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After many hours of deliberation, we are proud to announce the line up for the 2007 Red Stripe Cambridge Band Competition.
Held at here The Junction every Wednesday in March 2007, this band competition is one of the most prestigious in the area. The winning band will receive a cash prize of £1000, the runners up will receive £400.
Our fantastic sponsors have also donated even more prizes this year:
SRT are offering a 4 hour mastering session for the winner and a 2 hour mastering session for the runner up. SRT are also offering a special band competition rate for CD duplication packages.
The Vertical Rooms have announced 'The Vertical Prize for the Best Song' – Record one song at Vertical Rooms with producer Pete Bear
The Quite Great PR Prize for The Band Most Likely to... - The PR company will pick their favourite band for a consultancy session and publicity makeover.
The Lodestar Prize for best live band – A slot at Cambridge’s new three-day festival to be held on 31st Aug to 2nd Sept
Other prizes are still TBC.
THE LINE UP
Weds 7th March:
Six Ways From Sunday
Hekz
Kill the DJ
Anti Social Burn Outs
Weds 14th March:
Bomb Factory
Fugazirum
Kyla Bowen-la Grange
Me Against the World
Weds 21st March:
Under The Streetlamp
Flamboyant Bella
Fingersmith
After4
Weds 28th March:
Space Cadet
The Hot Bang
Linda's Nephew
Solvent
Grand Final - Weds 4th April with the winners of each heat plus the audience vote winner.
Tickets are £5 per event or £15 for a season ticket to all 4 heats & final. If you buy a ticket for a heat, you'll get a FREE ticket for the final!
More News...
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Escalator Music
Escalator is a pioneering talent plan from Arts Council England, East that finds, supports and invests in the best artistic talent throughout the East of England. Escalator is establishing the East of England as the leading UK region for talent development. It encompasses theatre, dance, arts & new technology, visual arts, new writing, classical & jazz and rock, pop, club & folk music. The last of these areas – rock, pop, club & folk music – is project managed by The Junction, Cambridge and called Escalator Music. It employs a group of active music industry professionals who support the musicians through mentoring, showcasing work, generating publicity and networking with the national and international music industry.
Music, of all the art forms, has perhaps the greatest potential to be a commercially significant career as well as just passion or hobby (4.1 million people in the UK take part regularly in rock, pop & club music according to the latest Arts Council survey), the UK’s music industry contributes a massive £6 billion to the GDP of the country and employs over 130,000 people. Escalator Music is primarily about continuing professional development and in order to have an holistic approach to this project it is important to not only look at the actual training and development itself but also the employment opportunities and career paths available to individuals once they have gone through this training. The music industry is notoriously difficult to break into and very fickle once you’re in it, however the rewards for the very few who do make a successful career from it are significant and therefore should not be ignored.
Escalator Music aims to make timely interventions in the careers of musicians from the East of England to enable them to make the best of the opportunities that are presented to them.
Entry onto Escalator Music is by invitation only. A network of talent spotters will identify and champion the artists that they discover while they are out and about at gigs across the region.
For more information visit:
www.escalatormusic.co.uk
More Projects...
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The post of Music Development Manager was set up in October 2001 to increase music participation activities at the Junction. The Music Development manager works closely with the Youth Arts Manager and other members of the Programming team to create opportunities for training, performance and enjoyment of music.
This post is part funded by Cambridgeshire County Council and has a remit for developing contemporary music across the county.
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This post has several aims that seek to aid musicians. DJs and promoters, some of these are listed below:
•Devise and deliver strategies for developing the Junction music programme including participation projects and performance.
• Explore new funding opportunities and generate funding for delivering the strategy.
• Devise and deliver external music development events and projects as part of Junction Exports.
• Assess the needs of musicians, promoters and audiences across Cambridgeshire.
• Liaise with musicians, local authorities, art organisations, the local education authority and develop appropriate networks.
• Continue to map facilities, venues and training opportunities.
• Raise the profile of these facilities and training opportunities.
• Facilitate training opportunities in related areas.
• Research funding opportunities and generate funding for projects.
• Collaborate with venues and promoters to develop audiences, recognising the rural nature of Cambridgeshire.
• Create positive links between the local, regional and national music industry
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Event Support
This has proved to be an increasingly popular service with The Junction supporting events in Melbourne, Stetchworth, Huntingdon, Ely and Cambridge. I help organising committees with planning and programming and my role is usually one of supporting and providing contacts. Summer 2003 sees this role expand with the launch of the Junction's new outdoor production service - Junction Exports so there may be more opportunities for local bands to play out doors on a good stage with great production facilities.
