Forster born and bred alternative rockers Mild West are champing at the bit to take the stage.

Guitarist and singer Liam Bell said the band is “extremely excited” to perform to their hometown crowd.

“As Forster locals it’s always great for us to see these kinds of events happening so close to home, especially given the calibre of the artists that are making an appearance this time around.

“We have attended GYO since it began and love the way it brings the community together, so to play a bigger role in that now is amazing,” Liam said.

Mild West will take to the stage with the likes of DMA’s, The Preatures and fellow Great Lakes product Holly Rankin (Jack River). 

“It’s always both incredible and humbling to share the stage with such epic performers,” Liam said.

“It really pushes us to strive and improve as a band. Not to mention the fact that once we’re done we get to listen to some amazing music, which is always a plus.”

GYO won’t be their first foray into the festival scene as they’ve rocked Port Macquarie’s Festival of the Sun (FOTSUN) and Byron Bay’s Falls Festival in recent years.  

“They were two of the best shows we’ve done to date, partially because of the high standard of the venues and equipment, but mostly due to how much energy these kinds of festival crowds give back to you,” Liam said.

“We’ve also played a few smaller scale festivals which are usually heaps of fun as well.”

The band has used Triple J Unearthed to showcase their music to the masses.

“It was actually through Unearthed that we were chosen to play at FOTSUN 2017, so that has obviously been a big perk of using that platform,” Liam said. 

“It’s great that such a large- scale forum exists for unsigned artists to freely showcase their music.”

The band was born from Liam’s solo recording project he had worked on while studying.

The trio started creating songs, experimenting with sounds and ways to perform before their live debut in Forster on April 15, 2017. 

Liam said is is near impossible to name all the influences on the band. 

“There are honestly too many to name, and it changes quite regularly.

“We all listen to a lot of music from a broad variety of genres, and each plays a subtle role in shaping our sound.

“The artists that have played the biggest direct role would probably be Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, and Foals, but there are countless others that have influenced us in less obvious ways,” Liam said. 

The band finished recording their second EP, titled Only Sleep, in late 2018.

It will be released this year with a new single.

“This record is much more ambitious than our first release, and will hopefully showcase our sonic evolution over the past year,” Liam said.