live and unsigned auditions

[HARLEY BENTON]

hey guys

thanks for all the feedback, here's a bit about the band.

formed in aug 08 aged 15.

started doing gigs in april 09.

played turriff academy, turriff youth centre (3 times), fraserburgh community centre, youthshine 09 at thainstone, oxjam 09 at the tunnels (twice), lemon tree nov 09 at a battle of the bands at which they won 1000 and are at captain toms this week recording.

once they new stuff is done they will update their web pages and start actively seeking gigs.

they are very good imho but their webpages let them down a bit, the video's do not reflect how good they are now and the three tracks they have were done at a local studio in april 09.

the new stuff should reflect how far they have come and how talented they are.

the tracks on bebo will not play for some reason but will play on myspace.

anyfeedback will be welcome.

cheers

bebo.com - Profile from Engraved Metal <Engravedmetal616>

Engraved on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

[Oedo 808]

What's your connection with the band?

[HARLEY BENTON]

proud father.

[Oedo 808]

I wish I'd put money on that! Good on ya though.

Well... welcome to the boards Dad! Give us a shout when the new stuff is released.

[annie stevenson]

Alright mate,

Whether you enter this competition is really up to you but I can give you some info on what it entails since we entered it last year.

Ok first off, we were "selected" for an audtion at Glasgows Royal Concert Hall , which you will agree sounds very grand and if you tell your mates, aunties and Grannies that you are playing there they will probably be impressed.

However the truth is you will probably find it is a hired room in the basement or somewhere .

In our case it was a small room just of a big Hall where some wedding show was being staged. We know this because we got lost trying to find the room and had to walk through this event.

Anyway we eventually made our way to through the hoards of young women whom we had initially mistakingly thought had come to see us, and arrived at the reception area.

Oh I should have said at this point it was 8 am in the morning . Now the last time I saw a band playing at 8 am in the morning was The Beatles rehearsing in the Movie "Let it be" and we all know what happened to them shortly after that.

Here we were joined by hunners of young hopefulls and who proceeded to wait patiently for their turn to shine. After a few hours had passed, and a few people had passed out having had no food, since none was available. ( make a note have a hearty breakfast before you arrive ) We were called through to the audition room. No sorry it wasnt the audition room it was actually a long queue which we had to stand in for another wee while, until eventually we got led before the judging panel.

Now despite being informed prior to this that all equipment by way of amplification would be provided. It turned out that there was only one guitar amp. As we have two guitarists which our application form made quite clear,this gave us a problem. Never mind we were told one of you can just mime a bit.!!!!

Before we played one of the judges asked us if we wrote our own songs, eh yes we replied. "How many" he barked, Dont really know" we said, "Ive done some and Tom has done some and then thers lots which we havent" ...Just give us a figure he demanded.

"32" we said which was a completed random number , but he seemed happy with that and so we played.

After that we returned to the waiting area for what seemed like an very long time.

Now something strange started to happen, as the morning wore on acts who had already auditioned were getting called in no particular order and all without exception were getting told they had got through to the next stage. They were all getting handed nice glossy folders containing some stuff. Many folks where doing high Fives and jumping in the air a hooping and a hollarin when told this news. Bootcamp here they come.

Since we wernt in this group we assumed we had failed to get through .Then after a while we got called over and got told we had got through as well in fact I dont think anyone got rejected , everyone was a winner oh happy days.

We even got a shiny new folder as well. We opened the folder and then it dawned on us what was going on.

The folder contained a contract and some information re the next stage.

It also contained 50 odd tickets for this event which we were expected to sell to our friends for 6 a piece. This would entitle our friends to attend a gig at a large Glasgow venue in which we would be playing, yeehah, for all of 3 minutes since there would be a lot of other bands on the bill who had also been given 50 odd tickets to sell and there wasnt time for any more songs.

It became clear that those audtions were just a means to ensure that a large amount of tickets were distributed to as many acts as possible.

Maybe some acts did get rejected at this stage, I didnt see any.

We declined to sign the contract and passed on the next stage.

If that doesnt bother you then go ahead, if you think you can bring a large crowd and take them round the country with you as you play the various heats then go ahead, The bands that can do this usually end up in the final strangely enough.

And the Prize, well a "20,000 -30,000 recording deal wouldnt cover the food bill for a major recording project, and If youd asked me who has actually went on to greater things as a result of this contest I couldnt tell you.

If it wasnt for Mr Robert Knight earlier posting I wouldnt have known who actually won this thing last year. The fact that he knew this is a matter of concern ; )

I think the advice most guys on here have given you is sound. However maybe our experience is not representative and sometimes its better to make your own mistakes.

.

[Oedo 808]

I know I shouldn't be surprised but I'm actually really angry about this whole thing. It's cynical, disgusting and exploitative. Sadly, there's nothing that can be done to stop them.

[saf-one]

hey guys

thanks for all the feedback, here's a bit about the band.

formed in aug 08 aged 15.

started doing gigs in april 09.

played turriff academy, turriff youth centre (3 times), fraserburgh community centre, youthshine 09 at thainstone, oxjam 09 at the tunnels (twice), lemon tree nov 09 at a battle of the bands at which they won 1000 and are at captain toms this week recording.

once they new stuff is done they will update their web pages and start actively seeking gigs.

they are very good imho but their webpages let them down a bit, the video's do not reflect how good they are now and the three tracks they have were done at a local studio in april 09.

the new stuff should reflect how far they have come and how talented they are.

the tracks on bebo will not play for some reason but will play on myspace.

anyfeedback will be welcome.

cheers

bebo.com - Profile from Engraved Metal <Engravedmetal616>

Engraved on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

Good stuff and glad to hear they're heading into Toms do some tracks.

