Posts tagged opportunities
Finding Investment for your Music – Endorsements, Music Grants and More
Mar 5th
I have just uploaded a Lens at squidoo.com about finding Investment for your Music. I talk about the various options available to funding your Music Career. To check it out please visit Music Investments Article
Out of the Basement by Nick J.Townsend from Basementsound.co.uk
Mar 2nd
Greetings Rocklinks….
This is Nick J.Townsend from BasementSound Radio, the world’s most underground internet radio station. This is a special column exclusive to Rocklinks.co.uk, every month I’m going to talk about some of the best underground artists that get featured on www.basementsound.co.uk and I know what I’m talking about. I’m not here to sell shares in record companies, I’m here to reveal who’s making the music that real people listen to. Nuff said…
THE ROCKET DOLLS (Brighton / United Kingdom)
http://www.therocketdolls.com
http://www.myspace.com/therocketdollsmusic
Now if you are going to stand out you need to get peoples attention. This British three piece Alternative Post Grunge Riff Metal band not only have a great image but write songs that make you want to kick down your front door and scream (which in my opinion is a good thing as it sure let’s your neighbours know who’s got the best CD collection). Catchy riffs, pounding grove beats and the Basslines are slick. Infact this is great music to f**k to, trust me I’m an expert. ‘BLEEDING THE SHAME’ and ‘DELIRIUM’ are good examples of why this band will get girls pregnant.
MOZART KHADAFFI (Denmark)
http://www.mozartkhadaffi.com
http://www.myspace.com/mozartkhadaffi
Imagine Marilyn Manson meets Mr. Bungle. Yes this is a wild child orchestra. Possibly one of my favorite underground bands too. Alternative Industrial Metal Rock with attitude and I f**king mean attitude with a lot of style and originality (it’s not clever to swear but sometimes it’s necessary to prove a point). This is a mindwarp of influences wrapped up in organized chaos. Mean guitars, insane beats, great theatrical vocals and all done with excellence. ‘DEAD CAN WALK’ is the best example if you’re new to this act. It’s got everything you need in one song. There’s one bit in the song which is the best scream I’ve ever felt like screaming along to. This music will open your mind.
STRIPPING THE PISTOL (Chicago / United States)
http://www.strippingthepistol.com/
http://www.myspace.com/strippingthepistol
Chicago makes some great music and this band sure does prove that. BLACK REFLECTIONS is the song by STRIPPING THE PISTOL that woke me up and made me masturbate more times in a single day than advised to me by the sex experts on TV. It’s a great tune. I was pleased to find out they wrote a load more cool songs as well. So kiddies if you are going to lock the bedroom door with your iPod on then this is the band for you. Great vocals and lyrics, atmospheric guitars, brutal and yet gentle at times, some great riffs and great melodies. For a Metal Rock band they provide a full package of treats. Great band name too. Hell yeah!
…..Right, that’s the first three bands I’m going to introduce you to. Short but sweet. Think about it, I’ve just told you about three bands who are going to be included in your record collection. These are all world class artists for different reasons. No f**king around here. The underground may well be filled with music but only those that display originality and balls make it to my column. You can hear all these bands on www.basementsound.co.uk but more importantly you can go and watch them Live, download their music, write about them and get a fucking tattoo of them on your arm. This is Nick J.Townsend signing off. END OF MESSAGE.
Visit Basementsound.co.uk
RnB star Shola Ama confirmed for the Judging Panel for Live and Unsigned Festival
Feb 24th
RnB mega star Shola Ama has just confirmed her place on the judging panel at the Live and Unsigned Festival!
Billed as one of Britain’s most successful RnB artists, Shola will be taking her place on the judging panel in July and casting her eye over some of the UK’s best unsigned talent. The London based singers debut album Much Love sold over one million copies and she enjoyed chart success with the top five singles You Might Need Somebody and You’re The One I Love.
The culmination of her critical and commercial success resulted in four MOBO nominations with Shola going on to collect two awards for Best Newcomer and Best RnB. She also impressed the industry and her fans when she was nominated for two Brit awards, taking home the title of Best British Female.
Amongst her many achievements within the music industry, Shola has collaborated on the Glamma Kid single Taboo, reworking the Sade classic to make it her own and scoring her another top ten single. She released her sophomore album, the critically acclaimed In Return, co-writing 11 of the 16 tracks with a host of international writers and producers. She’s worked with legendary names like Darkchild, Babyface, Stargate, Ali Shaheed Muhhammed, Angie Stone and Shaun Labelle. Her single Imagine remixed by Asylum, went on to become one of the biggest club singles of the noughties. Shola co-wrote her third album, Supersonic, which is one of her most personal works to date. Chris Grayston, Events Director of Live and Unsigned, commented, It’s very exciting to have one of the UK’s best RnB acts involved in the competition. She’s had huge chart success, spent years in the studio and knows exactly what it’s like to be in the spotlight. I’m confident that her appearance on the judging panel will be popular! I’m sure most of the acts in the Urban category of the competition will want to ask her lots of questions!
Shola is now back in the studio once again, writing tracks for her fourth studio album, due for release on independent label Dirty Canvas. The new single DJ Play has already received great reviews and lots of airplay! And of course, watch out for her at the Live and Unsigned Festival!
