PRESS RELEASE - Pudsey Bands In The Park 1st October

Following the success of last year’s Bands in the Park, Pudsey Park will again play host to a great FREE afternoon of family fun and music, hosted by Radio Aire’s Danny Mylo. The event will take place on 1^st October 2011.

Pudsey Business Forum is once again giving local musicians a chance to play in front of industry professionals, as well as the chance to win some fantastic prizes. This year the winning band will not only receive 2 days of recording time at Cannonball Recordings, free rehearsal time at Eiger Studios, but will also have the opportunity to play on the Pudsey stage at this year’s BBC Children in Need.

After an overwhelming response from young local musicians, the final bands have been selected, and include local Pudsey bands ‘A Mile Down’ and ‘Boxsmash’. Please find attached a full list of the West Yorkshire bands in the final. 

Local music industry advisors will be on hand to give advice and invaluable feedback and will include:

Mickey Thompson (Leeds Festival Fringe

James Reins (Broken Heart Underground)

Kate Prothero (Music journalist and band mentor)

Aynz (Bludger)

Adam Williams (Leeds Indie Radio)

Darren Walker (Red Print and Embroidery/Freelance Musician)

Danny Mylo (Radio Aire)

Isaac Heywood (Rock School ),

The bands will be judged by:

Kate Prothero 

Darren Walker 

Tim ( Factory St Studios)

Mickey Thompson. 

The event promises to be even bigger and better than last year, and is a great platform to

celebrate life in Pudsey, as well as enjoy some great local music. There will also be FREE

refreshments provided, courtesy of Britvic. The event is to be held in aid of the Spina Bifida Foundation.

For more information, join our Facebook page Bands in the Park 2011.

Yorkshire Music Collective/I 'Heart' Indie with Geek at Bingley Music Live

Geek
I Heart Indie Photography

Sunday morning and the first band on is Geek, a four piece rock band from Bradford. There's already quite a good crowd here, Bingley festival goers like to come early and set up their chairs and blankets. I recognise a few of the young people down the front from the day before and as yesterday they are showing their support for the unsigned talent too. I like Geek's set, the guitarrist and the bass player alternate vocals and harmonise well with the vocals of the keyboardist as well. I wasn't expecting such a rock sound from one guitar and keyboards but they really pound out a good tune.

Geek
I Heart Indie Photography

After their set we try to catch each other numerous times in the backstage area but they are very much in demand and we agree to meet again at their single launch the following week.


So a week later I am at Bradford Playhouse and joined by Sean, guitarrist and vocalist, Andrew, keyboards and vocals, Laycock the drummer and Dave who plays bass and sings.


Obviously the first question has to be if they enjoyed playing at Bingley Music Live and they all agree on "awesome", an amazing experience and without a doubt the best gig they've ever played, and of course the biggest. As it was only a 20 minute set they'd had to whittle down their set list to contain their strongest songs and then they'd practised intensely for a month.

Geek
I Heart Indie Photography

I asked if they'd felt a vibe from the audience as there were quite a lot of people there even though it was early and they said it was fantastic, they weren't used to being so far away from the audience so they were quite surprised at the atmosphere and feedback from the public. I wondered if they'd enjoyed all the attention backstage with numerous interviews and if it had taken long to come back down to earth. They'd all come back down to earth with a bang as they had to work on the Monday!


The conversation moves to the reason we are in the Playhouse tonight which is the release of their single "Something in the Water", the gig is also part of Bradford Science Week. The single is available from their website www.geektheband.com and they also have some gigs lined up in Leeds to further promote the release. They are currently working on an album due for release next Spring. 

Geek
I Heart Indie Photography

I ask if they think they picked up a few new fans at Bingley and they said this was definitely the case, they had enjoyed talking to people after the set and had been surprised to see people they didn't know wearing Geek t-shirts and it had definately been a boost for them.


Geek had got their slot at Bingley because they have been taking part in a mentoring programme at Factory Street Studios, I asked what this entailed and they said it was a 6 months programme which taught you the aspects of band you don't normally have time for when you are rehearsing, such as the business side of things, promoting your band, getting gigs and media interest and they thought it had put them on the right track. 


