The Sneaky Treacle Story - aka How to be a Successful Wedding and Events Band.

Ten Years ago this month (19th of July 2014 to be precise) saw the first performance arranged through Hireaband for 4 lads in a wee band with a daft name from the central belt of Scotland.

The gig was at the Sergeants Mess of 45 Commando, Arbroath – a tough crowd, quite literally. The very next day, they headed to Orkney for Stromness shopping week; a gruelling series of bookings which saw them set up and perform 12 times in the space of 6 days.

Their story started with us about 6 months earlier when they first got in touch looking for representation. A brand new band with the scariest looking bass player we’d ever seen. We only took them on because we were concerned about the repercussions if we didn’t.

Our first thoughts were that this band would be too niche, too rocky, too heavy and too reluctant to do what it took to become even remotely bookable. In short, we thought they’d be a difficult bunch to work with. A band that would hate doing weddings, private parties and corporate events – if they could even get a booking in the first place. In the 25 years Hireaband has existed, we’ve never been more wrong.

Sneaky Treacle had two things going for them; first and more than anything else they wanted to entertain; to make people forget their cares even if just for a wee while, to get people dancing, smiling and having a good time. Second, they were prepared to take anything on board that would help them achieve that aim.

Within 6 months they’d recorded new demos (at their own expense I might add), got haircuts and new outfits (again at their own expense), posed for new photos, learned and perfected songs that they’d never considered before, all while having a great laugh doing it. Tommy, the fearsome looking bass player mentioned earlier, turned out to be one of the sweetest and kindest guys I’ve ever met. I still wouldn’t want to spill his pint, but he’d definitely come and visit you in hospital afterwards.

There’s a flow and cohesion, a chemistry that creates a real atmosphere wherever they play thanks in no small part to the quiet man of the band, Matt Clark. Matt’s guitar playing is the melodic glue that flows throughout the band. He stitches everything together seamlessly. He’s also acknowledged by the other lads to be the coolest of them all. They keep him fuelled with coffee (black, no sugar) then step back and let it happen. 

Ten years have passed since that first gig in Arbroath. There’s been one change of personnel in all that time when in 2016 Jon Halliwell, the original drummer, left to tour the world with a massive Freddie Mercury Tribute Band – Gary Mullen’s The Works. He was replaced (on my recommendation) by the superb Stuart Thomson and the band quite literally didn’t miss a beat.

In that ten years, Sneaky Treacle have performed at 906 weddings, umpteen corporate events and private parties, awards ceremonies and festivals. We reckon they’ve entertained well over 250,000 people in that time. They’ve won more awards than you can shake a stick at and earned more than a million pounds between them in the process.

They’ve never been so much as late for a gig, never mind missed one. When Craig, their outrageously talented singer and frontman lost his beloved father very recently, he performed at 4 shows on the trot. He put his personal grief to the side for those few hours and no one was any the wiser except us and the guys in the band who helped him through what must have been an incredibly tough experience. This is a band for whom the phrase ‘The show must go on’ is taken literally.

Whenever a new band joins our roster and they ask us what they need to do to become successful we have a stock answer; copy Sneaky Treacle. They wrote the book on how to succeed in this crazy business.

Surely, after all this success, the boys in the band are hideously arrogant with massive rock n roll egos? After all, they’ve done it all and bought the merchandise, haven’t they? Not a bit of it. They’ve never rested on their laurels but constantly hone their performances to stay at the top. They’ve invested tens of thousands of pounds in the very best of equipment and reliable transport while spending countless hours rehearsing new material.

In short, they’re the ultimate professionals and while we flatter ourselves to think we have the strongest roster of bands available in Scotland with many similar levels of talent and professionalism, there’s none better.

Thanks boys for the last ten years. Your commitment to us and your clients is legendary. You sound better every year and you never cease to amaze us with what you come up with to give our shared clients an unforgettable experience.

Congratulations on ten years at the top. Here’s to many more. Happy birthday pals.

Del Cotton - Heid Honcho at Hireaband

If, after reading this, you have the good sense to see if you can book Sneaky Treacle, click this link to check both availability and cost instantly.