This is the most bullshit competition I have come across.
Andrew Featherstone makes a shitl;oad of money off nz muscians by charging bands $40 to enter, charging at the door, not paying the musicians.
He leads musicians to believe that it is worth it for them because they get exposure and if they win, will get famous!
This is a crock of shit, I know bands who have made it to the finals and got nothing for it.
You get more exposure by gigging regularly, and at least then you get the door to cover your costs.
ANDREW FEATHERSTONE IS A CROOK taking hardworking nz musicians for a ride to profit off them
Also, don't go to his scummy practise space, that's a rip too and it's crusty.
Go to the killing room or anywhere else.
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Plus the judging is a joke too, i urge ...
Plus the judging is a joke too, i urge everyone to focus your energies elsewhere
Hmmm. No one touching this one. I ...
Hmmm. No one touching this one.
I kinda thought making this a world competition a bit harsh. Do i get flown to auckland for the finals from tauranga or is that just for internationals?
// I kinda thought making this a world ...
// I kinda thought making this a world competition a bit harsh.
why? 'cause now the competition is to find the saddest metal band in the world, not just New Zealand?
//why? 'cause now the competition is ...
//why? 'cause now the competition is to find the saddest metal band in the world, not just New Zealand?//
HAHAHAHA... . I was thinking the exact same thing last night. only saddest replaced with crappyest...
//Do i get flown to auckland for the ...
//Do i get flown to auckland for the finals from tauranga or is that just for internationals?
Yes (Dan?) NZ national finalists will get their transport provided to the NZ National final, as has been done every year. The method of transport I am not sure of though. If your band was coming from as close as Tauranga, im sure that the transportation would be bus
everyone goes by bus even the bands ...
everyone goes by bus even the bands from Dunedin....
How many bands on the bill @ $40 per ...
How many bands on the bill @ $40 per band?
What is the usual Cover Charge (Patrons - Door) ?
and how many people can he leagally squash into the venue ?
Wpould be very interested to know these figures if anuone knows,,thanx Troops.
I think the $50 band fee is fair, but ...
I think the $50 band fee is fair, but charging punters at the door as well? shit man, it's hard enough to fill up a room- venues should be happy enough with the increase in bar sales or something, fuckin crook n flail should be happy they're getting punters at all
sorry- that post should've been from ...
sorry- that post should've been from me rather than on behalf of my band, they're not as moany as i am, so it's a bit unfair. at any rate we're looking forward to the competition, first time we've entered it and regardless of how much it costs the bands, it's good experience all the same
// regardless of how much it costs the ...
// regardless of how much it costs the bands, it's good experience all the same
that is the stupidest thing i have ever read. What experience are you gaining? playing at a pub? you don't care how much it costs but you want to play at a pub?
What is the other experience? playing in a dodgy band competition, something that people should have grown out of after rockquest?
Bands shouldn't compete, how do you ...
Bands shouldn't compete, how do you compare when there are so many genres?
And to anyone who thinks Andrew charging each band $50 (not 40!), I;'d like to see justifictaion of that.
He makes enough money as it is from sponsors and the $6 per head door charge.he is charging the people who are making it possible for him to run this thing whcih makes him so much money!
Scum.
It's like a fast food restaurant charging you to go there before you buy the food.
in fact it's like the fast food ...
in fact it's like the fast food restaurant charging you before you go there to cook the food
Actually, sponsors for the most part ...
Actually, sponsors for the most part only provide prizes, not funds
schmoove, it is obviously the first ...
schmoove, it is obviously the first time you have entered.
It often takes a band the experience of enetring to realise it is a blatant rip off and waste of time.
I am not giving my money to that crook.
apologies for being from the school of ...
apologies for being from the school of thought where you take every opportunity you can then- shit, if the whole thing turns out to be a complete waste of time I'll happily come back here and whinge about it like you cynical motherfuckers believe me..
and playing the crook is not my idea of valuable experience, but shit like this is par for the course innit
// apologies for being from the school ...
