U-ternity

U-ternity are a British boy band/Dance pop group formed in El Salvador in July 2007. Made up of trio Ari Alejandro (vocals), Shian Patel (vocals) and James Cook (harmonist), U-ternity have a large cultural following in Central America after a summer 2007 tour. U-ternity's fame in the region escalated after their cover of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit reached number three in the Nicaraguan charts.
University Years and The Maynard Boyz

Having all met at King's College London whilst living on the same floor in university halls, U-ternity wouldn’t form until a couple of years later. Rather, Ari, Shian and James were part of a non-musical group called the ‘Maynard Boyz’. The boy band-esque Maynard Boyz consisted of eight members, and would attend various social events around the university including drinking competitions and football tournaments.
Formation of U-ternity
Whilst in Toluca, Mexico teaching English at a university as part of his Degree, Ari invited Shian, James and Shane Williams (future accountant) to visit him and then join him travelling Central America. It was on this trip, specifically, on a night out in Mexico City’s Insurgentes where U-ternity was formed. However, the band name didn’t arrive until a couple of weeks later on a chicken bus in El Salvador. 'U-ternity' was famously coined by band members Ari and James as an amalgamation from the words eternity and U-Turn. Highlighting Ari's love for girl group Eternity and James' love of Usher.
The Never Ending U-turn: 2007 - Present
U-ternity’s only album to date The never ending U-turn is still a working progress and currently consits just three songs. Power ballad The Meaning of Love followed by The Road to Nowhere and lastly the Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit cover.
Fourth Member
Having refused Shane into the band. U-ternity gained a fourth member in Irish bassist Daragh Walsh. Having met earlier on in the day on Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua, Daragh looked on as U-ternity gave an impromptu performance to a group of Americans from Detroit. Singing the theme tune to the 90’s TV series Sister Sister, Daragh finished a lyric than neither Ari, Shian nor James could remember, "Shakin' up that family tree".
Daragh continued with U-ternity through Nicaragua and would later join Ari on his solo tour of Honduras. It has been reported that Daragh’s inclusion in U-ternity almost brought their accountant Shane to quit the Tour.
Controversy
Shortly after the succesful Central America tour, Ari was submitted into the Betty Ford Clinic, Drug and Alcohol Rehabilition Centre for Adults, California for fifteen months. Ari has not been shy to talk about his time at the Betty Ford Clinic, describing his time there as ‘more mental and bad boy’ than when he was in the touring. An article in the News of the World (Sunday, January 11th 2009) claimed that Ari had in fact not attended the Betty Ford Clinic but had been pictured entering in order to gain publicity for the band.

In the 2008 Valentines Day issue of Smash Hits Magazine, Lee Ryan from rival boy band Blue caused a stir by calling James a ‘fraud’ and ‘imitator’, claiming that James' role in U-ternity is a carbon copy of his own role in Blue. James was quick to refute this claim on the U-terniry website, stating that Lee Ryan doesn't have a tattoo of a Gekko on his shoulder. A few months later, Shian was forced to spend two months at the Cybersex Sexual Addiction Clinic in Helsinki, Finland after posing as Lee Ryan from Blue on a Finnish internet sex chatroom.
Present Day U-ternity
Having achieved a cultural following in Central America, U-ternity have since struggled to break into the British music scene. Ari, Shian and James have continuously blamed this on their accountant Shane who also handles media exposure. However, they are currently writing the fourth song on their Never Ending U-turn album I left my heart in Toluca.

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