AN IRVINE band say they are aiming for "world domination" after seeing their first released single go down a storm.

Ocean Views formed some five years ago, when founding pair Cammy Findlay and David Bothwell, both 22, left school at Greenwood Academy.

Cammy, from Bourtreehill, plays the bass, while David of Girdle Toll plays guitar and the pair both write and sing as they front the band.

Around three years after forming, the duo become a trio when drummer Jack Dillon, 23, joined the band.

And after the former Ardrossan Academy pupil from West Kilbride - though he now lives in Springside - joined the band, that is when things started to get serious.

The trio created their own studio in David's garage and when lockdown hit they spent the time huddled away for nearly two years rehearsing everyday and writing the first album.

It was this time that helped the band - who aim to sound somewhere between The Who, The View, The Jam, Stone Roses and The La’s - get to where they are now, having released their first single 'Cider Blues' this month.

And David from Ocean Views took the time to tell the Times about their journey since then.

He said: "After about two years of non-stop rehearsing, playing every pub and club in The Shire, we saved up enough money in our gig kitty to record the album up in Glasgow at 45-A side studios.

"We had Cider Blues (which will be track one on the album) mixed by Scott Thomson, who also mixed Kirkcaldy indie band Shambolics, who inspired us to start up the band in the early days."

And the single is one that has went down well with those who have heard it so far - including producers from BBC Scotland who featured the song on their 'BBC Music Introducing' show.

David explained: "The response to the single’s been brilliant, it’s been only been out for three weeks and it’s already been on BBC Scotland, it’s also been played in a few stations across the country, and even in Magaluf.

"Funnily enough they (the BBC) never told us they were playing it till after it was already played so none of us heard it live.

"We were all at the beach in Millport playing football so we just blasted it on the Bluetooth speaker with a Merrydown to celebrate."

And it's not just drinking cider which the band enjoys doing to stay true to character.

They also filmed the music video for Cider Blues right here in Irvine.

"We filmed the YouTube video for it up the back of Girdle Toll with our busking instruments and painted the lyrics on an abandoned underpass in the shewalton industrial estate," David explained.

So what does the future hold now for the band? Well David has set lofty ambitions for Ocean Views.

He said: "Future plans are to keep releasing single videos on YouTube and the album should be out in July.

"We’ll be playing the Irvine volunteer rooms on the June 24 and ButeFest on the July 30.

"After the album release we’ll just stick to our secret plans for world domination."

For more on the band, you can find their social media pages by searching for 'oceanviewsmusic'.