squires, bassist Ollie Turvey and 19-year-old drummer Owen Beesley played to a crowd of about 80,000.

The festival held in Piazza San Giovanni draws an average crowd of between 80,000 and 100,000 and is broadcast live to millions of viewers.

Owen said: “The festival experience was just amazing, especially getting to go back stage and meet the other acts.

“This was by far our biggest show yet and I know we will all treasure our memories of the day.

“We only got to play one track so we chose to do one of our most catchy songs, called Sea Spray, which was received very well by the audience.

“The festival was interesting because the acts involved were from all over Europe so it was good to hear such a wide variety of styles and languages there.”

The first round of the talent contest was held at Komedia in Brighton and the second in Shoreditch, London.

All rounds needed to be won for the band to be awarded the title of Best Young Artist in Europe.

The band members all attend university in different parts of the country and were up against professional bands during the contest.

The drummer added: “We played with some of the best bands we ever have in Rome.”