Ok guys, what can I say? King Kong Club rocks! We had such a great time :-) And it really is such a great concept; they offer a platform for up and coming bands. It's not like go in and become famous, but do it right and you can really benefit from it. It's almost like a school test for bands, if you've done your home work, rehearsed a good set, dragged in your fans, friends and family and you can really do something with this. I highly recommend any up and coming Dublin band to take part. You get to practice a quick set up, how to win people over in a short set, you get to do a radio interview, which is something you need to learn how to do as well. It is all valuable experience and all for free. For us it was the first time, but few bands on the night had done it before. So you can go in, do your thing, learn from it and try again some other time. The guys have been running it for the past 7 years, oh yeah and did I mention, they are really nice guys :-) If only we knew where the microphone for the clap o metre was... Here's a review of the night: http://musicreviewunsigned.com/livereview.html
They also have a radio show on Dab radio, UPC channel 944 or online at: http://www.rte.ie/digitalradio/twoxm/
They are on every Wednesday at 3pm with a repeat on Sundays at 10pm. Our interview and hopefully some live tracks will be on it in few weeks time, so keep checking it out :-)
The battle of the bands concept is as old as rock music it self. But lately I've noticed lot more of them around. I know some musicians don't think much of them, or see them selves above it... And yeah, it would not be fare if Rage against the Machine would take part along side local garage band with three and half songs and a fashionably out of time drummer. But until you start pissing people off by winning each and every one of your local battle of the band competitions, I would say go for it! It is a great way to get to play in front of an audience and pick up some new fans :-) And there is some great networking to be done. You should not think the other bands as your enemy, even though a little bit of rivalry can be a good thing. Make friends with them, pick their brains, and let them do the same. Also get your friends to come in and take photos and video, this is always valuable promotional material for future. The cool think about King Kong Club is that they do this for you! They film your performance, and you get one track for free and you can buy the two more for what in my mind is cost price (it would not even cover the man hours of hired film crew), might just be the best value video you could get. I'll post ours as soon as we get our hands on it:-)
There are also bigger competitions as well, many of them online. We are taking part in one at the moment, check it out at http://www.supajam.com/fib2011/entry/jpkalliocom and you can vote for us by playing the tracks and then rating them. So please get voting :-)
If you are reading this blog on the day it comes out, this is for you: Tomorrow night there is a concert to raise awareness of Cystic Fibrosis and raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland. The night is called Rock For Breath. It's in the Gypsy Rose rock and blues bar at Aston quay should be a good night :-) We won't be playing this time, but will be there for the support.
Now we do have few concerts lined up as well :-) We will be back in the scene where jpkallio.com lost its virginity ;-) 4th of May in the Pint for Festival 4 Play night. And on the 5th of May we are in Leixlip, co. Kildare, in the Courtyard hotel, for their battle of the bands night, so that’s going to be a busy week. If any one from Dublin is coming to Leixlip, let us know. We might try to organize some transport for the night. But more on that later. Still long way off from our 100 concert challenge target, but one concert at a time :-)
So that’s all the updates, info and ramblings for this week. Talk to you guys next week.
J.P.
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