AN up and coming North-East band are preparing for a UK tour after being signed by a Miami-based label.

The Silence, made up of brother and sister, Max and Livvy Griffiths, as well as friends Liam Slack, 21, Guy Taylor, 24, and Nathan Keightley, 21, have been together for four years after forming the band in their early teens.

The Griffiths siblings, of Westerton Village, near Bishop Auckland, grew up being inspired by their rocker dad, Paul Griffiths, who now manages the band.

He explained how his children have always been musical but didn’t cross paths until Miss Griffiths, 19, joined her brother’s band after coming back from studying musical theatre in London.

“Max had a school band doing local gigs round the pubs and Livvy was doing a lot of acting and musical theatre in the West End for a couple of years but she came back when she was 14 or 15 just at the time Max needed someone so that’s how it all started,” he said.

“They toured in local pubs and then went out to Europe and they ended up in Spain.

“On a day off they went to a concert in a bull ring to see Duran Duran but they cancelled so the band blagged their way into their spot with 8,000 spectators.

“A Miami label spotted them and within six months they were singed which is great.”

The band was signed by Awesome Records at the end of 2012 and are about to release their fourth single, called Weekends, in June.

They haven’t forgotten their roots though with Miss Griffiths explaining how the band still works from the family home.

“When I came back and joined the band I realised it was where my heart was,” Miss Griffiths said.

And it seems working with her 20-year-old brother is not too bad either.

“It’s just like anything really, we do still have our little moments as brothers and sisters do but we write music together and that’s a really intimate thing,” she added.

“We have definitely grown since we first started out but we are a pop rock band and feel solid as a band now.”

The band is set to return to the county for a performance in July as part of their UK tour.

Offering advice for young musicians, Miss Griffiths said: “If you are really hungry for it and have the patience and drive and talent then you have got to get back on and keep going for it,” she said.

For more information visit soundcloud.com/thesilenceuk