Only young lads so they still need to hone their art and get some more gigging experiance huh. But at 15(!) they're doing great by the sounds of things.

Avoid that BOTB thing like the plague. Its a waste of time mate and the path they're on at the momnet is exactly what they should be doing.

-

[delboy]

correct me if I'm wrong people but can anyone name a BOTB winner that has gone onto global stardom? Thing is these sharks prey on young folk with stars in their eyes and start lacing their promotional material with amazing looking prizes. To a 15 year old the thought of a 20 or 30 grand recording contract would be appealing but in reality hardly worth the paper its written on. It's exploitation of the highest order and reading the tale of someone who went through the process last year confirms this.

[RF Scott]

hey guys

thanks for all the feedback, here's a bit about the band.

formed in aug 08 aged 15.

started doing gigs in april 09.

played turriff academy, turriff youth centre (3 times), fraserburgh community centre, youthshine 09 at thainstone, oxjam 09 at the tunnels (twice), lemon tree nov 09 at a battle of the bands at which they won 1000 and are at captain toms this week recording.

once they new stuff is done they will update their web pages and start actively seeking gigs.

they are very good imho but their webpages let them down a bit, the video's do not reflect how good they are now and the three tracks they have were done at a local studio in april 09.

the new stuff should reflect how far they have come and how talented they are.

the tracks on bebo will not play for some reason but will play on myspace.

anyfeedback will be welcome.

cheers

bebo.com - Profile from Engraved Metal <Engravedmetal616>

Engraved on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

mate don't bother with Bebo for a band page - it's a dead avenue, for better or worse. I'd thoroughly recommend Bandcamp and Last.fm !

[saf-one]

mate don't bother with Bebo for a band page - it's a dead avenue, for better or worse. I'd thoroughly recommend Bandcamp and Last.fm !

Bebo is still used by alot of youngsters.

Unlike many late teens/adults who have all deserted to Facebook.

If you check their Bebo there's decent activity on there so def worth keeping and keeping up to date.

Setting up a Facebook group or fan page is a good idea. As are the sites RF metioned.

-

[kingofdeon]

correct me if I'm wrong people but can anyone name a BOTB winner that has gone onto global stardom? Thing is these sharks prey on young folk with stars in their eyes and start lacing their promotional material with amazing looking prizes. To a 15 year old the thought of a 20 or 30 grand recording contract would be appealing but in reality hardly worth the paper its written on. It's exploitation of the highest order and reading the tale of someone who went through the process last year confirms this.

Leona Lewis?

[Guest Tam o' Shantie]

Bebo is still used by alot of youngsters.

Unlike many late teens/adults who have all deserted to Facebook.

If you check their Bebo there's decent activity on there so def worth keeping and keeping up to date.

Setting up a Facebook group or fan page is a good idea. As are the sites RF metioned.

-

bebo does't host music anymore.

[delboy]

Leona Lewis?

technically I suppose but I would suggest 'The X Factor' is more a karaoke/victorian freak show car crash type of competition programme than a battle of the bands contest.

[saf-one]

bebo does't host music anymore.

Can put links up etc

-

[The Kernel Loaf]

Wouldnt bother with it if I were you mate.

No band has ever got anywhere from winning a competition.

Estrella did - they became the headliners for a prestigious tour that spanned across six academies around Aberdeenshire to raise ball cancer awareness.

[Guest Tam o' Shantie]

Estrella did - they became the headliners for a prestigious tour that spanned across six academies around Aberdeenshire to raise ball cancer awareness.

mega rofl!

AND became aberdeens second most know hair metal band in the process.

[jester1470]

mega rofl!

AND became aberdeens second most know hair metal band in the process.

Whatever happened to the mighty Estrella, one minute everywhere, relocations from Thurso etc the next obscurity, did one of them develop a rowie habit or something ? They did start calling themselves a prog rock band, which was pretty far from Estrella as we all knew and loved, maybe everyone didnt appreciate their Jazz Odyssey direction...

[Bigsby]

More importantly, whatever happened to Stranded?

[Guest idol_wild]

More importantly, whatever happened to Stranded?

They changed their name to The View.

[Bigsby]

They changed their name to The View.

In your opinion.

[fretboy]

Live and Unsigned at Cardiff 2011

I took part in LandU auditions at Cardiff and did not like what I saw.

You can read about my experiences here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10pNGOARhGw8kTS-IZ_Fo8ExujB_-kI2OzuWudDyq6AM/edit?hl=en&pli=1#

I also suggest a snoop at the Leeds forum:

Leeds Music Forum • View topic - Live and Unsigned Scam ?

There's a lot of ill feeling towards LandU out there

[Lemonade]

So basically you are expected to do a shitload of publicity for them, sell loads of tickets for them, and you pay them for the privilege? Shocking.

[Christy]

^^^ Interesting, well written read. Not surprising in the slightest. Talent contests are notorious for being scams

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

Surprised to see the Music Radar logo there, must complain to Guitarist mag. The only BOB I'll defend was the old Drummonds one AKA triumphed in, at least they weren't speaking shite, you did get some bucks if you won, and people did come along to watch, plus the announcement tension, c'mon, daddy needs a new pair of shoes etc. That thing looks like malevolent ding.

[delboy]

That was a superb read and just highlights that most these competitions promising the earth are a scam.

The Drummonds ones were a bit of fun, I mostly enjoyed being the compere apart from when bands took it way too seriously and gave me GBH in the earhole! AKA The Fox were easily the one of if not the best band who played!