// apologies for being from the school of thought where you take every opportunity you can
What is the opportunity? To win a competition and release a record on a label nobody cares about? Even if you win you lose.
aw man...i'm sounding quite harsh. Intergalactic records and "BOTB" are all good if you are a Metal band. If not, this event is not worth wasting a moments thought upon.
Hey I was just trying to help musicians ...
Hey I was just trying to help musicians who have enough costs as it is and stop them being ripped off.
Thinking it a is a gift, and opportuntiy to take, a valuable experience, is exactly what Andrew and the b.o.t.b marketers want you to think so they make $ off you.
There are plenty of toehr opportunities that don't cost you $50 to enter. :)
The bands making it in nz and overseas didn' do it via a b.o.t.b competition.
Good luck anyway, no matter how well you do, you won't get s**t for it
yeah my post was more in response to a ...
yeah my post was more in response to a low hum's comment
This is all bloody interesting... I ...
This is all bloody interesting...
I have some friends about to head into the battle royale, but as you people have said, "There are plenty of *other opportunities that don't cost you $50 to enter" - crowbar, you get noticed down here through constant gigging and how on earth do you choose a best band amongst a few million music genres???? "Most commercially viable group" more like..... But, nonetheless I'm going to have to go along now and make up my own damn mind, Cheers ears.
[ http://kmfdm.net.nz/ ]
Seriously dissapointed with Battle of ...
Seriously dissapointed with Battle of the bands, not only were we in the venue 2 hours before it started but we still got charged the $7 cover charge! When we asked what the money was for the reply was "organisation" pity there wasn't any, no one knew what was going on until someone put a piece of paper up on the edge of the stage which had the order of the bands on it. Total rip off. Boycott Bodega!
What time did you get there and what ...
What time did you get there and what time did the first band go on? I dont know what the $7.00 is for but I guess it could be for the hiring of the live sound engineer, which is usually paid for by the band, but during the battle the organisers have to pay and also the Battle itself must cost thousands of dollars. You also have four judges there on the night and all the staff that work behind the scenes organising a world wide event. I think $7.00 is cheep considering you get to see 4 live kiwi bands but then again im a struggling muscician and I know how expensive it is. When we play at the Kings Arms we have to pay $15 per band for the live engineer and they also expect you to pay an invoice on the night of $40 (?) Then if you want any decent lighting it costs around $400 to hire lighting rig, and the list goes on. The money from the door will cover about half of this but we love it so much we dont care about the money. Anyway sorry you didnt have a good time - tell me more about it.
[ http://www.aangelsound.com ]
that sucks- whatever the $7 door charge ...
that sucks- whatever the $7 door charge covers should be included in the fees the bands pay to enter. Frankly it's fuckin embarassing to call mates up and get them to come down to check a gig out if you have to footnote it with "oh, and that'll be $7 thanks". If anything charge the bands more- they've got more at stake, and the venues should be making enough money from punters at the bar- WTF is up with $7 on the door!?!
//Frankly it's fuckin embarassing to ...
//Frankly it's fuckin embarassing to call mates up and get them to come down to check a gig out if you have to footnote it with "oh, and that'll be $7 thanks".
So, your band has never played a gig where there is a cover charge?
I went last night and watched an old ...
I went last night and watched an old school friend play at the crook in East Auckland. One of the bands playing was a group called Oligarchy. go see them next time they play, they play pretty reguarly around Auckland. You'll never see anything in your life like it again, it's like a group of middle aged homeless people decided to form a band. The singer went absolutely apeshit, screaming and flailing everywhere-but he meant every word of what he said, the guitarist had the wickedest haircut I have ever seen. Their beerguts were an inspiration. the tombstone with 'rock in peace' written on it was just the icing on the cake...
