Music
29 Mar 01

Bacardi/Hotpress Plugged Band of the Year

Colm O'Hare PREVIEWS THE BRAND FINAL OF IRELAND'S BIGGEST BAND CHALLENGE

Thursday April 5th is the day of reckoning for the six bands who have made it to the Grand Final of Bacardi hotpress Plugged 2001. If the regional heats are anything to go by the seventh final of the longest running and most prestigious band competition in the land is expected to be an absolute sizzler. As the new "plugged" format allows for more variety, not to mention an increase in volume, expect electricity and sparks aplenty emanating from the stage of HQ on the night. Once thing's for certain, the stakes will be high and the competition will be fiercely fought by those participating. And with good reason too. A prize package with a value in excess of £17,000 is on offer to the winner of this year's competition.

But who are the six bands who have come through the selection process to stake a place in this year's final? Winners of the first Dublin heat are Deputy Fuzz described as "a fresh and exciting band hailing from the suburbs of Dublin." The band features Bee on vocals/bass/guitar, Kidd Jones on vocals/guitar/bass and James on vocals. The 'Fuzz, in their own words "met at a party, discovered a common interest in guitars, tacky pop music, old cartoons and bands like Pavement and the Pixies." They made a cheap demo and lined up gigs in Eamonn Doran's, Isaac Butt and Whelans. "A singularly eclectic female vocalist and an irresistible blend of Pixies influenced gems," was the hotpress reaction to the band on the night of their win.

Winners of the Cork heat held in Nancy Spain's back in January, Duped are Cormac Kavanagh guitar and vocals Tom Farrelly bass and vocals, Dylan Bible guitar and Colin Ryan drums. Cormac is the main writer in this band although Tom has also penned some of the band's material.

The band formed as recently as December 2000 and Dylan joined the band four weeks ago in preparation for the Bacardi Final. Cormac had a track featured on the Celtic Connections album which featured 10 acts from the south east of Ireland and 10 Welsh acts. Recalling Americana outfits like Wilco and The Jayhawks, Duped are just beginning to gig live around the country and plan to release their debut EP during the summer

Highly deserved winners of the keenly fought Belfast heat, Superskin are without doubt one of the most explosive live acts to have emerged in Northern Ireland in recent years. "A blend of supercharged hard-core hip-hop and punk/metal with brilliantly choreographed numbers," is how hotpress described their performance that memorable night. Formed in 1998 by original members Steve (guitar) and Johnny (vocals) they began life with a stated mission to "write the biggest groove-laden noise known to mankind". The duo added Jeff on guitar, Stuart on drums and D on bass and set about recording their first 'Retifism at Dawn'.

Another line up change in early 2000 introduced Aidy on bass and they band began writing and recording their second EP, Mathematics & Dirt. The reaction was ecstatic and led directly to the band appearing at the Belfast Festival last October and recording a session for the BBC Northern Ireland Radio 1 Evening Session. Superskin have recently appeared at The Temple Bar Music Centre in Dublin and they've recorded a session for Dave Fanning's 2FM show.

Winners of the second Dublin heat at Whelan's, DJ Hooker were, in the not so humble opinion of the judging panel, one of the strangest acts ever to grace a Bacardi stage. Together for 18 months the band claim to operate much the same as Massive Attack using guest musicians and vocalists as needed. With three core members, Fran Grogan (keyboards), the improbably named Dietrich Blitzer on drums and plain old Tony on guitars, they resembled an anarchic blend of 80's New Romanticism and thrash surf pop. Their live performance which hotpress described as "brilliantly subversive and highly entertaining" features two sexy female dancers in futuristic garb. Included in their set is a wide repertoire of original material mixed with instrumental covers such as the themes from TV shows 'Dr Who', 'Mission Impossible' and 'Batman'. Oh, George Byrne loved them too!

Winners of the Limerick heat at a packed Dolan's Warehouse last week, Woodstar feature Fin Chambers on vocals/guitar Al Sheahan on keyboards, Kieran Calvert guitars, Doug Murray on drums and Ronan Considine on bass. Fin, Doug and Alan have been writing and recording material for the last ten years. With a sound reminiscent of alt. American Country acts such as Mercury Rev and Grandaddy they put the band together a year ago when they felt the time was right to start gigging the material. They have recorded a three track CD which they are using as a promotional vehicle to try and attract record company and music industry interest. The band plans to go back to the studio during the summer to record three of four new tracks and will release an album, either with a record company or independently in the near future.

The final place in this year's final will be decided tomorrow night (Friday 30th) at the Bray Heat to be held at Katie Gallagher's on the town's seafront. The bands taking part are Sevens, Euphony, Alister, Brinskill Bomb Beat and Dalliance, one of whom will triumph to win the coveted last place in the final.

Bacardi Song of the Year

Run in conjunction with the Plugged Band of the Year competition The Bacardi hotpress Plugged Song of the Year competition is open to bands and individuals. Zoe Spencer from West Cork. This year's winner of the Bacardi hotpress Song of the Year, is Zoe Spencer from West Cork. Her song was chosen by an audience vote in conjunction with Tom Dunne's Pet Sounds show on TODAY FM where a huge number of televotes were received. Zoe reportedly got the surprise of her life when Tom Dunne rang her live on air to give her the good news. Zoe took some convincing and believed that Tom was joking. She said winning the competition is "the best thing that ever happened to her."

As the winner of the 2001 Bacardi/hotpress Song of the Year Zoe will receive a prize package worth £8,000 consisting of

• £2,000 Cash prize from IMRO

• Three days recording in ear2ear's studio, Dublin 2

• 500 CDs including colour inlays from Trend Studios

• PR support on release of CD single

• A Tascam 424M3 home recording unit from Musicmaker

• A Video from the Galway Film Centre

The 2000 Bacardi/hotpress Plugged Band of the Year

will receive the following incredible prize package:

• A cash prize of £2,000 from Bacardi

• Three days recording time from The Cauldron Studios

• 500 CDs from Trend Studios