FROM playing to an audience of just 50, Twenty Twenty had no idea they would be entertaining thousands at summer festivals just six months later.

But the pop punk outfit have proved they have what it takes to draw the crowds and will embark on their first headline tour of the UK next month.

The three-piece will also release their second single, Story of our Lives, on September 14, along with a music video filmed against the backdrop of the London O2 Arena.

Singer Sam Halliday said the band, which formed in October 2008, are having a great, though surreal, time.

“At the latest festival, the Midlands Music Festival in Tamworth, we were on the same bill as the Sugababes, Blue and JLS,” said Sam. “We got to hang out with Blue and said hi to JLS.

“We have done three or four festivals, including the Brightlingsea one, but the Tamworth festival was by far the biggest. About 14,000 people went to that one and we were playing in front of about 5,000.

“It was surreal to go on stage and see a sea of heads bobbing up and down to our music.”

Twenty Twenty are made up of Sam, who plays the guitar, his brother Jack on bass and vocals, and friend Sonny Watson-Lang on drums and vocals.

They hail from the Braintree area and picked up a few hundred more fans at the festival as people flooded to congratulate them on their set and have their pictures taken with them.

Playing to thousands is easier than playing to a smaller group, they claim.

Sam explained: “I get more nervous playing to five people than I do to thousands. On stage you don’t see past the first row. It’s almost like playing to no one. But a smaller crowd are really close and I am shaking in my boots!”

Story of our Lives, a teen anthem, is the follow-up to debut single, Forever.

Having achieved such success in their first year together, what’s next for the coming year?

Sam said: “We never thought our singles would go into the charts, but making a single is another way to get people to hear our music. We would like to do longer and bigger tours.”

Unfortunately, Twenty Twenty’s Raise Your Hands tour, which will see them play at the O2 Academy in cities including Newcastle, Birmingham and a sell-out in London, will not pass by Colchester, but Sam said they hope to come back soon.