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John Kennedy of Xfm’s Xposure says: "If you’re an up-and-coming act you owe it to yourself to get involved in City Showcase. I’ve seen so many great new bands play this festival - Razorlight, Keane and Apartment to name but a few - and it really has established itself as an excellent talent spotter."
The London music scene can be a confusing and somewhat lonely place. How do people get in? Who can help? Well, each year, for the past three years, City Showcase has helped the likes of Razorlight, Keane, Apartment and Rooster (they are a real band, really, honest!) get a leg-up. There’re also surgeries and Q&A panels and close ties with London Fashion week.
The event takes place across London from 5th-9th September and this year Drowned in Sound are kinda involved in the whole affair, along with the likes of Xfm and The Sunday Times, who'll be picking and promoting new London'ish artists to play the free entry showcase events at Borderline and The 100 Club. This year there is a whole lot more happening with the event and us proactive scamps at Drowned in Sound are happy to be involved. As for our involvement, for starters we'll be sitting on the A&R panel on 26th May evening at Westbourne Studios.
Hot new designers from London Fashion Week have the opportunity to clothe some of the bands who range from rock and indie thru pop, hip-hop, soul, R&B, world, folk, Asian, country, classical, jazz and dance...
BANDS! BANDS! BANDS!
If you wanna play please send a web link (if you have one), a CD demo [DiS recommends your three best and most representative tracks, starting with the strongest] / designers send in sketches of your designs, along with a brief biog and a photo to City Showcase, PO Box 34941, London SW6 7ZA. For further information, check out the website cityshowcase.co.uk. Deadline for applications is 31 May 2005. You can also send demo stuffs to DiS HQ, as we'll be making suggestions (feel free to make yours below!), to the usual swamped address which is Drowned in Sound, 61B Pall Mall Deposit, 124-128 Barlby Road, London, W10 6BL.
And Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, has a quote about it which goes like this: “Our capital has a reputation to be proud of when it comes to music and fashion. For London to remain a creative beacon, events like City Showcase are essential in supporting new talent and providing exposure in front of new audiences in unusual new venues.”
