INSPIRED by their love of the bus journey to Bristol, a group of local musicians have named themselves 3SEVEN6 after the First Bus 376 service.
One of them has even had the service number tattooed across his stomach.
The quartet – Hayden ‘HAINS’ Salter (aged 24, from Wells), Charlie ‘CHAS23’ Chamberlain (aged 26, from Glastonbury), Harley ‘CUB’ Kingham (aged 22, from Street), and Josh ‘DOUBLE VISION’ Herridge (aged 28, from Frome) – are marking their first anniversary performing as 3SEVEN6.
Hundreds of gig-goers have seen the DJs, whose music ranges from UK garage and speed garage to jungle and drum and bass, behind their own bus front with working headlights, even projecting footage of the bus journey behind them.
On November 16 they took their love of the bus service to a new level when they got the chance to perform during Glastonbury Carnival aboard the very bus which inspired them.
On December 14, they will be performing at Studio24 in Wells as one of the support acts for General Levy.
Charlie, who by day builds timber-framed marquees and has the numbers 376 tattooed across his stomach, said: “My parents used to have a bus when we were kids and we used to do festivals and go on holiday in it – so that’s where my love for buses really started.
“We were already DJing under different names before we formed a group and the boys said ‘let’s call it 3SEVEN6’. We needed a logo, and Hayden drew a bus shelter with 3SEVEN6 on it on the back of a receipt then Harley edited it on his laptop and we said ‘that’s it’, and we turned it into stickers, flyers and T-shirts.
“There is such a massive local cult following for the 376 bus. It’s part of a lot of people’s lives when they want to go out. Some of the best nights of my life have started on the back of the bus.”
3SEVEN6 were performing at the carnival alongside two other huge 376 fans, The Bad Cowboys. The duo, John Carroll (aged 57, from Wells) and Steve Bilsborough (aged 57 from Glastonbury), have even written a song dedicated to the service.
The tongue-in-cheek take on the journey from Glastonbury to Bristol, which includes the lyrics “take the 376 when you’re living in the sticks, it’s where I get my kicks, no car-based politics”, name checks some of the towns and villages en-route including Temple Cloud, Chewton Mendip, Clutton, Pensford, and Farrington Gurney, and also features Bristol Temple Meads Station with mention of the some of the weird and wonderful things that can happen on board.
Steve, who works as an aerospace project manager, said that The Bad Cowboys’ love of the 376 also comes from it providing freedom from the countryside to the city as a teenager.
He said: “Most of the music we do is nostalgic, and in the early days John said he really wanted to write a song about the bus because when we were growing up in the 1980s it was your escape; you’d go to Bristol – the big city.
“It was a time when we didn’t have cars and your parents weren’t prepared to drive you to Bristol, so the story is all about that with all the Eighties references. It definitely isn’t a mickey take, because we both love the 376.”
Christian Lockyer, PR Manager for First West of England, said: “There’s bus fans… and then there’s bus fans, and these guys have taken it to the next level. The DJs naming themselves after the bus service is one thing but getting a tattoo and showing the bus route on a big screen is another, and we love it. And The Bad Cowboys writing and performing a song dedicated to the 376 is just genius – it’s also a great catchy tune.
“But there is a more serious side to this; their story of using the 376 bus service to find freedom from the rural parts of Somerset to the bright lights of Bristol is really inspiring. It shows the freedom that bus travel can offer, especially to those living in more isolated areas or with limited access to transport.”
• Picture: Members of 3SEVEN6 and The Bad Cowboys in Wells Market Place (@JonCraig_Photos)