We’re now already into the final few days of public voting for our K!CKSTART! 2013 Competition, and here is part two of our interview with the finalists [Part One Here]. Remember, you can vote for your favourite act daily at THIS link.
► Sara Crockett
► You’re through to the Final 20 in our K!CKSTART Competition. What made you decide to enter?
I feel relatively new onto the scene, really I’m just starting out. With only one song recorded, nothing in the way of a video and a handful of pictures, it’s hard to expect anyone to take notice.. and with not a lot of money to change that I thought that this competition would be a massive boost, and a great way to get that little bit of extra exposure! The prize list is incredible, and a slot at Glasgowbury on top of everything else would be absolutely amazing.
► How were you made aware that Chordblossom was running this competition?
I’ve been following Chordblossom for a long time, but it was when the new site was launched that I went for an extra nosey around and came across the Kickstart competition. At first I thought that the competition was exclusive to bands and not solo artists, but after a friend set me straight on that one… I was right in there! Especially having known the success that has come to last years winner SOAK.
► How did you manage to select One Song (Your ‘best’ song) to send into the Judges?
I’m in the process of recording an EP, but I was desperate to get a Facebook page up and running so I put up the first track as soon as it was finished – “Hide & Seek”…and to this day it’s still the only song I have recorded! I chose to record it first for a reason. It was my favourite, it’s the one that after gigs people will mention to me and remember. I don’t know if it’s the lyrics that people can relate to or that they find it kinda catchy, but it gets a good response.
► Have you seen and/or heard the Shortlist? What do you think of your Competitors?
Listening to the other competitors has exposed me to a lot of talent that I was unaware of from this little country, especially the likes of Feet For Wings and Patrick Gardiner. It was also nice to see some other familiar faces in the line up! I’ve gigged before with Andrew Martin around Belfast, and I’ve known Paul Shevlin from Hologram since I was 11, we were in the same music class at school! The final decision I’m sure wont be an easy one..
► Finally, if you were to win the prize, how do you think this would affect your progress in 2013?
The exposure I’ve already gained from the competition is positive, as I know for sure that I have gained a few more fans from simply being in the final 20. If I were to win I think it would be the boost I need to up my online presence, create more interest with the PR, live video and promo shots and finally get another single recorded! It offers the opportunity to create yourself as a more professional artist, and with the other prizes that add that little extra sparkle like the logo and website.. hopefully it would lead to more gigs, more fans and a little more success!
► Twenty Second Century
►You’re through to the Final 20 in our K!CKSTART Competition. What made you decide to enter
When we saw the prizes we simply couldn’t resist. To win any of the prizes would be a massive boost for us this year!
► How were you made aware that Chordblossom was running this competition?
We all follow Chordblossom on Facebook and regularly visit the new website, for gig guides, reviews and the monthly mixtape. Then we noticed the advert for the competition and decided to enter.
► How did you manage to select One Song (Your ‘best’ song) to send into the Judges?
Well it was a tough one…but we decided to go with a track from our first E.P that was well received and had a few plays on radio 1. The track is called “And Goliath”.
► Have you seen and/or heard the Shortlist? What do you think of your Competitors?
Yes, there are some really top class acts in the shortlist. One that stands out is Sara Crockett she has any amazing voice and we had never heard of her before the competition.
► Finally, if you were to win the prize, how do you think this would affect your progress in 2013?
We intend to release our 2nd E.P this year but if we did win the grand prize it would be a massive help in every department in terms of artwork, music video, an extra track recorded and remixed! (also very interested to see how our band looks as Zombies!!!)
► Deerstalker
► You’re through to the Final 20 in our K!CKSTART Competition. What made you decide to enter?
Having been in the top five of Chordblossom’s ‘double A-side’ competition, we were unsure whether to enter another of Chordblossom’s competitions. However, the incredibly generous prizes available were more than enough to tempt us to enter our submission this year.
► How were you made aware that Chordblossom was running this competition?
We have been avid followers of Chordblossom since its launch last year, and in fact we were lucky enough to gain coverage on a number of our releases. We discovered the competition through their massive Facebook campaign promoting the competition… Hard to miss!
