Young band to win recording gig

SOME of the region’s emerging musicians are getting ready to go to war this Saturday in a Battle of the Bands comp at this year’s BendiGLOW Youth Fest. 

Seven local amateur bands have been selected to compete in the competition. 

The bands will be jamming out for a chance at winning a full professional recording session with the newly minted Bendigo Records, a label of Bendigo Vinyl. 

The winner will get a demo produced in the studio which will then be digitally distributed across music platforms like Spotify, YouTube Music, and others, and royalties will be directed to the artists. 

Engaged communities officer Jahmiele Hicks at YO Events, the organisers of BendiGLOW, said the winning band will also get to play a recorded, live show at Bendigo Vinyl’s soon-to-be new venue at Hargreaves Mall. 

“We put out a call on our socials, we sent out a call to say if you’re a young band and you’ve got an original song ready to go, we want to hear from you,” she said. 

“Basically, we just got to listen to a bunch of really great local artists.” 

Bendigo Vinyl owner Sam Edmond is one of the competition’s judges and said the main thing he will be looking for is originality, preferring not to hear too many covers. 

“We’re looking for an act that’s special and original and things like that. I guess I’m looking for, it sounds stupid, but that something special,” he said. 

“Sometimes it’s really hard to get good recordings for artists that don’t have a tonne of money, especially when you’re starting out, so we thought it would be a cool thing we could offer. 

“It would be really exciting to be able to help to take music to the bigger markets like Melbourne and Sydney, and potentially overseas.” 

The event is free, but YO Bendigo will be taking donations to assist with its future events and programs.  

Battle of the Bands and BendiGLOW Youth Fest will be held at Peter Krenz Leisure Centre Basketball Stadium from 2pm to 8pm this Saturday, 24 September.