Ultimate Hometown Sound Announced

Ultimate Hometown Sound Announced

Today (Thursday 15 May 08) Elston Gun, indie/alt band from Kent Terrace, are announced as the ultimate winner of Sounds from your Hometown, a nationwide music competition, presented by KFC in conjunction with NZ On Air and Amplifier.co.nz.

311 artists submitted a track to enter the competition and more than 95,000 votes were cast by the New Zealand public to choose the local artist that represented their hometown sound. As a result, 94 talented finalists were chosen to play a simultaneous live gig at their local KFC store (at 11am on 03 May 08) - to celebrate NZ Music Month at a true local level.

All 94 finalists went into the final round of the competition and had their submitted track judged by two music industry representatives (Ashley Page A&R Manager and Marketing Manager for Australasian labels at Warner Music and Mark Kneebone, Head of Tardus Records and Chairperson of Independent Music New Zealand).

Rod de Vries, KFC Chief Operating Officer says that the judges have had a hard time trying to pick the ultimate winner:

“The judges say that so many of the artists had great musicality, and had put together really catchy, fun tunes – which of course made their selection of the ultimate winner difficult.

“The fact that they had a difficult decision though, can only be a good thing for the music industry – it shows that New Zealand has a lot of musical talent out there, and we really hope that Sounds from your Hometown encouraged more people, out there, to give making music a go.

“Everyone who wants to make music should have the chance to do so and experience all the fun that goes with it! We really hope all those involved in the competition, continue on and achieve great things.”

Both judges agree that Elston Gun have a great sound and are looking forward to hearing more of the band when they put their prize package to good use.

Elston Gun, as the winning artist scoop an ultimate music-industry prize package worth $15,000; aimed at giving them a substantial step up in their musical career

This ultimate prize package includes two days recording time at York Street Recording Studios (NZ’s leading music recording studio) worth $3500, a $5000 NZ On Air Music Video grant, $3000 worth of advertising on Amplifier.co.nz as well as $3500 cash.

The ultimate winner’s track will also be included on the NZ On Air Kiwi Hit Disc radio promotional sampler and will be profiled on NZ On Air’s www.kiwihits.co.nz website.

Dan Rainey from Elston Gun, says of their win:
“We are absolutely stoked to win the KFC Sounds From Your Hometown Competition. It was a well run comp with very attractive prizes, and we are super appreciative to the organisers for the opportunity they have given us. Thank you very much.”

All 94 finalist tracks, including ultimate winner Elston Gun’s track titled – White Noise, are available for free download, to the public, until the end of NZ Music Month 08 (31 May 08) by visiting www.kfc.co.nz and clicking on the link.

Ends.

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