Ever since they missed out on winning timeOUT's Battle Of The Bands competition last year, indie/alternative rockers The Medics have been fervently honing their craft, writes REBECCA WALLIS.

Undeterred by their past failings, The Medics have bounced back with a bigger sound and a better repertoire of tracks and have been at last crowned the winners of 2008’s Battle of the Bands.

"It was sweet," lead guitarist Andrew Thomson says.

The 18-year-old former school friends will now open this Saturday’s much anticipated timeOUT concert, sharing the stage with music greats such as Scribe, Kisschasy, Blue King Brown and Faker.

"It started off as a bit of fun," says Andrew, of how the group got together just 12 months ago.

"We thought, ‘well if we can make something out of it, we will’."

Practising a couple of times a week at the Northern Beaches Church has helped the band with their success, but being based in Cairns hasn’t.

"There aren’t really any great venues here," Andrew says.

"The venues close down a lot because of bad experiences, basically, because they get trashed a lot by bands."

So getting the chance to perform in one of Cairns’ biggest competitions was an opportunity not to be missed.

"We didn’t think we were going to win, but we were hopeful," Andrew says. "We knew there were some other good bands, so we were pretty nervous. We just had to try our hardest but we thought we were good enough."

Apart from putting on a stellar performance in the final round, one other thing helped the group to victory.

"Our individuality," says Andrew, a landscape gardener.

"We look different and have a different sound to most bands.

"We buy our clothes from op shops."

The band members have a relaxed approach to their music, each pitching in to write the songs with no manager or outside help.

Somewhat stunned at the chance to play such a big gig, Andrew says the band hasn’t thought much beyond this weekend’s performance.

"We’re just going to see how it goes," he says.

"We’d like to move to Sydney to get more opportunities. Maybe, next year but we’ll see what happens."

For now, The Medics need to prove they can hold their own alongside some of the industry’s favourites.

Their 30-minute set will be opening the concert.

"It’s going to be a bigger sound," says Andrew, of what to expect.

"We’ve got some new songs to throw out there and just want to enjoy it."

As for offering advice to up-and-coming bands, Andrew says: "Stay individual. Set a goal and stay with it."

It certainly seems to have worked for them.

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