WHEN a group of students at South Essex College were tasked with a production module, they decided they weren’t going to do things by halves.

Pooling their musical talents and interests, they’re throwing a charity bash – Go! – at the Royal Hotel that will see three floors taken over by top music tonight.

Thomas Webb, Steve Pond, Tim Bradshaw and Jai ‘the Bard’ Gungadin will also debut their own band AtoM, which will see sets from Southend reggae masters the Goldmaster Allstars, as well as popular local acts Exiles, Dave Woodcock and Darren Jones.

Thomas says: “The Royal Hotel has given us all three floors free of charge.

“The top and middle floors will be live music and the basement will be open after the other acts have finished. It will be more of a VIP after-party type thing.”

All four of the group have completely different musical backgrounds and experiences, so pooling their resources turned out to be handy.

Steve says: “Help for Heroes is the charity on board. I used to be in the Army, so it’s something I’m quite close to. I’ve always loved music. The thing I really wanted to do was music. It’s my passion, so I thought I’d go to college.”

Thomas’s experience came from a longheld DJ hobby, which he’ll be showcasing in the basement.

He says: “When I was younger I was quite shy. I loved music but I couldn’t play an instrument, so I DJd. I did some sessions in Ibiza. Now my focus is music production and DJing.”

Jai, meanwhile, had been building up a name for himself singing, writing and playing music from an early age – with stints in local band Protegee Reign and as resident percussionist at Southend nights.

Tim taught himself how to programme and use a synthesiser after getting involved in electronic music in the Nineties.

Jai says the friends decided that bringing their talents together would be a great way of getting their event noticed too as it can be hard for smaller nights to promote themselves among Southend’s big clubs.

Go! Royal Hotel, High Street, Southend. Tonight. From 7.30pm. Tickets £5 advance or £7 on the door. Visit musicglue.net/atom productions