THE teenage members of Hunter band Midway have described their surprise Triple J success as "surreal".
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The debut from the band - whose members are Jordan Snowden, Zack Forsythe, Jacob Armit and Connor Galvin - Hero is number one on the Unearthed High chart and number three on the overall Unearthed chart.
"It's absolutely amazing - I haven't had a minute to sit and take it in yet, but we're rapt," Jordan, 16, said.
"It's incredibly surreal and I don't think it's hit me yet," Jacob,15, said.
"It's a great feeling having people you don't know really liking it.
"We're sitting at around 450 downloads, it shot up from around 100 overnight.
"It's one thing for people to listen, but it's another for people to want to keep it and listen again."
Zack, 15, said he hadn't expected it to appear on any charts at all.
The band submitted the song on July 12. It's been played 870 times and been given a 4.5 star rating.
Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Jordan and drummer Zack attend St Paul's Catholic College Booragul and formed a duo last year, before asking Maitland High student Connor to join them as a bassist.
Jordan and Zack decided at the start of this year to enter Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Schools Office creative and performing arts program ASPIRE's songwriting competition and asked St Mary's Gateshead student Jacob to join them as lead guitarist.
"I had the idea for a riff but nothing to go with it," Jordan said.
"It took me a while to think of the first line but it was easy to write once I started.
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"Hero is about someone helping you through a difficult situation."
They brought the song to a workshop with Golden Guitar nominee Bob Corbett. It was chosen as one of five to be recorded.
The band, minus Connor, headed to Tommirock Studios in May to work with engineer Mitta Norath.
"I was really happy with the chorus, but not as happy with the verses," Jordan said.
"We actually asked for a track with no vocals so we could rerecord them later.
"It wasn't until we started piecing it all together that I was impressed with it."
Midway is now preparing to release Hero on other platforms.
They will perform the song in Wheeler Place before each performance of Aspire - from Wednesday to Saturday - and a recording of it will be played in the production.
They will also perform at Lake Macquarie Superboats on October 19.
They have another three songs ready for release and Jacob said the band was focused on booking more gigs and earning enough money to cover the related costs.
Jordan said it was more enjoyable writing and playing music with friends than by himself, while Jacob said he relished seeing practice pay off and feeding off each other's energy.
Zack said he liked playing to a supportive crowd.
Helen Gregory
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
