Ace Comp For Bands And Artists

In Conversation With Mud Hut's Tim Exile for Brighton SOURCE magazine, Brighton's best listings,music,clubs,culture magazine

Back in 1998 Mud Hut were the first UK company to legitimately sell mp3 downloads worldwide, so when they asked us to be a part of a massive competition involving some of Brighton’s music industry players we were all ears. Juice FM, Soundlocker Studios, Mud Hut and SOURCE will judge a huge competition to find a new artist or band from Sussex who will receive support and help across the board. We thought we’d better have a chat with Mud Hut’s Jonathan Falgate about it.

It’s going to be hard to pick a winner I’d imagine, but from our end I think we’ll be looking for a band or artist that manages to combine originality with melody and either emotion or energy. Or we might end up being attracted by something else entirely.

Each judge will be looking for certain things but first and foremost great music. For us it’s also important for a band to present themselves professionally. Well-designed web pages with videos and live footage, blogs, pictures etc. Everyone can set up a MySpace now, that’s the norm – we will be looking for bands that go one step further. They need to show that they are ready and motivated to engage their fans and actively go and develop a wider audience.

Obviously all the judges will be going into this with open ears, but what sort of bands have excited you over the last few years?

We would tip our hats to Tim Exile, for pushing the boundaries of electronica and his incredible synthesis work, Blood Red Shoes always continue to impress us, Kovak’s live shows are simply electric, we love Sophie Madeleine’s innovative methods towards self distribution and use of YouTube, The Perils, The Beautiful Word. The list could go on…

There’s definitely something special about Sussex bands – from The Maccabees to PRJCT MYHM our guys just explode with creativity.

It’s not just the bands that are special. It’s the artists and the galleries, the writers, the magazines, radio, shops. Sussex is a do-it-yourself place. Pride is the biggest in the country, the Fringe is the biggest after Edinburgh. We have the sea, the Downs and all these inspiring surroundings. We have everything we need to manifest what we want, as well as the support from so many other like-minded people. You’re really free here to put yourself out there, wear what you want, say what you want and nobody lives by that more than the musicians.

What do you hope it achieves?

We hope that it creates a bit of a community; lets the bands know what a great group of independent music companies there are in Brighton and how lucky we all are for that. I hope that it lets the companies know what a great pool of creative people we have. I just want to make everyone aware of each other’s efforts and create something that everyone is involved with.

WINNER’S PRIZE

• A chance to record one original song and a cover in Soundlocker Studios’ legendary Live Room, which will then be professionally mixed
• Have the songs premiered on Juice 107.2FM
• We’ll then feature them in September’s SOURCE
• The recordings – which are yours to keep – will be released on iTunes and Spotify by Mud Hut
• The performance will be videoed in HD and professionally edited into a live video and exposed to more than 600 people per day for three months – that’s over 50,000 viewers

SECOND AND THIRD PRIZES

• Free digital marketing and promotions consultation at the Mud Hut Digital office
• Free goodies from Brighton music shops

HOW TO ENTER

Be in a band or be an artist.
Live in Sussex.
Log onto Facebook.
Search for Brighton Live Lounge.
Post a link to your MySpace page.
Wait.
Make a cup of tea.
Wait some more.

FYI
CLOSING DATE: 16^th August
FACEBOOK: Brighton Live Lounge
WEB: www.brightonlivelounge.co.uk