Switch are an all female group featuring three feisty and friendly West Cork ladies from the Bandon and Innishannon area. They have just beaten over 200 acts and artistes to become overall winners of the All-Ireland Digifone Headstart new band competition. Catherine Foley, Denise Goggin and Joanne Coughlan are still bubbling with post-victory euphoria, and are up in Dublin for the day for a photo-shoot, interview, and of course, some clothes shopping.

The final of the competition featured stiff competition from seven of Ireland's hottest new bands at Vicar St. The event was headlined by Ireland s No.1 Pop Sensation Samantha Mumba, with 2fm's Shane O'Donoghue as MC for the night. The panel of judges included Louis Walsh; Derek Handley (Esat Digifone Marketing Director); Liam Thompson (2fm Programme Manager); Richie Taylor (The Sun); Janet Kingston of Warner Music and our very own Colm O'Hare.
"When they said and the winner is all the way from West Cork! , we knew it was us but we still couldn't believe it!" enthuses Catherine. "It is still a huge shock for us!"
Shock or no shock, it s a major leap from playing the back rooms of bars. They have finely honed their stagecraft through consistent gigging around pubs in Skibbereen and student events in Limerick (where the girls are studying music and arts).
"We love the pub gigs, but it s fantastic to be acknowledged for playing our own material," adds Denise. "This definitely marks a fresh opportunity for us, but doing the traditional Irish songs and pop covers was crucial to us."
While you'd expect most bands to have bonded via a love of Radiohead, U2, Oasis or Nirvana, the girls musical background is far more diverse from your average bunch of six-string buckaneers. The trio developed their interest in music through their involvement in musical productions at Colaiste na Toirbhirte, Bandon.
All have reached high grades in their respective instruments, as well as winning the Ceol Dramaand Feis Maitiu All-Irelands. Now they are determined to give it their very best shot with their own compositions.
"Winning this competition is like a dream come true for us. We have always aspired to make music our career yet we never expected things to take off so quickly," raves Catherine. Despite their perfectly justified enthusiam, the girls are wary and wise of the multiple pitfalls that planet pop can throw in their direction.
"Whatever about this success or whatever the future brings, we have our feet on the ground. We are thrilled by this and we are not going to take anything for granted," affirms Joanne. The girls are hoping to be recording by October, and though they yet have to choose the song that's going to hopefully gain them recognition, it will be released early in the New Year by Warner Music Ireland.