So for the second time in a couple of weeks, I see Geek playing a really good set - dressed in laboratory coats for the science festival!


Michelle Dalgety
Yorkshire Music Collective/I 'Heart' Indie


Yorkshire Music Collective
I Heart Indie
Geek

Yorkshire Music Collective/I 'Heart' Indie with Thirteen 16 at Bingley Music Live

I am around early on Saturday morning so I am in plenty of time to catch Thirteen 16, the first band of the day, this is a very young 3 piece metal band from Bradford. They play a really good set and most importantly look as if they are enjoying it. They have a powerful sound for a three piece with some great riffs. I manage to catch up with them just after for a quick chat.

Thirteen 16
Chris Larner Photography

The lads introduce themselves, we have Squish who plays bass, Joe the drummer and Liam is the guitarrist and vocalist. I ask them how they think their set went and in a chorus they say awesome, it was their best gig. I 
ask them if they have a lot of gigging experience and they say they've done a lot of gigs but obviously nothing of this size. I asked how they had prepared for the gig and they said they'd given a lot of thought to the  songs, they'd even thought about shortening some of their songs too in order to fit in the 20 mins.


I wonder what they think playing at BML might do for them as a band, they think it has helped them gain some new fans and are excited that a lot of people have asked for a photo taking with them or asked them to sign things.

Thirteen 16
Chris Larner Photography

They tell me that they have been together for nearly two years after meeting at Rock School at Factory Street Studios, I ask if they had played individually before meeting up and they tell me they were all beginners when they started the rock school, Squish and Liam knew each other from school but hadn't played together.


I ask them who they are looking forward to seeing and they say that first they are really enjoyed Skindred last night and were looking forward to Maximo Park and Feeder today and are overjoyed that they have been able to play on the same stage.


Michelle Dalgety
Yorkshire Music Collective/I 'heart' Indie
Yorkshire Music Collective Facebook
I 'Heart' Indie Facebook

Thirteen 16 Facebook

Yorkshire Music Collective/I 'Heart' Indie with State of Error at Bingley Music Live

State of Error @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

Casting my mind back a few months I can remember a worried looking State of Error bemoaning the fact that they were drawn first at the heats for the BD1 Live competition to win a slot at BML and really didn't want to play first. They went on and played a very good set to the many fans who had come to see them as they always do. It was a particularly tough night as there was strong competition from The 27 Club, Remember The Hurricanes, You Had Me At Hello and Tiny Giants. Tiny Giants won the heat on the day and State of Error won on of the 3 best runner up places to go in to the final.


The final was held at St. Georges Hall, a good evening's entertainment with Kath and The Mighty Menace, King Headlock, Remember The Hurricanes, Ti Amo, Tiny Giants and State of Error. I was really pleased for State of Error who are are hard working young band and truly deserve a shot at the big stage. I chatted to them afterwards and they were more state of shock than State of Error, they were overwhelmed to have won a place at Bingley.

Mikey Green @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

I asked State of Error if Yorkshire Music Collective could do a little stalking on their big day and they were most obliging. I arrived early on and they agreed to come out and chat between setting up and going on and playing. They were the second band on the Saturday, playing after Bradford youngsters Thirteen 16.


I'm soon joined in the press area by Richard Hadley (vocals, guitar), Mikey Green (bass, backing vocals), Danny Moore (drums, backing vocals), Tom Partyka (lead guitar) and obviously the first question is if they are feeling prepared, Richard thinks that mentally they are but not physically, the rest of the band seem to think its the other way round. I ask them if this will be the biggest stage they have played on and jokingly the say they think its a bit bigger than the Piece Hall stage, Mikey says it was a tremendous feeling stood on the stage and feeling the sound of the drums, he said the whole stage was moving. I am wondering if they have chosen different songs for this set for a bigger stage and Richard says they have practised hard to fit as many songs into their 20 minute slot as possible. Some good natured banter starts among the band members who seem to think that Richard is not letting them get a word in edgeways and they let out a tiny secret that as much as they have tried their set is actually 21 minutes long. I ask Mikey if he thinks lead singers talk too much and he says yes they are basically prima donna's and reminds Richard he recently went home from a gig to straighten his hair. Richard defends himself saying he can't go on stage feeling his hair isn't right and the band start to tease him saying his hair is getting out of place in the wind. 

