Hi guys/gals,
I just noticed the Emergenza spam alert thingy which Paul has stickied, which is amazing because me and the boys in the originals band ran into this shower a few weeks ago.
long post apologies but a good warning
Basically this lot arrive in a country looking to get YOUNG (I'll explain the caps later) unsigned bands together to do a battle of the bands type gig where after getting through various "heats" the winners get the chance to perform at some generic European rock festival (not on the main stage mind you) and then the overall winners get a "recording deal" with some independant dutch label to record their album over 6 months.
Sounds good?....hell no..
Firstly we were contacted through our myspace thingy and told that a rep would be in Dublin on a certain date and we were to meet her and supply a demo which would be evaluated and if it met the criteria we would get a slot in the first phase battle of the bands gig. It all sounded good in theory so me and the boys arranged to meet the rep.
Upon meeting the rep she immediately launched into this spiel about the organisation and what the whole Emergenza thing was about (she also seemed a bit startled at our ages..late 20s to mid 30s)..the "spiel" was very impressive, problem was we were all seasoned session pros and had 1000s of hours of gigging experience behind us, also, our drummer and guitarist had already played the "big festival" they were pushing as the icing on the cake with headline acts so they knew the score.
Upon questioning the rep futher we quickly realised this was another one of those scams (of which there are many) to part YOUNG bands from their cash. Basically these "gigs/promos" are aimed at 17/18 year olds who are desperate to gig/make it big in the business which is great but this is purely a money making racket. Firstly you have to pay 60/70 euros to take part then you 're given a bunch of tickets to sell to bring your mates/fans along to the heats of the battle of the bands..(more money) after all of this between costs and hidden "extras" (money) the bands are paying these people a lot of money for the ultimate prize of...playing on some tiny stage at the back of some European festival. (With the amount of money you'd eventually end up paying out you could afford your own recording session in a local studio).
The rep went to great pains to tell us that last year 17,000 bands throughout Europe had participated in this..so we asked her how many of those 17,000 had gotten a record deal?...after much mumbling she told us ONE Belgian group had been signed to some unknown indie label
Also after the initial battle of the bands heats are over she told us there was a prize for the best musicians ie each musician gets a new instrument..sounds cool?
nope...we questioned her about what the exact prizes were...basically pos instruments which youd buy for about 200 quid..(the bassist gets a brand new OLP bass....WOW! )
In closing ...for you younger bands out there, dont let yourselves be taken in by these schemes..they ultimately amount to nothing and you will end up spending a lot of money while these people get rich off your hard work.
Murf
