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Unsigned bands to battle for studio time, recognition
By Diana Matusewic
On Feb. 5, the 11th annual Battle of the Unsigned Bands, sponsored by UPB, will give five different bands a chance to earn studio time and recognition.
The five bands, selected from a total of 24 demo tapes are: McKinley Place, Dysfunction 212, Restructed, Ignition and Hydrophonics.
"(They're competing for) 10 hours of recording hours from Angel Beach studio, also a paid slot at music fest." said Jesse Birnstihl, Mississippi Music Festival Coordinator and student.
The five finalists were selected by the criteria of sound quality and originality. The winner will be decided by a committee of professionals in the music industry. This panel will judge sound quality, originality, audience reaction and stage presence.
Beyond their performance, Angel Beach will demand more from the finalist.
"We look for bands that are professional; (who) run their band like a business; bands who are serious about being in the business," said Blake Anderson, owner of Angel Beach." I look for artists that don't have big ego problems."
Angel Beach is located in Minneapolis. Since 1995, they have been helping bands achieve their goals.
Making it in the music business is not an easy task and this record company understands that it takes a lot of effort to get started.
"A lot of people have the illusion that you get signed to a major label then go to Hollywood," said Blake, "A lot of bands don't realize there's a lot of steps you have to take,"
The winner of the unsigned band will be offered opportunities from Angel Beach.
"We help with putting their whole plan together depending on where they're at," Blake said.
Depending on what the goals are of the band, they can get studio time, manufacturing CDs, promotion and/or airplay on college radios.
Angel Beach has connections with college radios all over the country and each band can get airplay from 100-300 different stations,
"It's a good way to market; the bigger stations look at college stations," Anderson said. "We pick out stations that work specifically with the band; you can get a lot of buzz on your band based on air play."
Getting music out to different TV shows or movies is another possibility,
"We got stuff placed in a cartoon on ABC, on Dawson's Creek and ESPN X-Games," Anderson said. "Our whole focus is to help them out whether they're just staring out or have been in the business a long time; we try to get them a variety of things they need to be involved in."
Any band can apply for this annual event by sending in a demo or visiting UPB, with the stipulation that at least one member of the band is a student.
The 18th annual Mississippi Music Fest will be. Apr. 27 at Riverside Park
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