THEY’VE only been together for six months, but New Subjects already look like they are a force to be reckoned with.

The Leigh-based trio, who blend rap, hip hop and indie in a spoken word/guitar/drum format have made it through to the finals of the national Live and Unsigned contest – and have already gained a strong fanbase on their way up. But the band formed almost by accident, after frontman Gary Whitington penned a jokey rap aimed at his pal Johnny Thorpe.

Gary says: “When me and my mate John used to go out, he was always on the fruity machines.

“I said ‘I’m going to write a song about you called Gambling Man’. When he heard it he said, ‘Oh that sounds pretty good. Do you reckon you could do it to this guitar part?’ “I said, ‘Yeah’, and we played it down the Mariners, in Leigh, and everyone really liked it.”

With John singing and playing guitar, and Gary rapping, the pair recruited drummer Matt Richards, but not before Johnny’s sister had entered the band in the Live and Unsigned competition.

“Matt wasn’t even in the band when we entered,” says Gary.

Now New Subjects will take their unique blend of indie and urban to the O2 in London, where they’ll play a set in front of a judging panel of industry experts, including Radio 1’s Annie Nightingale, Ras Kwame, Tom Deacon and Daniel P Carter.

Top prizes include recording time, festival and tour slots and master classes.

“We entered Live and Unsigned, and now we’re playing at the O2,” says Gary. “Which is just pretty mental.

“I still can’t get it into my head that we’re going to be playing at the O2. It still hasn’t really sunk in.”

Gary reckons the secret to their success is their individuality. He says: “John’s got a fantastic voice. Also, I think everyone likes rap now, so anything with rap in, people generally like.

“With us mixing together it just sounds really good. There’s nothing else like it out there which is really good. We’re original.”

New Subjects Bar Lambs, Station Road, Westcliff. Friday, 8.30pm. They play at Indigo2 on July 23. Visit: www.facebook.com/newsubjectsmusic or www.newsubjects.com