Latest opportunities from Stiff Promotions
Feb 3rd
Fresh out of the email box, here is the latest Gig opportunities from Stiff Promotions
As an added incentive to the live performance opportunities, those bands
drawing in excess of 40 people (solo artists 20 people, duos 30 people) to a
Portsmouth show will be offered a slot on an ‘out of town’ gig (e.g.
Brighton, Guildford or Southampton) as an additional reward over and above
ticket sales payments and free bar rider incentives. More details on
confirmation of Portsmouth support slots.
If you’re not already a ‘fan’ (odd concept admittedly!) of the Stiff
Promotions Facebook Fan Page then
if the mood takes you it would be lovely to see you join as we don’t operate
a personal Facebook account.
Please read fully before replying – thank you!
February
Tue 9th – Eliza Doolittle – Cellars, Portsmouth (1x band slot and 1x
acoustic solo/duo slot)
Myspace
Genre: Pop/Soul/Singer Songwriter
“Soul-felt pop in the old skool sense with a little fruit, spice, sugar &
nuts – a tasty combination” – BBC London
Superb voice and lyrical content, managed by the same group of companies
that look after Radiohead and signed to Parlophone (home to Lily Allen)
March
Fri 12th – Kids Love Lies – Cellars, Portsmouth (2x band slots)
Myspace
Genre: Indie/Pop
“Strop pop palpitation… a sub 3-minute rush of Pretty Girls Make Graves
style post hardcore sweetness” – NME
Regular Radio 1 play, Great Escape and Camden Crawl appearances and recent
Artrocker single of the month
Tue 16th – Lupen Crook – Cellars, Portsmouth (2x acoustic solo/duo/band
slots)
Myspace
Genre: Indie/Pop/Alternative
“Utterly compelling” – NME… ”Indisputable genius, sublime stuff” – The
Fly… “A bewitching talent” – Uncut
Utterly captivating, agitated pop that will make you flinch with expectation
Tue 18th – Kyla La Grange – Cellars, Portsmouth (2x acoustic solo/duo/band
slots)
Myspace
Genre: Indie/Pop/Songwriter
Superb singer songwriter being developed by Field Recordings – the same
management company that run Radiohead and Faithless!
Sat 20th – The Kabeedies – Cellars, Portsmouth (1x band slots)
Myspace
Genre: Indie/Pop
Glastonbury, Latitude and Summer Sundae veterans, ‘Rumpus’ voted No. 9 in
Artrocker’s Top 20 albums 2009
Also regular Radio 1 play, Glastonbury and Latitude appearance and this is
one of a handful of UK appearances on a European tour
Thu 24th – Acoustix – Square Brewery, Petersfield (2x acoustic solo/duo
slots)
Genre: Multi-genre
Get an acoustic fix of original material from some of the area’s developing
artists and accomplished performers
An opportunity to showcase new material to an appreciative audience
April
Sat 3rd – Leigh Mary Stokes – Cellars, Portsmouth (2x band slots)
Myspace
Genre: Indie/Pop
“… like tea and crumpets before work, roast dinner at your mum’s and
listening to your iPod on the bus”
Previous festival appearances at Bestival, Southsea Fest and Wight Air now
regularly touring the UK
Thu 29th – Polly Paulusma – Upstairs @ The Square Brewery, Petersfield (1x
acoustic solo/duo slots)
Myspace
Genre: Singer songwriter/Pop
“The most literate songwriter of her generation” – The Independent
Heart-stopping shows supporting Bob Dylan, Jamie Cullum, The Divine Comedy,
Marianne Faithfull and Coldplay.
May
Sat 1st – Minnaars – Cellars, Portsmouth (1x band slots)
Myspace
Genre: Indie/Pop
“Dancey & direct; very impressive stuff” – Artrocker… “Right now we’re
loving Busy Hands” – NME
2009 appearance at Leeds and Reading festivals, huge BBC Introducing
support… a superb live band
What to do next
Firstly, visit the main Stiff website at Stiffpromotions.co.uk
to check out those slots you think you
might be suited to – each date has plenty of biog about the touring act.
Check:
· Your style complements that of the headliner
· You’re Portsmouth/Southampton/Chichester/Winchester based
· That, out of courtesy to other venues and promoters, you’re not
already playing in Portsmouth in the 2 weeks either side of the show
· You have the ability to market your show successfully and with
professional commitment to your existing audience – national agencies &
management regularly ask for recommendations
Please do not call or text – however well intentioned – it simply doesn’t
suit the way we work when putting together shows. Thanks.
If all the above is looking promising then drop me a line with the show
you’re interested in together with a line or two about why you feel you’d be
a good match and your potential audience draw (it’s not called the music
‘business’ for nothing I’m afraid) – and we’ll take it from there!
Starnow.co.uk where talent gets discovered
Feb 2nd
StarNow is the world’s leading website for online casting calls and auditions. We currently have 2098 casting calls on the site and 666 of those are in our musicians category. We partner with several music competitions including TopoftheOx, Live and Unsigned and Open Mic. Musicians can upload audio and video files to their online profiles and can contact other musicians through the site.
For more information please visit Starnow.co.uk