The band competition!
How, I have asked myself, can bands compete against each other? Is music not an art form and by its very nature subjective? How do you compare a singer songwriter’s gentle tale of love and loss against a thrash metal band who have turned the volume up to eleven and let rip?
Such were the philosophical dilemmas that would keep nagging at me whenever I saw “Battle of The Bands” or some such on a poster. Then, five years ago, I was invited to be a judge at BurySOUND, and in the same year I had a small involvement in the Cambridge Band Competition. My view of band competitions changed forever.
In the music industry, these competitions have emerged as a popular platform for emerging artists to showcase their talents. They are not a new phenomenon, BurySOUND is pushing thirty years old and the Cambridge Band Competition is celebrating its fortieth year this year.
These competitions do offer several advantages to those taking part. One major benefit is exposure. Bands often get a chance to perform in front of larger or just a different audience. There are also going to be industry professionals and media present that can boost careers or simply give advice. Additionally, the competitive environment encourages bands to refine their performances, improve their stage presence, and hone their musical skills.
But what about my moral principles? Can art be competitive?
Well, no. Art cannot be competitive, but that is not what these events are about. These grass roots events are far more about getting like-minded people together in the same room and showcasing the very real talent available. Networking events are commonplace in business, these competitions are no different – spoiler alert, if you want a career in music, you must treat it as a business.
Overall, these competitions offer valuable exposure and growth opportunities, but they also present challenges related to stress, commercial pressures, and subjective evaluation. A musician’s work, it is said, is 5% inspiration and 95% self-doubt. Aspiring bands must weigh the pros and cons of entering a competition carefully before deciding to participate. They must ensure that what they get out of the competition is beneficial in the long term and not a cause of un-necessary stress in the short term.
I so admire people who can stand on a stage and express themselves through their music. Having to choose one act above another is never easy. That is why judging panels are drawn from a wide range of people with vastly different backgrounds.
I have grown to love BurySOUND, it genuinely excites me that over the next five weekends I will get to see new bands and see how others have progressed from when I last saw them. I can’t cover the Cambridge Band Competition this year because, coincidentally, the heats for both events take place on the same nights at The Hunter Club Arts Centre and The Portland Arms. (Thankfully the finals are on different days but I will be in another country during the Cambridge final!)
Resident BurySOUND master of ceremonies, Seymour Quigly, will again be bigging up each act at The Hunter Club Arts Centre before and after each performance. He will use too many adjectives, but never the same one twice, and highlight some quirk or eccentric trait that only he noticed, but we will all now forever remember.
