A love for music nurtured from primary school in Donington is partly powering a highly touted up and coming band.
Leah Stanhope is one of the quartet congratulations (It’s styled with a small c).
Iggy Pop is already a fan and played them on his BBC 6Music show while they were also listed in influential website Drowned in Sound’s list of ‘live acts every music fan should see in 2025’.
They’ve also supported Hard-Fi and The Wytches.
It’s all a long way from Donington Cowley Endowed Primary School.
“I started music at primary school,” said Leah “I moved to Lincolnshire from Nottinghamshire in the first year of primary school and the head teacher there was really into music. We had like three lessons a week and all this opportunity just inspired me.
“That wouldn’t have happened without the move to Lincolnshire.”
Leah initially learned guitar before taking on other instruments, including recorder and playing bass in the school band.
She also has a fantastic voice and getting her first part in a school musical at Boston Grammar School inspired her to apply to do music with Boston College.
“I didn’t think I’d do very well but I ended up getting the top marks possible,” she continued. “It led to me doing a serious vocal course at university in Brighton.”
That’s where she met her congratulations band mates.
After being in bands that weren’t going anywhere, Leah says she felt depressed until her bandmates, guitarist Jamie Chellar, bassist Greg Burns and drummer James Gillinham, inspired each other shortly after the lockdowns.
For the past few years they’ve been writing and honing their songs and shows, something that’s culminated in them being signed by renowned indie label Bella Union, set up by members of cult band Cocteau Twins.
The band describe their sound as ‘gay old songs’ ‘think girl/boy centred vocal, eccentric fuzzed guitars lying on a bed of break beats and thunderous bass’ the congratulations website www.congratulationsband.com says.
They’ve become known for their energetic shows to match their colourful, vibrant music that rarely stays in the same place for long.
“It’s a bit alt-rock, very alt-pop, we put a bit in from every genre really,” said Leah. “Every song is written differently and we like to write bits for each other.
“Experimentation is very important to us musically and to see what we can come up with basically from just messing around.”
Leah was speaking as congratulations were driving to their next gig in Angers, France and they’ve played gigs in Finland and Germany.
They’ve released several singles and the Slap EP.
Their latest single and video Get 2 Me came out two weeks ago and they’ll be honing tracks live ahead of a debut album they hope to have out before the end of the year.
“We’re doing everything our selves,” Leah continues. “It’s all very DIY, not because it’s cool to do that, but because we don’t have the money to do it. We don’t have a choice.
“The first goal is to be making enough money to make it as a career first.
“We all still have jobs in various shops and we’re getting to the stage and we’d all like to step back from work
“We’re getting to the stage where we need to take more time off so the first aim is to make it sustainable.”
