Big Brother was never big in Slovakia. It was on TV but nobody seemed to watch it and nobody seemed to talk about it. Slovaks would speculate on why the show did so well across the world and expats would feel happy about avoiding it. Reality TV hasn’t taken off over here but the one exception was the Slovak version of Pop Idol - Superstar, which is hugely popular. We Brits tend to lump it in with reality TV but really it’s a good old fashioned talent show, the sort of which was extinct in the UK for a while but are very popular here. With that in mind, BratVegas wondered how much of a draw a Slovak battle of the bands competition would be.
On arrival at Randall Club last Thursday, the place was packed so the answer had to be very popular. To give a bit more background, the competition is part of Emergenza - an annual global competition with representation in Slovakia for the first time. According to Emergenza, it was because this was the first year one of their reps was brave enough to venture into Eastern Europe (their words not ours, BratVegas knows Slovakia is well and truly located in Central Europe!). Having got through the heats in November, the eight bands were set to do battle for a place in the Central Europe round of the competition.
So what else could the winners expect? We asked Emergenza what has happened to participants in recent years and they gave 3 examples of bands - Emil Bulls, Radiopilot, Empty Trash - who have been signed to majors (one of the 4 groups of record labels who account for 80% of the global recorded music industry). In addition, “25% of the bands who played in the worldwide final got a deal at indie labels or radio deals”.
©Gloria CyclesWe asked Kenny from Gloria Cycles, the Brighton based winner of last year’s competition how it had affected their fortunes – “It didn't change the course of the band at all, but it did help us on our way and there are a whole load of gigs etc coming our way. Also it's an amazing opportunity to pit your skills against the rest of the world.”
And what’s next for the band?
“It's full steam ahead this year, three singles and an album. Then world domination. But not before I buy a white cat from a pet shop, a fake scare off ebay and a patch for one eye then myself and Jack will build a space station from which we can hatch our evil plans.”
©MandragoraBack to Randall and, though the competition was not genre specific, both the bands and clientele reflected the venues preference for rock, punk and metal. Descriptions of the bands encompassed many lesser known sub genres from progressive metal to to melodic death to post hardcore but as a non expert most tended to sound like straight-down-the-line metal or rock to me. There was some very good musicianship on display and the bands were impressively tight, though without any of them being especially original. But if a little pastiche at least it was good pastiche. Having witnessed many bands in London down there years who were formulaic and poorly drilled seeing bands who were formulaic and well drilled wasn’t bad at all.
©SoundriseIf there was a tendency for it all to sound a bit similar, it contributed to the why the winners were Soundrise. Second placed Millhouse also had a melodic edge to their rock (though in relation to their competition on the night this means only a vocalist who favoured singing over hoarse noise emissions) and third placed Mandragora did a fine metal pastiche. Soundrise stood out by being fronted by a female and playing a more melodic brand of metal (power ballad would be apt if it didn’t have negative connotations). However, their victory could be in some part due to the fact that they brought the most mates to the show.
©MillhouseCritics of Emergenza say it’s a competition based on the popularity of the bands rather than the quality of the music. Bands have to pay an entry fee to play, which they can recoup by selling enough tickets to their friends. This will help their pockets and their chances of progressing to the next round, via the show of hands vote that comes at the end of their performance (later rounds are judged by a panel of experts). The internet is full of articles complaining about this ‘pay to play’ situation. However, pay to play is common in the at the bottom end of the feeding chain anywhere in the music biz, where less than scrupulous promoters will charge bands for playing if they don’t bring in enough punters. Emergenza can at least argue that they supply the backline (guitar and bass amps, drum kit, cymbals etc), which is something you cant take for granted at many venues.
Some also point to the fact that, despite being the biggest global battle of the bands competition, the music industry doesn’t take it that seriously. Grace Wood, manager of Gloria Cycles admitted that, “I wasn't personally aware of the competition prior to the band's involvement, but it has stood the band in great stead, has opened up new territories across Europe and has enabled us to work alongside some great people who really want to help push the band.” Sebastian Haase from Emergenza claims that “the Taubertal Open Air is the European Festival where the most talent scouts appear.” If this is true then there’s certainly something to be gained for any band who get that far, and either way, a punter going to any of the shows should be guaranteed a good evening’s entertainment.
Soundrise will be appearing in the Central European final in Vienna at Reigen, Hadikgasse 62, on May 16th. Millhouse and Mandragora appear in the semi final in Vienna at Andino, Münzwardeingasse 2, on March 28th.
http://www.emergenza.net
http://www.myspace.com/gloriacycles
http://www.myspace.com/soundriserock
http://www.myspace.com/millhousesk
http://www.myspace.com/mandragora777