Richard Hadley @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

I ask if they think image is important to a band as well and strangely they all look at Tom who wants to know why they are looking at him as if he is a tramp, the band agree that image is important to 3 of them and before an argument starts I change the subject and ask what they are hoping to get out of today's gig. They say they want to pick up a few new fans and after the gig they will be handing out some promo CD's, they wanted people to not go from the gig thinking that second band was good what were they called, but that they could take something with them to remind them of the band. Conscious that time is moving on I let the band go backstage and I head off frontstage so I don't miss any of their set.


There's already a good crowd here considering its still quite early, I think its a lot busier than this time last year and there are a lot of young people at the front ready to watch State of Error. And here they are, they bounce on stage and their customary energetic performance begins. This band are so fun to watch and you can't help but bounce along with them. The photographers certainly have a difficult task, these lads are running around stage the whole 20 minutes, the guitarist and bassist swapping places continually.They are engaging the fans from the first note, encouraging them to wave or clap along and their catchy choruses soon have the crowd singing with them. They pull out all the stops and pack a great deal in their 20 minutes, personal favorites for me were Forever Waiting, Caught in the Rip, and Sunset Boulevard. I'm watching the crowd as well as the band and they are really getting into this band. After an amazingly fast 20 mins, the band remind everyone they will be giving out CD's and coming to greet people at the VIP entrance in a short while.

Later I head up the VIP entrance where the street team have been giving out CD's, I asked them how they were going and they told me they only and 1 left from the 100 they had brought with them, they said the feedback about the band was positive and I can tell that from the large number of people waiting for the band to come out and sign their CD's. The team is made up of family and friends, including talented young singer Sarah Carey who has featured on their album. I ask what they had thought of the bands performance and they all coincided that the band had deserved to have a shot at the big stage and had made the best of it. Next I talk to a group of young girls who have heard State of Error for the first time today and are clutching their CD's waiting for the band to come out.


When they do come out, they are literally swarmed by fans and well wishers and take time to talk to everyone and sign all the CD's, Mikey tells me that he thought they'd done the set in 20 mins because the nerves had made everything a shade faster.

Danny Moore @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

I asked the band if they had enjoyed themselves and they said it was awesome, the best gig ever with an amazing on stage sound which made a pleasant change, they had a buzz off the crowd's reaction but Tom admitted his legs were shaking with nerves at one point. I asked if they thought there might be more big stages for them now and they said they wanted to do Leeds next year, the dream would be to get on Leeds Festival without going through a battle of the bands competition, by reputation. 


I tell them I have been chatting to new fans and ask if that had been one of their objectives today, they said that had always been the plan, to make use of the opportunity they had been given and promote themselves as much as possible and one of the triumphs of the day had been to have a street team to assist with giving out new CD's.

Tom Partyka @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

I ask the band what the plans for the day are and they most coincide that they will be chilling and drinking a few beers, Richard says he will be staying sober and trying to sell a few t-shirts. They are unanimous that the band they are most looking forward to is Feeder as they have done a couple of covers in the past. Richard said so far for him the best band had been Skindred and was looking forward to the rest of the weekend. And as more fans appear I leave them to enjoy their day, though I do keep bumping into them throughout the day.


It's great that local bands are given a chance to shine at Bingley Music Live, its fantastic when they recognise that opportunity and make the most of it as State of Error did.


The interviews recorded with the bands were played on Yorkshire Music Collective show on BCB Radio on 8th September and is available on the listen again feature on www.bcbradio.co.uk

Michelle Dalgety for Yorkshire Music Collective/I 'Heart' Indie
Yorkshire Music Collective
I `Heart`Indie
State of Error website