MUSICIANS AJ Mayhew and Paul Carroll are on the hunt for up-and-coming young talent to be a part of the town’s biggest music festival.

Building on the success of the first SMF Fest in May, which replaced SN1 Fest, the duo are keen for new blood to seize the opportunity to perform at next year’s event.

They are looking for aspiring DJs, singers, MCs, dancers and acoustic artists, to name a few, to be part of the all-day festival at the Boston Brothers nightclub in the town centre over the May Bank Holiday.

“SMF this year was really successful, we had a lot of great talent and the formula works,” said AJ, 31.

“But what we found difficult was trying to get the newer and younger musicians on-board.

“When we were growing up there were loads of DJs and dancers but there doesn’t seem to be as many now or they are not putting themselves out there.

“I remember when I was 15 to 20-odd going to parties I would grab the microphone at any opportunity. I don’t know if it is a case of there isn’t the hunger for it now or it’s just because we are not in that younger community.”

This year’s event saw a variety of music from 100 artists perform drum and bass, hip-hop and more. The club had various rooms with different music genres and hundreds of people danced the day away into the early hours of the morning.

AJ and Paul want the event to be a platform to bring the town together to show-off talented musicians.

And despite the festival being more than six months away, they are already busy with preparations to make sure it is a treat to the ears and eyes once again. They are also delighted SN1 Cars will be sponsors for next year's event too.

AJ added: “It’s a good event and a big opportunity for someone who maybe hasn’t played before. We want to get students from the dance academies and we want it to be a showcase of all the Swindon talent, new to old.

“I definitely think there are bedroom DJs and with SMF Fest we put in all the production, sound and lighting to help them.

“Our key focus is to also get more people there in the day. There is so many talent and it is a whole day of music.

“This is one event that brings so many different people together under one roof.”

Anyone interested in getting involved should email AJ or Paul at swindonmusicfestival@gmail.com or search Swindon Music Festival on Facebook. They hope to announce the line-up in the new year.