Unsigned Bands Competition 2005
As most of you will know by now the New Tent has been renamed the John Peel Stage in memory of one of new music’s most effervescent vanguards and in keeping with that tradition, there is practically no limit to the type of music you’ll find there – as with all the other prize stages, it’s a question of nuance rather than hard-line genre definition – but since we’re trying to pin it down for you, let’s say there broadly tends to be an indie/rock feel to the stage.
Last year the category was tied between Bradford-on-Avon’s BlackBud and The Subways from Welwyn Garden City. Both happen to be teenage threepieces who sit at either end of the blues-rock spectrum but whereas The Subways are punked up, hammering through tracks in under three minutes so you have to keep jumping to keep up, Blackbud play a laidback groove with moments of driving bass and rhythm that takes up and down on a slower curve.
Since winning the competition and playing both Avalon and the New Tent (now John Peel Stage), this year, Blackbud have taken that groove to a number of other festivals including playing the headline slot on Guilfest’s Uncut stage, replacing the Levellers. They have also since signed to the Independiente record label and will be playing four cities for the Wintercase festival in Spain alongside Hope of the States.
The Subways have done so much (Reading, Leeds, Zane Lowe, Vogue…) since playing their overall winner slot on the Other Stage that it’s hard to know where to start, but selling out of the 500 copies of their seven inch single ‘1am’ weeks before its release is surely worth a mention, and from a local perspective we’d like to think selling out Bridgwater Arts Centre a bit of a milestone, too. They’re on a national tour at the moment, dates on their website. By the sounds of things it’s worth booking in advance.
As one of the websites reporting on the competition put it, if you think your band could do with “a bit of that”, get your competition details here.
For full competition details and a downloadable application form click here.
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