Musically they are appalling, but If you like shitty blues, played as sleazy, as hard and as 80's as it is possible to be played, check them out. This band has to be the most real stuff I have seen in ages.
i liked them too....
i liked them too.
i found one of their cds on k road a ...
i found one of their cds on k road a long time ago.
well, I'm back. and I'm ...
well, I'm back. and I'm cynical.
we had our first heat at The Crook last week.. had a real good time, played a great set, everyone loved it, definately got the most noise out of the crowd the whole night, and yet there was bullshit like this:
* We were drawn to play first, so as soon as we knew we checked in with the sound guy who was setting up mics, monitors etc to see how he wanted to do things. All we got from him was a stern "i'll come and see you when i'm ready" so we took a seat for a bit, before he came over and sternly told us that if we werent set up in ten minutes we werent getting a soundcheck. The guy had a completely bullshit attitude about it- whenever we tried to be proactive in getting things setup quickly and efficiently, he'd take it as condescending his "experience" as a musician and a sound technician.
* Professionalism? Isnt this the aspect of the competition that the organisers constantly preach to the bands? They should preach it to their sound guy instead, who managed to leave the bar's stereo blaring during and after our first song, botched the monitor mix completely and managed to remove the guitars from half the mix in two songs. This from a guy who's had "25 years experience, and I've studied at SAE London". Congratulations mate, next time turn the fucking Blink 182 off before we start jackass
* Professionalism Pt: 2. The fourth judge didnt show up until our last song. Very professional. Another judge asked our drummer if he'd quit our band to join hers. Very professional. The whole thing reeked of so much self-interest it was ridiculous. I didnt expect us to get far in the competition cause we're definately not a predictable band that you can slot into a tidy box and stamp "COMMERCIALLY VIABLE", but this experience didnt give me any reassurance about the support for good nz music.
the fact that battle circus didn't get ...
the fact that battle circus didn't get past the first round tells me that this battle of the bands competition is absolute shite. that was some of the best music i've heard in a fuckin long time. especially from a new band playin their first gig. bloody awesome. i don't know what the hell the competition judges were looking for but it certainly wasn't high quality original music. fuckin disappointed. BOYCOTT BATTLE OF THE BANDS! those lame fuckers.
I entered our band in the WBoB AFTER ...
I entered our band in the WBoB AFTER reading this forum. And AFTER doing some research on Intergalactic site and working out that their motivation for running such a competition is NOT as a public service for the up&coming bands but probably to (a) make money and (b) find some young metal band to sign on a dodgy contract to make more money. I mean, you all read that bit in the paperwork you signed that says WBoB will own the copyright to any audio or video recording they make of you, din't you? What does that tell you about motivation and ethics? But I thought "well F*#k them. My $50 is as good as the next guys. And a bit of "live practice" is always good before a chunk of upcoming gigs. And hiring a practice room with a full PA and sound mixer is $what for a night? And no audience in a pratice room. So let's play our set of savant-garde Sonic Youth meets the Seekers psycho-guitar-pop-folk-thrash in a sweaty pub full of people there to see other bands and see what happens. We got our money's worth. Good fun. If ya enter with no illusions (delusions) its cool. And the sound (at Arc, Dunedin) was great - Forbes Williams did a first rate job mixing 5 vastly different bands and surviving multiple sound control officer visits. We didn't stick around for the scores. Jeez, we might've won... now that would be a disaster wouldn't it?
Sonic Youth meets the Seekers? That ...
Sonic Youth meets the Seekers? That sounds mad enough to be worth checking out! Going to be doing it again soon?
Yup... we're back at Arc on Thursday ...
Yup... we're back at Arc on Thursday 19th with Tannicbrae and the following Wednesday (25th) with Slipstream. We were rehearsing a Seekers song a while back but seem to have dropped it from the set list at the moment. It was a lovely traditional folk tune of great sorrow (and length) but I can't rememer the name of it. Maybe it's time to bring it back...
hrm... it seems like most of the posts ...
hrm... it seems like most of the posts on here are from "Sore Losers" and friends of "Sore Losers"... What? Your band didn't get through? And as for the cost to enter...$50 is nothing between the average band of between 3-5 ppl. GET OVER IT! oh btw... several successful bands have come out of BOTB & Intergalactic over the years including Blindspott & Tadpole.
[ http://upyourarsewithabigsharpnail.com ]
what a load of crap, sore losers? had ...
what a load of crap, sore losers?
had a friend entered this comp,
he won one of the best musicianship prizes,
where was the prize???
after a lengthy negotiation process, the player in question eventually received the prize,
so it's not even just the losers who get a shit deal.
