Bourne band Archy and the Astronauts make final 10 shortlist in Kerrang! Radio competition where winner will open Download Festival in Castle Donington

Members of an alternative rock band are ‘overwhelmed’ to have been voted into the shortlist of a radio competition.

Archy and the Astronauts are a three-piece group with Bourne lead singer Archy Phipps, Nathan Snook and Travis Coyne who entered The Deal – an online competition.

Organised by Kerrang! Radio and Marshall Records, the winners will get an opportunity of a lifetime to open the Download Festival in Castle Donington.

Archy found out the band had got through on Wednesday and said: “I was checking my emails throughout the day and my phone pinged.

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“We are down to the final 10 and it will now go to a judging panel.

“We feel relieved – we didn’t want to disappoint anyone – we asked so much of people and so many people got behind us.”

Voters online got behind the group following five weeks of voting and the panel of judges will deliberate who the winner will be in February.

Archy, who said there was a lot of ‘fruitful language’ on hearing the news, said: “This is the biggest thing we’ve done and people have got together as a community – the support has been so much.

“To play at Download would feel biblical – I keep thinking about it – what we could do if it did happen.

“It has given us motivation for the next few weeks.”

Not quite knowing what the judges will be looking for, Archy said: “We will show that we really want it.

“We are very very happy and want to say a massive thank you and the lovely support – we feel overwhelmed.

“We get very few wins trying to do this in this industry.”

So what is next for the band?

Archy said: “We are now trying to build ourselves and give back to the community we have made and do more live gigs.”