► How did you manage to select One Song (Your ‘best’ song) to send into the Judges?
We recently released our latest single “Motions”, recorded at Einstein Studios. It felt right to submit our ‘best’ song in terms of production quality and ‘newness’.
► Have you seen and/or heard the Shortlist? What do you think of your Competitors?
We are absolutely honored to be in the top 20 alongside 19 other fantastic artists. The level of talent is incredibly high and there certainly isn’t a single artist who doesn’t deserve to win.
► Finally, if you were to win the prize, how do you think this would affect your progress in 2013?
Obviously the prizes are absolutely amazing, and whatever artist wins will be launched into a very bright future. The competition last year was won by SOAK who is now signed by Universal – I’d like to think Chordblossom had a good hand in the early progress for that! It would be exciting to share our music with more people using more platforms than we currently provide. We love gigging and have never played a festival, so the slot at Glasgowbury would with out a doubt be a highlight.
► The Shout
►You’re through to the Final 20 in our K!CKSTART Competition. What made you decide to enter?
First of all we could not be happier to be down to the final 20 bands as this is a big accomplishment for all for of us. We decided to enter the competition as we thought it would be a great opportunity for our band to get a little bit more out there and to get our new songs into the ears of new and potential fans. This competition gives bands like ourselves the chance to actually try and live our dreams of making and playing new music.
► How were you made aware that Chordblossom was running this competition?
As a follower of chordblossom on facebook, we love to read reviews on other local talent and hear about new and exciting up and coming bands/events in Northern Ireland. Chordblossom is basically our guide to whats happening in this little country .
► How did you manage to select One Song (Your ‘best’ song) to send into the Judges?
We decided to submit the song ‘On and On’ as we are releasing it on 13th May of this year. We also thought it was the best song to submit as it can relate to a lot of people in many different ways. when writting this song it was basically all about the lyrics making and sure that they could relate to people and were easy to understand. Its also our favorite song to play and bop along to so thought “Why The Hell Not”!
► Have you seen and/or heard the Shortlist? What do you think of your Competitors?
All of the final 20 acts are absolutely amazing to say the least. There are so many great competitors and we are just glad that you guys thought we were good enough to be in the final 20. in the end everyone has done so well to be here.
► Finally, if you were to win the prize, how do you think this would affect your progress in 2013?
If we were to win this competition it would actually mean the world to us and that’s no joke. This actually would put us on the path that we have been trying to get on individually and as a group since we were in our young teens. We have so many things planned for this year in regards to releasing 3 singles along with a music video and a tour – so by winning, we would be able to live out our plans and dreams as there is only so much one can do as a group on our own and this would give us that push that we have been waiting for in the right direction. Thank you to all the guys who have voted already, for all your support and help as we are so grateful in which words cannot explain.
► Kept Under Glass
► You’re through to the Final 20 in our K!CKSTART Competition. What made you decide to enter?
We decided to enter because we’d just recorded an EP and we wanted to get the tracks out to as many people as possible, plus the prize sounded incredible, so we decided to go for it and see what happened.
► How were you made aware that Chordblossom was running this competition?
We found out about the competition through Chordblossom’s twitter and facebook pages.
► How did you manage to select One Song (Your ‘best’ song) to send into the Judges?
The song we selected had been making the most waves amongst radio DJs and other professionals, so we reckoned that it was the best song to send in.
► Have you seen and/or heard the Shortlist? What do you think of your Competitors?
We’ve heard of some of our competitors, but some are new to us, which is a good thing; we’ve been able to hear new artists. There’s a lot of variety in the other acts and it’s good to see a lot of different genres so well represented. There’s also a good mix of brand new and more established artists, which is interesting!
►Finally, if you were to win the prize, how do you think this would affect your progress in 2013?
It would massively increase our progress we think, it would allow us to reach so many more people and it would mean that we wouldn’t have to organise everything ourselves, which is a massive boost when you’re at the stage we’re at.
► Rocket Propelled Gorillas
► You’re through to the Final 20 in our K!CKSTART Competition. What made you decide to enter?
