Swindon musician and voiceover artist Lee Chamberlain moved to Spain to follow his heart - he had fallen in love with a Spanish girl, and now his band have won through to the semi finals of a national battle of the bands.

Alpha Circle, based in Madrid, were voted 17th in a vote by the public in the Vodafone YU Battle of the Bands, and are now hoping to go up against a panel of judges from Vodafone. Lee said: “We will play Tricky our new single if we quality for the live panel.’’

If Alpha Circle win through to the top three they will receive a record deal, money, promotion, their song used for a show on Fox, and they will get to perform at three music festival throughout Spain.

Lee is the grandson of former Swindon Town footballer Peter Chamberlain, who played for Town in 1955, and is in the Guinness Book of Records for being the first left half to score five goals against Crystal Palace. Peter died in 2013. “He was a hero to me, he was in the RAF and was shot down and injured in the fighting over the Suez Canal,’’ said Lee.

The musician is hoping to return with the band next summer to play a few gigs but before that his pals from Swindon are heading over to Madrid to watch Alpha Circle play at the Contaclub on November 23.

“My best friends, my dad, cousins, uncle and aunties all still live in Swindon and five of my friends have paid a flight to come and watch our next gig,’’ said Lee. “We are planning on doing a bit of a tour next summer. We’ll probably drive, play a small gig in France en route to London, where our drummer Simon Richman is from, to Swindon. Then the last stop is Somerset, to play at my little sister’s wedding - if all the stars align.’’

Like many musicians Lee has to fund parts of his music by working in other fields including teaching English at an academy, and working for Intengua, a company that holds the largest voice talent pool in Spain. “I have done voiceovers for Vodafone, Magnum and Schweppes,’’ said Lee.

At their gigs the rock band play mainly their own songs with an occasional cover from groups such as Linkin Park, Audioslave of Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The single Tricky is available on Spotify and iTunes. For more details visit www.facebook.com/officialalphacircle - Flicky Harrison