Their music may not be to everyone’s taste, but punk rockers educated at Yavneh College are a step closer to making their dream a reality after winning a “Battle of the Bands” contest.

Best friends Billy Alexander, Aaron Bennis and Brandon Miller formed their band Arkley — named after the village where Brandon lives — while studying at Yavneh in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, in 2019.

They were joined by Josh Hartog in May last year and within weeks they played their first gig in Billy’s back garden in Edgware at his mother’s birthday party.

Little more than a year later, the band has triumphed in a Hertfordshire and London-wide music competition organised by promoters Juicebox Live at The Horn in St Albans.

Arkley, who write and perform their own material, belted out five of their songs to win on the night in front of a capacity audience of 200 people. Billy, 18, who plays bass guitar, told the JC: “It’s our dream to turn pro and be successful, and I think this gets us a huge step closer to making that a reality.”

arkey band

Arkley after a show

The win earned the band £750, but Billy said that “more importantly” the triumph will catapult them on to line-ups at gigs and festivals in the months ahead with Juicebox Live promoting them.

Despite the band’s success, Billy still plans to take up his degree place at the University of East Anglia this month to study accountancy and finance.

Bandmates Aaron (lead guitar and vocals), 20, is a third-year sports-journalism student, Brandon (rhythm guitar and lead vocals), 18, starts his music degree this month and Josh (drums), 20, is midway-through a degree apprenticeship at Ford Motor Company.

“We’re not going to quit yet. We are determined to make Arkley a success,” said Billy.