And the Unsigned Awards go to...
12th August 2004
Six bands in the South West region of England and Wales have become the first acts to receive an Unsigned Award, courtesy of Fopp, the PRS Foundation for New Music and Clear, Sound & Vision.
The successful acts, K-Diff Syndicate (South Wales), The Barnaby Ray Quartet (Penzance), The Room Orchestra (Cardiff), Angel, Iles & Morris (Midsomer), Tanya Walker (Cardiff) and White Noise (Mid Glamorgan), will now be given the chance to record at a professional recording studio to produce a high quality finished product for promotion, sale and marketing. In addition, they will gain an insight into the world of recording and manufacturing.
The finished CDs will be sold in Fopp stores throughout the UK and the bands will also be given the chance to perform at an in-store event at their nearest Fopp shop, following in the footsteps of Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, Jet, Tenacious D and Marcos Valle.
All six bands were extremely happy to hear that they had been selected for the award. Paul Jones from the Room Orchestra said: "We are delighted to receive this award. It is always a struggle in the present musical climate to stand out amongst the crowd. So we tip our hats to the good people at Fopp, PRSF and Clear Sound and Vision for helping us along."
Shereanne Wood from the K-Diff Syndicate agreed: "I am overjoyed - overjoyed, ha! It is exciting, a good step forward and a great opportunity".
The initiative received a high volume of applications from across the region and these six bands were chosen from a shortlist of fifteen by a judging panel made up of industry insiders. Judges included members of the PRSF, Fopp and Clear, Sound & Vision, plus James Roberts (A&R correspondent for Music Week), Ronen Guha (Head of A&R, Bucks Music) and Andrew King (Director, Mute Publishing) who all agreed that these artists showed tremendous potential and would greatly benefit from the award.
The Unsigned Award is a four year commitment that has been developed to build on the success of the existing Fopp Unsigned Network, which currently offers a distribution network to unsigned bands across the UK.
It soon became apparent to Fopp that some brilliant live bands were unable to join the network or promote themselves properly because they could not afford to pay for a good quality demo. After discussions with the PRS Foundation and Clear Sound and Vision who were also keen to address this situation, The Unsigned Award was born and in order to manage the volume of applications, the initiative is being rolled out annually, region by region throughout the UK.
Says Mino Russo, Head of Marketing at Fopp: "The standard of applications for the first year of the Unsigned Award were really encouraging and I think we have chosen six great bands from a variety of different genres who all have promising futures ahead of them.
"It has become increasingly difficult for bands to get themselves noticed and we hope that this award will help them to take their careers forward."
David Francis, PRS Foundation manager adds "The PRS Foundation is totally dedicated to supporting innovative new music, from any genre, so we were really pleased that the first phase of "The Unsigned Awards" attracted applications from such an interesting mixture of acts.
"All of the final acts selected show genuine potential, drive and talent. We're delighted that the successful partnership between ourselves, Fopp and Clear Sound & Vision has culminated in them receiving exciting opportunities - and the wherewithal - to get their music out there and heard."
The Barnaby Ray Quartet will record at the Sawmills Studio in Cornwall and the five remaining bands will record at the Forge Studios in Oswestry in September.
For further information / interviews please contact: Lee Beattie at Burt Greener Communications t. 0141 248 6007 or lee@burtgreener.co.uk
Notes to Editors
Biographies
K- Diff Syndicate
Made up of over 22 artists from throughout Wales, the K Diff Syndicate's music spans many different genres of 'Urban Street' music from R'n'B, Garage and Hip-Hop to Soul and Dance. The band is a collective of singers, MCs, rappers and musicians and as one entity the K Diff Syndicate is a mass of ideas and talent that has no barriers.
Their 12 track demo, Cityzenship has been hailed by BBC Radio 1's Session in Wales as a "new landmark on South Wales' urban music map" and the band is currently in rehearsals for a string of gigs in August which will see them taking their music to a wider audience.
The Room Orchestra
This experimental pop quartet hails from Cardiff and is made up of Paul and Richard Jones, Spencer McGarry and Avvon Chambers.
The music has a dark, stripped down approach which leans towards Krautrock, Minimalism and also features elements of Jazz. The Room Orchestra have recently released Breakdown as a track on Cardiff based label Slow Graffiti's debut long player, Little Planets in the Wires.
Breakdown has already earned the band much praise in the music press with BBC Radio 1's Session in Wales proclaiming that the track was the highlight of Little Planets in the Wires. Time Out also loved the track, describing it as "great stuff" with "subtle electronic noises" which create "a satisfying experience".
Tanya Walker
Cardiff based singer/songwriter Tanya Walker began writing songs at the age of 17, and soon after released her first record.
Inspired by the music of Joni Mitchell and Carole King and later by Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley, Tanya performs regularly on the Cardiff music scene, presents a show on GTFM and has also hosted The People's Choice Welsh Dance Music Awards.
