3 Regional Music Providers Join Together to Launch Devon-Wide Battle of the Bands

A Devon-wide Battle of the Bands has launched today, calling for young musicians at secondary schools up to the age of 18 to sign up to join the contest. There are prizes including free recording, mixing and mastering a song for release on streaming platforms for the first, second and third prizes. Radio exposure and performance slots at music festivals in the South West are also up for grabs for contestants who impress the judges.

This brings together existing contests that have run in recent years in North, South, East and West Devon. Separately, each of the 4 contests have been a huge success, with 50 applicants in East Devon alone last year.

The providers in each area have been brought together by the Devon & Torbay Music Education Hub, the Music In Devon Initiative and Devon production company R&K Systems. The organisers hope that by expanding the contest by bringing all four providers together, that it will attract an even great number of young musicians and actively encourage them to get involved in the south west music ecosystem.

Four heats will be run at participating schools in each of the regions in early to mid-June;

• South Devon; Plympton Academy (Plymouth) Monday 17th June
• West Devon; Coombeshead Academy (Newton Abbot) Tuesday 18th June
• East Devon; Cranbrook Education Campus (Cranbrook) Wednesday 19th June
• North Devon; Petroc College (Barnstaple) Thursday 20th June

The winners of each heat will battle it out at the final at Bomba in Exeter on June 27th.

Young musicians up to 18 years of age wanting to take part need a teacher from the school that band members attend to visit the Devon & Torbay Music Education Hub’s website and apply by completing the online form on their behalf; https://forms.office.com/e/3PvaHFP4RJ

Winners from Last Year’s Competition

The Upper Hand were the overall winners of the East Devon competition in 2023. Their prize was free recording of a song with R&K Systems, which ended up becoming a five-track EP and a string of paid gigs. The songs will be mixed and mastered by Pete Marten, who was awarded “Best Producer” at the MIDI TV Devon Music Awards 2024 and released as singles throughout the rest of the year. Find out more about the Upper Hand Here; https://randksystems.com/the-upper-hand-epk  

Okehampton band, The Stereo Problems, won the North Devon Contest and secured some incredible opportunities. They’ve been invited to play at Petroc’s end-of-year Music Show, they’ll be featured in an interview and performance session at The Voice FM, and they will get an exclusive recording session at Petroc’s recording studio! More here; https://www.instagram.com/thestereoproblems

“Entering last year’s competition was a great experience for us as a band to pitch ourselves at the forefront of a growing music community in Devon, and the opportunities we have had since winning the event have been great at putting us on the path we want to venture down as an upcoming artist.” says Aaron Samuel, Lead singer of the Upper Hand.

“Some of our favourite memories in our journey so far have included playing at Sidmouth Folk Festival, Goren Festival, alongside The Barefoot Bandit at the Beehive Theatre, and most recently at the Devon Music Awards after being crowned ‘Devon’s Best New Artist 2024.’ All those came as a byproduct of the Battle of the Bands, and we are extremely excited to be currently recording our first singles with R&K Systems and Pete Marten as part of our spoils as victors. We cannot thank the competition and the organisers enough for giving local artists such as ourselves these opportunities.” continues Aaron.

“We were amazed by how many young musicians signed up to get involved in last year’s contest in East Devon last year. So, this year, we are delighted to team up with the Devon & Torbay Music Education Hub and MIDI to expand the contest to the whole of Devon. I can’t wait to discover a whole new crop of bands and to create opportunities for young musicians wanting to join the music industry.” says David Knox of R&K Systems.

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Notes to Editors;

1. Online application form; https://www.musiceducationhub.org/site/whats-on/devon-secondary-schools-battle-bands-2024/
2. About The Devon & Torbay Music Education Hub; https://www.musiceducationhub.org/site
3. About the Music In Devon Initiative MIDI TV; https://www.musicindevon.org/  
4. About R&K Systems; https://randksystems.com/home 
5. About the East Devon 2023 Contest; https://randksystems.com/battle-of-the-bands
6. About last year’s contestants; https://randksystems.com/battle-of-the-band-contestants-23 About the Upper Hand, winners of 2023’s East Devon Battle of the Bands; https://randksystems.com/the-upper-hand-epk
7. Buy tickets for the Battle of the Bands Final at Bomba in Exeter on 27th June 2024; https://randksystems.com/product/985223
8. Press Contact; David Knox. 07886 100 875 / davieknox@yahoo.co.uk
9. Images for press available from; https://www.musiceducationhub.org/site/
10. What happened to the rest of the contestants in East Devon?

• The Pigeons won the juniors category as the judges were all very impressed with their cover of Amyl & The Sniffers song “Hertz” They are due to record a song with R&K Systems in March, with Pete Marten mixing and mastering the song for release on Spotify.
• Bianca Beavis won the singer-songwriter category. The judges were all impressed that all the songs she played were hers. She has since played the Kings Arms, Yarty Party, Exmouth Festival and Sidmouth Folk Week. She was also interviewed and performed on radio.
• 3 Days of Wonder played their first gig at the King of Clubs Heat. Since the contest, we've found them paying gigs at Exeter Street Arts Festival, Exmouth Festival and supporting the Kabins. They were nominated for “Best Newcomer” at the Devon Music Awards, have gone on to be regular performers across Devon and are also doing really well on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/6TzpDmzZEulTUZESI2L21c?si=tnPaGJ0HSyuo270BxsLp1A
• Leonard & The Zombies played Exmouth festival, Exeter Street Arts Festival (twice!) and supported the Kabins & 4King Dwarphz. We recorded their Debut “Apocalypse EP”, which was mixed and mastered by the award-winning Pete Marten and came out Feb 27th. https://open.spotify.com/artist/6bQBNwZd5JHsStFaPqLs2l?si=mO_4ZkiYSUOr86UvXLQXHg Check out the EPK we did for them.  https://randksystems.com/leonard-the-zombies-epk
• Haywire got a paid gig at Exeter Street Arts Festival
• Combustion played Kabin Fever Festival at the Balfour Arms.
• Pack of Animals supported the Kabins at Kabin Fever Festival, the King of Clubs and gigs at Bristol Crofters and the Exeter Phoenix.
• Midnight Revolution played the first “All Ages Show” at the King of Clubs and at Sidmouth Folk Week
• Adam Hicks won a performance at Sidmouth Folk Week on the Anchor Garden stage.
• Tom Fawcus won a performance slot at Yarty Party.
• State of Mind won 3 free taster sessions at the Rock Project.
• The Fools and Simulation Sunday won a free 4-hour rehearsal at Tazma Studios, Exeter’s finest and best equipped rehearsal studios.