When four local lads started strumming away in a small dusty garage in November 2006 little did they realise that soon they would be whisked away like rock stars to headline a gig in far-away Dubai.
But that’s exactly what happened to the Priory School friends just two years after forming as they entertained a packed audience in the five-star Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
It all started during a house party in Copthorne when lead guitarist Matt Smith, 28, and vocalist Ben Jones, 24, were sat with a group of friends as they took it in turns to play the guitar.
The band by the River Severn
Matt said: “Ben just started singing and it was amazing, the whole room went quiet and when he finished I said: ‘Right, you’ve got to be in my band’.” And Bad Hair Day was formed.
After teaming up with drummer Dominic Owen and Ben Deegan, both 27, the boys started to practise songs in a garage at the bottom of a garden which was so small that they had to play acoustically as no equipment would fit in the building.
They then rented studios in Harlescott once a week paying up to £40 an hour as the newly formed group tried to find their niche. Their sound has now become famous locally for playing anything from Abba to Girls Aloud and the Beatles to Kings of Leon – an upbeat covers band playing literally anything.
“It was a real struggle to get out there at first because you’ve got to prove yourself and no-one knows you or thinks you are any good initially,” said Matt.
“But a couple of pubs gave us a chance and it just spiralled from there. The word got out, we got a bit of a following and suddenly people were booking us.”
The band has now already played over 160 gigs in places such as Shrewsbury’s Greenhous Meadow stadium, Rowton Castle, Osfest, Hawkstone Park and The Severn Cellars.
But easily the most surreal experience was when a man approached them after a gig at the Boathouse pub and asked them if they would play for 500 people at Dubai College as part of a 30th anniversary celebration.
Needless to say the band accepted straight away, and they jetted off on an all-expenses paid trip to headline the college gig – in the shadow of the famous seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel.
Matt added: “It was just an unbelievable experience and a totally different world from when we started out in a garden garage.
“We were all on the plane just laughing because we still couldn’t believe it and it was like a schoolboy dream being fulfilled even though when I left school I couldn’t even play the guitar.
“It’s absolutely fantastic getting out on that stage – it’s the best buzz ever. I know it sounds cheesy but you reach your own little utopia on stage which can’t be beaten.”
He puts the band’s rise in popularity down to the vast array of upbeat music they play which caters for every age group and reflects the down-to-earth nature of the group.
“We haven’t been signed up yet and don’t hold up much hope of getting a deal because of the kind of music we play but we just want to keep entertaining people while the crowds are still there and we are actually toying with the idea of entering one of these reality TV shows. Who knows?”
For a band which has accomplished so much in so little time all you can say is…watch this space.
Find Bad Hair Day at www.facebook.com/pages/Bad-Hair-Day/97956096924
By David Seadon