FAQ's
What are your fees?
We keep our prices competitive, and you will not incur the extra fee that is charged if you book an act through an agency, which can be as much as 25%. Our usual fee is based on a total venue time of up to 7 hours, e.g. 5pm - midnight, which covers the vast majority of our events. If an early setup is required, we would only make a small adjustment.
Why choose The SoulMates in preference to other bands?
Not wishing to blow our own Trumpet (and Sax!), but we do provide a great service which is shown by our customer feedback, and we make sure that we always give the very best value for money.
You'll find many bands who charge the earth, but are simply nowhere near the required standard to justify their fee. There are equally lots of bands who appear cheap, but when you hear them you'll understand why, & it will cost you your event.....the last thing that you want on your special day!
There are also many bands who offer different numbers of musicians to suit your budget - from our experience, these musicians often work with many different bands and are rarely permanent band members. To be a band that gives a polished performance, rather than a group of unfamiliar musicians, we believe that you must have a permanent line-up with permanent band members who are fully rehearsed and focussed on just one band.
Can I view the band before booking?
As the vast majority of our bookings are private functions it is not always possible to view the band, but, to overcome this, we perform at Wedding Fayres during the year which are announced on our website along with any public appearances that we have scheduled. Our customer comments section shows what our past costomers have said about us & give you a real flavour of our performances.
Do you accept First Dance Requests?
We're more than happy to consider first dance requests, but given that your first dance song is very special, it is often a better option for us to play the original on CD for you as some songs don't lend themselves to our instruments & vocal style; the large number of weddings that we are booked for also means that our rehearsal time is at a premium which makes it unfeasible to learn unique songs to the required standard for every wedding.
How are your sets decided?
From experience, we know what works well and what songs group together to keep the floor packed. Our sets do change as we bring in new material, but we select from our current playlist & decide the running order to make sure that the right songs are grouped to give you & your guests a memorable event. We can add requests from our playlist, but to ensure a polished performance we ask that the running order is a band decision.
What sort of venues have you played at?
The SoulMates have performed at a wide variety of venues from pubs to large country mansions, theatres, halls, hotel function rooms, museums, a zoo, and an aircraft hangar at British Airways! We are happy to perform in marquees or outdoors if the weather allows it, and we can play with or without staging.
Do you charge extra for PA & Lighting? or anything else?
We provide our own high quality professional PA system which is included in any quote for the band, and for weddings & functions our full lighting rig is included, subject to available space. The only possible additional cost would be for incidentals such as parking if there is no available space at the venue, ie. City/Central London type bookings, but this is extremely rare.
How long do you need to set up, and when do you set up?
It is essential that we have sufficient time to set up and soundcheck, which takes between 1½ & 2 hours, dependent on what level of equipment is required. We normally set up from 2 hours prior to our performance - if an earlier setup is required so that we are clear before meals/speeches etc, we would need to be onsite approximately 4 hours longer than is built into our fee, so we would have to make a small adjustment for this.
How long do you play for?
We perform 2 hours of live music generally finishing by midnight, either as 2 sets of 1 hour with a break or 3 x 40 minute sets with two breaks, but we can tailor this to fit in with your requirements. After the show, we are happy to leave music playing through our PA system whilst we pack up; usually this allows an additional 20 minutes of music before we reach the stage of packing up that involves switching off the main PA.
What time would you usually start your performance?
We'll fit in completely with your arrangements, but, from experience, we find that we are often asked for start times that are too early in the evening.
By the time you & your guests have had sufficient time for food to digest a little & be in the mood for dancing, we would suggest a start time of no earlier than 8.30pm. We are often asked for a 7pm or 7.30pm start, which we're more than happy to do, but we find that events with a slightly later start tend to run much more smoothly.
A typical format would be your first dance at around 8.30pm with our 1st set straight afterwards. This would normally be followed by an evening buffet at approx. 9.15pm (if you are having one), then our 2nd set from 10pm until 10.40pm. This would then fit our last set at just after 11pm and finishing by midnight. This is just an example, and the final detail will of course be your decision, but it does follow a pattern that experience shows works very well.
Do you provide background/dancing music?
The band always comes equipped with a digital media player for music before, after and between the sets if required. We bring a wide & varied selection of music with us but you are welcome to supply your own music if you have particular preferences. Due to past issues with some recordable CD-R discs being problematic, we no longer have a CD unit built into our PA system - the unit we now use has all the functionality of a traditional CD player, but uses mp3 format files from either a USB pen/stick, or an SD card (up to 2MB). You can create your own compilations on a USB pen/SD card and bring it along on the day, or if you'd like to create your own compilation CDs, it's not a problem, but you would need to let us have them during the week before the performance so that we can transfer them to our system. Another option is to plug your own ipod/mp3 player with your playlists through our system.
Is your equipment tested & are you insured?
All of our equipment is PAT Tested to current Health and Safety Regulations (http://www.pat-testing.info/) and we lay out all electrical equipment and instruments as neatly and safely as possible. We hold current Public Liability Insurance. | 