Yeah my band did get through so......
Yeah my band did get through so...
[ http://upyourass.com ]
that's unfortunate for you la la... ...
that's unfortunate for you la la... (that it was a nightmare of a night). congrats on getting through :) hopefully you'll get your supporters & bandmembers moneys' worth out of this when it all shakes out. But personally for me I see it as a great way to get exposure and reach new audiences regardless of the fees involved. I suppose if I was to pay for my own band to play with a setup ( run professionally of course) PA, advertising, lighting and a guaranteed crowd, I wouldn't be able to do it out of my own pocket... it would cost way too much:( so in a way I'm glad competitions like this are available. Getting through and getting exposure should be the most important thing shouldn't it?
[ http://www.naquadah.co.nz ]
well you are in naqadah, one of whom ...
well you are in naqadah, one of whom works for the greedy andrew featherstone.
so what you are saying is biased, bet ya getting paid to say this.And anyone who think tadpole or blindspott are doing nz music reputation any good cannot have their opinions taken seriously.
Once again, bullshit wins, and more people are realising this.
How did you become so NEGATIVE? I was ...
How did you become so NEGATIVE? I was just talking about taking advantage of the exposure... and you've gone into my classified ad and BAGGED MY BAND! What right do you have? Just because you have something against Andrew Featherstone... that's no reason to get all anti towards us. 1, No I'm not PAID to support the Battle through this medium, or any other! 2, You have never explained fully why the battle & AF have affected you so personally! and yes u are taking this way too seriously... You're making this whole fiasco sound like Intergalactic Records & Associates have gone around to your mothers place & smothered her in her sleep! GET A LIFE!
[ http://www.naquadah.co.nz ]
Why don't we all get real for a minute ...
Why don't we all get real for a minute here. New Zealand isn't set up to help any of us be anything other than what we are. We're poor musicians who are begging for atrention. Some good some bad. I've heard some awesomely great bands across the board who don't get a second look in this country because they really aren't that interested in helping musicians. You've got people like Featherstone who set up a really nice posh living for themselves making you think if you just do this and just do that, (and pay your money to him and his empire) you;ll get heard. Nothing I ever got from ANY music community (And there have been many I might add) came simply from being a good musician. No matter where you go or how you attempt it, you have to be careful of the wolves in sheeps clothing. If you think there' a damn one of the people in the music industry who doesn't know how bad we want it, you're fooling yourself. They have what we want, CONTACTS! and if you aren't what they are looking for today, even if you are AWESOME, you ain't gonna get signed. And in my opinion here in New Zealand it appears they aren't looking for anyone with real talent or they'd choose to run the competitions with real industry judges who wouldn't bother to ask a drummer to come work with their band in the midst of a damn competition. I agree that's totally unprofessional. They'd hire proper sound people for the money we all paid to be in the BTOB who didn't turn the guitars off in the middle of a song and forget to turn Blink 182 off while someone was trying to show "The World" what they had to offer.
If you really are serious about getting signed, forget about the Featherstones of New Zealand and start submitting your stuff abroad. I've lived in a few other countries before I chose New Zealand and I'll tell ya, I never heard of one artist from New Zealand except Anika Moa who couldn't get any help from the New Zealand music industry and went to America and released her stuff there. And you know what happened next, New Zealand started saying, "New Zealands own Anika Moa" New Zealand didn't do shit for her, America did! New Zealand didn't do shit for Crowded House either, those guys went to Auzzie to make it to the rest of the world. So why don't we get real and honest. Yes, there are competitions here just like everywhere else in the world, but there aren't any labels with the contacts that it's gonna take to make you a world famous star in the industry. New Zealands small compared to the rest of the world and to make it here will give you a comfortable living in music but if what you're really looking for is stardom across the world, you have to contact the UK and American industry people and get heard there first.
I agree Fetherstone is a rapist for the muusic community of New Zealand and really only out for his own interests, but we as musicians need to be smarter and pay mor eattention to reality about the music industry.