Band Surgeries
Free advice service to musicians and bands based in Cambridgeshire.
Does your band need some advice? Want to find a direction which you can all agree on ? Why not try a Band Surgery?
Band Surgeries have happened on an adhoc basis but continue to prove popular with bands of varying experience who are looking for direction and advice. A standard session lasts about two hours. The session usually takes place in a rehearsal space or in a pub – anywhere that the bands feel comfortable. During the session we look at the bands current work and assess their market position. Then we work together to come up with a timeline for achievements in the year to come. We then work on a financial plan to enable them to meet the bands targets. Drop me a line for more details.
richard@junction.co.uk
Music Business Support
The creative industries are a vital part of the economy, however, they are often micro businesses run by one or two people. Often they have little experience in running a business and little support. Part of my role has been to encourage new businesses to become established. Support of these businesses varies according to need. Some of them just need pointing in the right direction for business advice whilst others need information about the local music scene or contacts to the wider world.
Music Business Seminars
We frequently organise free seminars in Publicity for Bands, Getting Gigs, DIY Releases and Stagecraft. These aim to increase participants' skills and awareness of the music industry.
The Good Gig Getting Guide
This seminar develops your knowledge of the live Music scene. It offers sound advice for bands that want to improve their chances of getting more gigs by exploring the relationship between small promoters and artists. The seminar also looks at national promoters and agents with tips on organising small tours. There is also the chance to sit in the hot seat in a specially devised gig getting workshop.
Publicity for Bands
Get yourself heard above the din. Whether you are a musician in a band, putting on gigs or running a studio it’s a competitive world and we all need publicity these days. This session looks at how to get yourself noticed by equipping you with the basic skills you need to attract more attention. Press releases, biographies, photo shoots, poster design and interviews are all introduced through discussion and examples of good practice.
Indie-Pen-Dance Day
Recording and releasing your first single is a milestone in any bands career. This seminar goes through the process of recording, duplication and distribution. With tips on how to choose a studio what questions to ask a manufacturer, preparing for post-production and how to sell the things once they are made. The seminar also offers some advice of the types of deals offered by record companies and why DIY is the best route for new bands.
Technical Workshop
We will be running a performance workshop covering playing live from the presective of a sound engineer with tips on getting more out your sound check. This will happen in the near future, as soon as we have a date we’ll be in touch.
All the seminars are free and are aimed at bands that are already gigging but want to make that difficult next step. Please let me know if you are interested in attending any of these so that I can have an idea of how many we are expecting. Email for more details.
richard@junction.co.uk
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Local Links
www.thebandagency.com
A not for profit agency which works for both local and national acts
www.rocktech.org
The regular Saturday rock school
www.come.to/theportland
The Portland Arms 100 Capacity Cambridge venue
www.strawberry-fair.org.uk
Cambridge’s premier free event
www.repeatfanzine.co.uk/
R*E*P*E*A*T fanzine, promotions and record company
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The Junction Fiver
This is a new showcase opportunity for local bands to play at The Junction. The Junction has always had problems in the past with putting on local bands as our overheads are so large. This event promises a solution to the problem by putting together a line-up of five similar bands.
Line-ups so far include: •Fellthru •CRS* •Humanity •Eviscerate AD •Loophole •Big 10 •Keiresu •Slowdrowned • Sugar Rush • Super 7 • My Friend Irma • Jokers Wild •Misspent Youth • Street Regal
If you want to play at future Junction Fiver events please send in a demo and biography to Richard Brown, The Junction, Clifton Road, Cambridge CB1 7GX or email for more details.
richard@junction.co.uk
Funding Advice
Details of current funding opportunities can be found on the Arts Council England East website at www.artscouncil.org.uk
Funding has previously given money towards touring costs for bands like The Dawn Parade and Right Turn Clyde and given money for training to local musicians from Sunday Driver and to Cathy Coombs. It does happen, everyday musicians can get money from the arts establishment!
The Performing Rights Society Foundation has released news of their new funding strands for 2003. For more information visit www.prsf.co.uk
The PRSF give money to promoters, small festivals and to musicians who are writing new music.
For young people or people interested in working in the community as a musician you might want to check out www.youthmusic.org.uk . They have several funding schemes for projects aimed at young people aged under 18.
I can give more specific advice on funding or on completing funding applications if you would like or I can point you in the right direction for more ambitious projects.
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From October 2004, young people in Suffolk interested in a musical career will get all the advice and support they need with the launch of 'Amplifier'. This major music development project will be delivered by The Junction and will provide a total of over 2000 workshops during its three year life span
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