BEING pigeonholed is the great fear of Stratford band Franksound.

The band, whose five members are in their mid-20s and come from the Stratford area, describe their music as an eclectic mixture of groove, funk and acid jazz.

"We've got a totally original sound," said band manager Alex Sargent. "I think that some of our stuff sounds a bit like early Police, though some might disagree."

Alex, who has been a friend of Franksound founder and lead singer Ben Beswick since the two were seven-year-olds at the Croft School in Stratford, said the band is also heavily influenced by Ben's Cayman Islands roots.

"There is a lot of reggae influence," he said, adding that the band is named after a place in the Cayman Islands.

So far, the band's determination not to fix a label to their musical style has done no harm to their popularity at venues around the country.

Apart from a monthly appearance at the Cask and Bottle in Stratford, Franksound have gigs lined up at the Mars Bar in Worcester today (Thursday), the King's Head pub in Fulham on July 21 and they play two gigs on the same day on Saturday - the first as part of the Stratford Music Festival at the leisure centre at 5.30pm and then later in the evening at the White Bear in Shipston.

In addition to lead singer Ben, the other band members are guitarist Bruce Souter-Smith, bass player Darren Rickerby, keyboard player Andrew Holt and Adam Boyes on drums.