“It has to be 2011.” That’s what Ivyrise singer, songwriter and founding member Ben Falinski decided at the start of 2010. He had already steered his band to notable independent success, scoring Top 10 hits on the indie charts and even playing to stadium audiences, but his has always been a passion that refuses to be confined. So he changed everything. He kept his best songs, threw the rest out, and wrote more; switched up his band, and stopped when he got to the perfect combination of Dan Tanner (guitar/vocals), Mark Nagle (bass) and Josh Key (drums). It had to be just right.

Together they blagged and grafted and self-promoted their way through 2010 and, as a result, much as Ben had hoped, 2011 really is Ivyrise’s year. Most impressively of all, at a point when half the music industry seems to be desperate to sign a record deal and the other half seems hell-bent on proving how fantastic it is to be independent, Ivyrise found their own sweet spot right in the middle. Signing an innovative new fan-funded deal with My Major Company, Ivyrise can further develop their own sound, style and massive fanbase, with the freedom to explore Falinski’s creative vision, while also hitting huge new audiences and building on the incredible emotional link they have with existing fans.

The first step is anthemic single ‘Line Up The Stars’, a bold, buzzy statement of intent bursting with chugging riffs and skyscraping melodies. Written and co-produced by the band, the single’s a powerful opening volley for a band hungry and passionate about every aspect of what lies ahead. Obviously, hunger and passion count for the square root of sod all if the tunes are no good, but this is of little concern to Ivyrise. At the time of writing the band are about to hit the studio with Jason Perry (Kids In Glass Houses, The Blackout, McFly) to polish up the sackful of demos that form Ivyrise’s debut album. If you don’t like thinking big turn away now, because this is a band for whom everything is a little epic: they specialise in widescreen stadium rock with radio-friendly hooks so well-honed you’d think they’d been stockpiling them for years. In some instances, that’s not far off the case: Ben has devoted most of his adult life to songwriting, having stumbled across this passion in his teens when his mother fell ill. “I decided I wanted to write songs for my mum,” he recalls. “And I’d get frustrated that I couldn’t. And then one day it clicked.” For a year he’d spend every lunchtime at school locked in the music room writing songs, and he still writes endlessly today. “I won’t write one song a session,” he admits. “I’ll write fifteen then bin thirteen and concentrate on what’s left. It’s an obsession.”

It’s an obsession that, in the last few years, has  proved contagious. Ivyrise’s self-released singles ‘Tips’ and ‘Disguise’ both sold well enough to hit the charts and the band even supported Bon Jovi on their Lost Highway tour. But self-releasing isn’t always quite as rosy as it’s cracked up to be - when it comes to putting out your own music Ivyrise have been there, done that and phoned around for a quote on printing up the t-shirt - and Falinski knew that Ivyrise had to get to the next level. “I wrote down a plan,” he recalls.

“The big question was, ‘how do we keep functioning as a band and stay afloat financially? We looked at our plan and we knew that getting a record deal instantly wasn’t going to happen. We knew there’d have to be sacrifices, we knew it’d be hard work, but we came up with an idea.”

And that was? &ldq