We wanted to see how we measured up to the local crowd and the grand prize really was too good to pass up on. We want a piece of that.
► How were you made aware that Chordblossom was running this competition?
The Chordblossom Facebook page.
► How did you manage to select One Song (Your ‘best’ song) to send into the Judges?
…it was uhh, our only recorded track at the time, however, we recorded it specifically as it was our best track at the time. Our more recent tracks are way better though *cough* EP launch on 23/04/2013 *cough*.
► Have you seen and/or heard the Shortlist? What do you think of your Competitors?
Yeah we have…we could take ‘em, except feet for wings. Those boys could tear us apart. Seriously though, it’s some hugely tough competition at the minute and the genres are that widespread that it’s anyone’s game.
► Finally, if you were to win the prize, how do you think this would affect your progress in 2013?
Immensely. The opportunity to play Glasgowbury in our first year of starting this band would be an amazing feat and all the PR, media and recording opportunities granted by the grand prize would give us that leg up which will get people to take note and consider us a properly up and coming band. We also desire to be zombis, very much so.
► August
► You’re through to the Final 20 in our K!CKSTART Competition. What made you decide to enter?
The prizes are out of this world and for a local act to be in the top ten would be a massive boost for them. It’s also a fantastic way to get networking as chordblossom is a very established and dedicated media outlet, who works tirelessly to promote the music scene both at home and abroad. These guys really do bend over backwards to give bands a leg up in the industry.
► How were you made aware that Chordblossom was running this competition?
In short, SOAK. Her success from winning last year’s competition sent a ripple effect through the entire NI scene. This both inspired and encouraged us to enter. We’ve been following chordblossom since its inception and recently did one of the Introducing interview’s so we’re always in the loop with what’s coming up.
► How did you manage to select One Song (Your ‘best’ song) to send into the Judges?
Eunan and I have always wanted to collaborate on a project together. We decided to set up a ‘would-be’ studio at home and record a collection of songs. We selected the song ‘Counting hearts’ because it was the first we had worked on together, it was only released one month ago and was the only one available to enter as our upcoming EP ‘Foreign disco’ is being self recorded as we speak. ‘August’ is still a very new project as we only formed in November of last year but we’re very excited for the future as the feedback has been great.
► Have you seen and/or heard the Shortlist? What do you think of your Competitors?
Yes we have, there’s such a diverse array of talent, the chordblossom team have really nailed it again and we feel privileged to be among the last 20.
► Finally, if you were to win the prize, how do you think this would affect your progress in 2013?
The term DIY gets thrown around a lot but with ‘August’ it has been the sole ethos behind everything we have done up to this point. Together we are putting are heart and soul into not only the writing of these songs but the making as well. We have a set of goals and to win the grand prize would instantly fulfil many of them, propelling us on to a platform with the ability to expose ourselves to a much bigger audience. Without winning this competition it wouldn’t be possible to reach these goals in such a short space of time.
► Ruairi and the Owls
► You’re through to the Final 20 in our K!CKSTART Competition. What made you decide to enter?
It’s such a great prize/opportunity for a band to get they’re foot in the door and their names knocking around the local scene.
► How were you made aware that Chordblossom was running this competition?
We followed it last year but sadly didnt enter as it had closed by the time we heard about it. So when we seen it happening again this year on Facebook we jumped at the chance.
► How did you manage to select One Song (Your ‘best’ song) to send into the Judges?
Well ‘Let you out’ is the most popular track off our second ep. It’s the song folks ask us to play at gigs. So it was a bit of a no brainer really.
► Have you seen and/or heard the Shortlist? What do you think of your Competitors?
Yeah we’re good friends with a few of the bands. Augusts Jonny everett is my fellow bandmate in Furlo. So its a healthy bit of craic. We’re always helping each other out with our side projects, so whatever happens we’ll be over the moon if someone does well.
► Finally, if you were to win the prize, how do you think this would affect your progress in 2013?
There’s no doubt that winning this competition will create a wave or two in 2013 for whoever’s fortunate to win it. It’s such a mammoth prize, only great things can come from it. Fingers crossed!