Biography

Formed in 2012 by college friends Joe "Connor" Conaboy and Josh Zaré, the pair enlisted the talents of Matt Cahill, Jay Scott, and JJ Thompson after seeing their performance videos on YouTube. Moving to East London and naming themselves Kingsland after the road they lived on, the group auditioned for the tenth series of the U.K. X-Factor in 2013. Sailing through to the judges' houses with covers of "Don't You Worry Child," "Treasure," and "For Once in My Life" during the early stages, the band made their way to finals after impressing mentor Gary Barlow. Before the live finals started, the boys changed their name to Kingsland Road after finding out that a group from Canada shared the same name. Reaching week four of the live shows -- after losing out to fellow contestant Tamera Foster -- the band went back to East London to start work on their debut single. Teaming up with songwriters and producers such as Cam Blackwood and Ollie Green, the sessions would see the group change direction, opting for a more rock-infused pop sound. The single "Dirty Dancer" was scheduled for an August 2014 release. ~ Rich Wilson, Rovi