SONG COMPETITION WINNERS: Mark and Jimmi in the studio

AFTER their appearance on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, winners of the first Almost Famous songwriting competition, Mark Wilks and Jimmi Proctor, spent Saturday using one of their prizes wisely with a day s recording at Fast Tracks studio in Wilburton. Along

AFTER their appearance on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, winners of the first Almost Famous songwriting competition, Mark Wilks and Jimmi Proctor, spent Saturday using one of their prizes wisely with a day's recording at Fast Tracks studio in Wilburton.

Alongside studio owner/engineer Paul Maguire, and engineer/session musician Richard 'Spud' Spooner, the duo recorded a rock song called Setting Sun.

I arrived at the studio not long after midday, and already by then they had been working for over two hours on the recording. "I didn't realise how much goes into recording," Mark told me. "It's a bit different to recording in my bedroom."

From what I heard, all the hard work seemed worthwhile.

Even though I was there in the early stages of their process, the electric, catchy Setting Sun is sure to win over further admirers.

Alongside the inventive guitar playing of Proctor and Wilks' distinctive vocals, bass and drums (played by Spud) were added on.

Couple this with top-notch sound quality and this track should be well worth a listen.

Mark and Jimmi plan to change their name soon to This Is Mojo, and form a full band for future gigs. A new Myspace page (which will feature the recording) will be launched shortly.

As soon as we know the release date for the song we'll let you know.

n Fast Tracks Studio, a sponsor of the songwriting competition, is a new studio in Wilburton (near Ely/Haddenham) offering professional recording quality at local-band prices, along with post-production/artwork. For more information email Paul Maguire: paul@fasttracks.myzen.co.uk

RICHARD PAUL