A former Keswick school student had the chance to record his first single at the iconic Abbey Road Studios.

James Sibbit, 21, recorded Shot in the Dark with his band Memento after a lucky encounter.

James, who plays the drums, said the band was doing a gig in playing at the June Ball for University College, Durham, where Dave Young an alumni of the University who was working at the Abbey Road Institute, saw them play.

James said: "He asked us to go down to London and do a session with him at Abbey Road - which meant it was all free too, which was ideal - and obviously we snapped up the opportunity. To be able to kick off our recording career at such a historical and frankly amazing recording studio was a huge privilege.

"It is something I’ll never forget. We were all awestruck, the whole recording process didn’t quite seem real. For example, the room mic we used was the same mic Adele used to record one of her albums and also being able to see all the original equipment The Beatles used to record the album Abbey Road, which is now randomly distributed around the studios, made the experience all the more amazing."

The single is still in production and is due to be released soon.

James left Keswick School in 2014 to study maths at Durham University and after graduating he decided to take a year off.

He said: "Having graduated from Durham with the highest mark in my year, I’m now fortunate enough to be conducting further research on my dissertation at the Multiple Zeta Value research centre in Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

"Currently music is still a hobby, although since graduating from Durham I’ve been treating it as a main source of income. I would love more than anything for it to be a viable career option.

"I feel like success in music, along with a lot of hard work and practice, is also about luck and being in the right place at the right time - which is evident from how we were able to record at Abbey Road - so only time will tell if it is something I am lucky enough to be able to get into."

James, of Brigham, started playing the drums with Keswick School Jazz Band and last month he was invited to go back to the school to give a speech at the annual prize giving ceremony.

James said: "It was honestly a very surreal experience going back. As I mentioned in my speech, I spent many prize giving ceremonies at Keswick sat behind a drum kit in the school Jazz band, daydreaming that one day I’d be able to give a speech on how I'd become a successful musician, so it was very gratifying to be asked to go back and talk to the pupils about what I’ve done with my life since Keswick.

"I requested that I be able to play with the Jazz Band again when I went back, for a bit of nostalgia, which was lots of fun. We played a version of Louie Louie, in which me and the current Jazz Band drummer, Ross Singleton, had a mini drum battle. It was great to be able to play alongside Ross, who I handed the position of Jazz Band drummer over to when I left Keswick School, and who has flourished as a musician since then."