A toilet cleaner and his band are finally knocking on the door of the big time after enjoying a Top 10 hit on the Amazon best-selling songs chart. Steven Nicholas fronts Newcastle band Hassle, along with Tony English and Dave Donaldson.
Their acoustic reggae track Life is For Living has been downloaded more than 30,000 times, which saw them climb into seventh place on the main charts, just one below pop icon Kate Bush. The release also went right to the top of the reggae download charts, bringing some much-awaited and long overdue success to a band formed in 2002, while Nicholas has been playing the pub circuit for the past 35 years.
Their new single was remixed by rapper and producer K-Gee, who co-wrote All Saints’ first album and who has also worked with Rod Stewart and George Michael. Nicholas is a cleaner in a hostel and he and his bandmates receive 69p for every download of their surprise smash and while he is set for a windfall, he isn’t about to hand his notice in.