Often accompanied by cello and bass, her music has been described as heart rending and powerful.
Angel, Iles & Morris
Midsomer based band, Angel, Illes and Morris (formerly The Stitches) is made up of 19 year old Ben Angel and 21 year olds Matt Morris and Martin Iles.
With influences such as The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, Supergrass and Super Furry Animals, the band has a retro punk sound and has already written over 50 songs.
A love for playing live gigs has ensured that Angel Iles and Morris fans are always treated to an energetic, fun packed performance from the boys.
White Noise
Funk rock outfit, White Noise has 34 years of experience in the music industry between its four members have been involved with a variety of musical genres including traditional jazz, fusion funk, rock n' roll and punk folk with many more in between. It's easy to see from this wealth of experience where the bands incredibly original sound comes from.
Formed in the summer of 2000, the band are regulars on the Welsh gigging circuit and all four members have been involved with a variety of musical genres including traditional jazz, fusion funk, rock n' roll and punk folk with many more in between. It's easy to see from this wealth of experience where the bands incredibly original sound comes from.
White Noise are a fantastic live band and frontman Matthew Evans is particularly well known for his dancing style which has been likened to a hybrid of Ozzy Osbourne and Bez from the Happy Mondays!
The Barnaby Ray Quartet
As the only instrumental band to have won the Unsigned Award, Penzance based Barnaby Ray Quartet has a drum n' bass, funk and jazz sound which is partly due to the fact that all four members are studying for or already have a BMus in Jazz studies.
Already a huge hit in their hometown, the foursome has played a number of sell out gigs despite only having been formed under a year ago. With the help of friend DJ Fadadoo, as their regular support act, the band has been taking their jazzed up mix of funk and hip hop covers combined with Jazz and Latin to audiences throughout the South West.
About Fopp
Fopp ( www.fopp.co.uk ) was founded in 1981 by Gordon Montgomery, who is now the Chairman and majority shareholder of Fopp, as well as being the company's executive buyer. Fopp has become one of the fastest growing and most successful entertainment retail businesses in the UK with a chain of fourteen stores from Aberdeen to London.
Extremely competitive prices, excellent service and a huge product range spanning many genres have consolidated Fopp's popularity with the music, book and film loving consumer. A minimum of 20,000 lines are in-store at any one time and over the last two years books and DVD have become an important part of the range.
In recognition of its success Fopp was nominated as a finalist for the Growth Strategy of the Year award in the National Business Awards in 2003. In December 2003 the Time Out shopping survey rated Fopp as number 1 in London for products and service. In May 2003 Fopp won the 'Built in Quality' award from Camden Council for their Covent Garden outlet and in February Music Week awarded Fopp UK Breakthrough Company of the Year.
The Unsigned Network was initially launched in 2003 to offer unsigned acts the opportunity to have their music distributed around the UK for free and to receive monthly payments. The Network was relaunched last month and in order to manage the level of entries, the company has introduced a limit of 50 bands within the network at any one time plus free promotion within Clash magazine and on radiomagnetic.com
About The PRS Foundation for new music ( www.prsfoundation.co.uk )
The PRS Foundation (PRSF) is the UK's largest independent funder purely for new music, of any genre.
Its main aims are to stimulate and support the creation and performance of new music in the UK and to help audiences understand and enjoy the new music they experience.
The Foundation is now widely respected as a refreshingly approachable and adventurous funding body and supports a mind-blowing range of new music activity - everything from unsigned band showcases to composer residencies, from commissions for new music to experimental live electronica.
Launched in March 2000, the Foundation has successfully funded over 1000 new music initiatives to date, to the tune of nearly £5million. Its funding and partnership activities have enabled lots of ground-breaking collaborations and projects. It also actively supports new music projects throughout the UK, which help to inspire musical creativity in young people.
Please note: Although the PRS Foundation currently receives very generous support from the Performing Right Society Ltd, the Foundation is a registered charity and a separate entity in terms of its remit, governance and administration. We would therefore appreciate it if you would credit any support for funding to The PRS Foundation and not the Performing Right Society Ltd.
About Clear Sound & Vision
Established in 1997 CSV ( www.clearsoundandvision.com ) has been designed to provide a clear and personal style of manufacturing service for record companies, publishers and all users of audio and video formats. Our portfolio of customers varies from one off customers looking to manufacture a first release to small independent companies through to corporate organisations.
CSV is able to supply an excellent complete one stop manufacturing service including all aspects of design, reprographics, printing, manufacturing and total fulfilment. We are aware of how important and reliable the administration side of the service has to be, there emphasis is given on ensuring that order confirmations, delivery notes and invoices are despatched quickly and accurately.
The team at CSV have many years experience of all aspects within the music, video and media industries, and prides itself on the highest levels of communication at all times and to the development of long term personal relationships with its clients.