This article is from page 18 of the 2011-10-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
THE search for the Banner County’s best new musical talent gets underway in Ennis next weekend with the opening round of the Mixtape Music Battle Extravaganza.
This year, the annual music competition, run by Clare Youth Service (CYS), sees greater emphasis on young musicians recording their own music and building their profiles as performing artists. Organised by members of the CYS Music Project, the competition will link in with the ongoing Mixtape series of live music events being run and promoted in Glór in Ennis.
The Music Project committee is comprised of young people supported by a number of staff and volunteers. The committee oversees the purchase of equipment, organisation of all performances and administration of training events.
Giving young bands, singers, DJs and performers of all stripes an opportunity to showcase their talents is one of the project’s central aims.
This year, the competition is again aided and supported by the Mid West Regional Drug Task Force and will take a different format to other traditional young band competitions. The Mixtape Music Battle Extravaganza will be staged over three separate events, each. The aim of the Mixtape competition is to attract all forms of musical creativity, from bands, DJs, producers, solo artists, beat-boxers, acoustic acts, rappers and traditional Irish music musicians.
The opening round commences on Saturday, October 15, in the main hall of the CYS building in Carmody Street in Ennis. Only four acts will progress from the first round to the next stage of the competition.
Contestants must register in advance before October 12. Application forms are available from the Bureau of Clare Youth Service in Ennis, as downloadable documents on our CYS Music Project Facebook page and also by email. Each act will receive 15 to 20 minutes of performance time on the day, and will be required to perform at least three songs, one of which must be original material. DJs and producers must include one of their own original productions in their sets also. The competition is open to the general public and performers are invited to bring along some audience support on the day. Audience admission is € 3. As with all Clare Youth Service events, this is a strictly drug and alcohol free event.
Four acts from the elimination round will be invited to progress to the second round of the competition, which will focus largely on composition and recording. Each act will be asked to compose an original song and will have one full day in the CYS studio, along with engineers, to write and record the song. The whole process will be captured on camera and each act will be asked to use the footage and recordings to develop their band identity online. The two acts that score the highest in this section will progress to the third stage of the competition and be invited to go head to head in the Mixtape Final to be held in Glor in early December.