Bands are being invited to "get out of the garage" by taking part in the inaugural Wella Shockwaves Unsigned Competition.

Says a spokesperson: "Shockwaves Unsigned is open to any acts where at least one of the members is at secondary school within the Republic. All members must be aged between 14 and 20 as of September 1 2002, and able to perform/mix live on stage for 10 minutes."

The closing date for demos and videos is October 11, so log on to www.real-event.ie pronto for full details of how to take part.

2FM are also lending their support to the competition, so there could be a nice little bit of airplay involved!