Bandidge - Ban-did-je - A multitude of bands, usually in one place. Not to be confused by the medical dressing that is pronounced in the same manner, although the advertising opportunities are immense...

Bandidge.com started off as a dream by Rob. He knew he wanted to create something that people can look at and read, be interested and even inspired by. Something that was from scratch, something that had its own style in a market that already has competition coming out of its ears. He also knew he had to do it before he left the University of Lincoln in 2007.

It was then that he met Danny. On a chance meeting at the Library to learn how to use the University system in 2004, they quickly bonded over their passion for music. For the next year, the two remained friends, before taking a website design class in their second year. Quickly grasping the basics of it, and with the dream still burning in Rob's mind, they decided to start building a website of their own. They had already started to get in contact with bands at the local University venue called the Delph Bar on Thursday nights, so they knew that they already had something to write about.

The dream seemed too far away though. For a short time, Rob wrote a few articles for a local student magazine, to keep himself going. But he soon found out that their writing constraints and lack of ambition and respect were, personally, too much to bear. Something needed to be done. Now.

Starting with basic HTML, Rob and Danny put together a frame for the website. Rob also learned how to create moving images on websites, to give it an edge. It all seemed to be flowing along quite smoothly during the summer of 2006, but it soon became apparent that what they wanted to do was too much to do themselves. Enlisting the help of his good friend Andy from home, Rob and Andy created a basic design setup that could work. Simple but effective on the page, it sparked off a chain of events that would finally see the site that you are reading right now.

Firstly, a name was thought up. A stumbling block for months on end, and an important part of what your actual product stands for was left dormant, as many names were banded backwards and forwards without any real conviction. Finally, in a brainstorming session, long-time friend Matt Allison thought up of the name that would finally see the website take a step closer to reality:

"Bandidge".

At first, they were both sceptical of the name, but after a few moments of letting the name sink in, they realised it would actually work. It was stupid, but in a clever way...

Will was recruited after Rob read on his MySpace page that he enjoyed doing web design, and after seeing his finktank2 site, he moved quickly to secure his services. A rough design sketch later that based around Andy's initial plan, and Bandidge was into its final stage. Three months of intense design later, and Bandidge was finally ready to show the world.

During this time, Rob and Danny continued to hunt down interviews and write reviews, with the dream that the website will someday hit the internet. With the help of The Defender newspaper in Lincoln , they managed to continue to express themselves through the power of the printing press, with some of those results shown on this very site.

As the final semester of their University lives started in 2007, Bandidge.com was unleashed for all to see. Something that started off as a fleeting thought in Rob's mind managed to make it all the way to a reality, thanks to the passion and creativity of others who shared that very same dream.

Special thankyou to the following people for getting Bandidge.com to the launch date on 22nd January, 2007:

(In no particular order)

Mark@WiLD UK, Dean@Darling, Matt Jones, Justin Schlosberg, Anthea & Dan@Press Counsel, Zane Lowe, Gregg Young, Andy Varley@Insanity Artists, Lu Hunt@Crown Music Management, Oisin Leech, Rob Clark & Jon Kell@EMI, Steve Phillips@Coalition, Chalkey, The National Student/Defender Newspapers team, Sophie Holt, Andy Rodgers, Will Barrington, Mike Walls, Ben Stevenson, Matt 'Bandidge' Allison, Rob Ansell, Samm Larkin, Suze 'Main Inspiration' Lancaster, Abi ‘Twinface' Turner, Will Simpson, Michael ‘Moose' Thomas, Matt Hughes@Visible Noise/Cacophonus/DC Recordings, Andi Karthauser, Julio@Metropol, Luke Parker, Gavin Butler, Victoria Simpson@Engine Shed, Amanda Freeman@Sainted, Mickey Dale, Ric Galbraith, Bobbie Lane@Kerrang! Matt@Hyperlaunch, Deejay@Im Seeing Red and obviously all other Family and Close Friends for all their support and guidance, as well as any music/promotions person that may we have been missed. Add your name here: _________

Rob Stares and Danny Longhorn – Bandidge.com, January 2007