MEET Gabriel, a band making waves in the world of pop and rock – but whose members have only met each other twice.

The twosome is made up of Sally Elsey a mum-of-two from Canewdon and Albert Vinasco who lives more than 7,000 miles away in Argentina.

Their collaboration has been made possible thanks to the internet.

They write their own music and lyrics. Singer songwriter Sally uploads her work to a website and Albert, as the producer and guitarist, then downloads it and mixes it in his studio.

Sally, 51, says: “We both record our own parts in different countries and then it’s done over the internet, so it’s quite unusual. The mixing can be done surprisingly quickly.”

The pair found each other early last year on musicians’ website Broadjam, where people share and review each others music.

They realised they had common musical roots and influences. Both spent their early years listening to the Beatles before branching into broader progressive rock and early metal bands such as Led Zeppelin, Queen, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath.

Sally teamed up with Albert who is in his forties and lives in Buenos Aires.

“We didn’t meet for about a year until he came to London on a business trip,” says Sally.

“Before that contact was by e-mail with a four-hour time difference. It was very strange meeting up as it felt like we knew each other.”

Their debut self-titled album was released in November last year.

They’re now working on their second called Requiem Aeternam, which is due out this autumn.

They have had recent success with their song the Moment making the final of both the rock and pop categories of the UK Songwriting Contest. Nine other songs of theirs were commended or reached the semi finals.

Sally, who has been writing songs since she was 14, says: “We’re really proud of how well we did.

“At the moment we do it for enjoyment. We don’t expect to make money from it.

“I’m loving doing it. The pleasure I get from it is reward enough.”

Her husband, John, and daughter, aged 22, and son, 17, are all supportive of her music.

Sally, a part-time pre-school assistant, adds: “They like what I do. I stopped writing to have a family and this is getting me back into it.”

To listen to the band go to www.gabrielthemusic.com