Band scores internet hit with cover version created on mobiles

A London girl band has won tens of thousands of new fans by replacing its instruments with iPhones.

The Mentalists uploaded a video of themselves performing a cover of a song by electro-pop group MGMT using the mobiles instead of drums, guitars, and synthesizers.

Software loaded onto the phones enables them to be used as computerised drum machines, keyboards generating a range of sounds, and even wind instruments.

Within days the video had rocketed up YouTube's charts and more than 80,000 people have watched it. The west-London band consists of Alice Offley, 27, Kim-Leigh Pontin, 30, Kelly Appleton, 26, and Lindsay Evans, 28. They have played Glastonbury and supported Babyshambles, The Automatic and Kate Nash.

Offley, who lives in Hendon, said: "We've been shocked by how well the song has done online. It's been amazing. MGMT's Kids has lots of synthesizer parts, so was perfect. It took us a few evenings to work out how to use the instruments but it was fun to do. We recorded the video in a friend's office. In order to get enough notes on the computerised version of a keyboard I was playing I have to have two iPhones next to each other. This was a real nightmare as they kept moving around, so we had to stick them to a desk with Blu-Tack.

"We were amazed at how good the sound quality was - it really is like having a real instrument. The only problem was there is a slight lag from when you tap the screen to when the sound comes out, but we got used to that."

Offley said the girls sent a copy of the video to Sony BMG, MGMT's record label: "They passed it on to the band, who love the video, which was a great compliment." The Mentalists now plan to record their own songs using the phones.

They formed three years ago after drummer Evans put an advert in NME. Influences include MGMT, The Flaming Lips, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles. Three of the band are session musicians and music teachers, while Leigh-Pontin is a freelance designer. Offley also works as a pianist in bars. The band are unsigned but have set up their own label and released a single on iTunes.

The software is available from the Apple website, costing from nothing to about £5. Stuart Dredge of music industry consultancy Music Ally said: "There are even mini-recording studios for the iPhone now, and I think we will see a lot more iPhone bands. The Mentalists have been incredibly clever."