Blast:Beat TV is back this Friday April 28 at 7.00pm on RTE TWO. This week the programme features representatives from each of our schools mini music companies accompanying their band to a studio, to meet professional sound engineers and lay down a track. The studios each have their own unique style, from glamour and glitz in Enniskillen to bedsit boho in Dublin’s Ringsend. The music companies get closer to the bands and meet some mad characters. The tracks the bands record will be included on the forthcoming Blast:Beat CD, which the students will sell to up their profits at the end of the Blast:Beat year.
Schools Update
Hell’s Hippies, Castletroy College, Limerick
Industry professionals Bren and Siobhan watch footage from the Hell’s Hippies school gig at Dolan’s Warehouse – they can see that Section Pink have potential, but unless they get cracking on rehearsals, they won’t be able to make the most of the great opportunities ahead of them – in order to get the best possible version of their track in studio and to have a hope of getting through the regional finals in Cork. They also notice that there are ongoing tensions between Hell’s Hippies and company/band members Soloway, who are more interested in concentrating on the success of the band than doing their jobs within the company. Siobhan and Bren make a phonecall to Castletroy College, where Section Pink and Elaine, Paul and Tara from Hell’s Hippies are awaiting their words of wisdom.
Dark Synergy Productions, Blackrock College, Co Dublin
The Dark Synergy boys got three bands through at their school gig – SteerClear from Belfast and Home Star Runner and Krimsin from Dublin. Despite this monumental success, the Dark Synergy boys didn’t make it into studio even once!
First of all Home Star Runner announced that they didn’t want to come to studio, as they had already recorded all their tracks and were happy with the recordings. Denis and some of his company members gathered to phone the band and find out what the situation was. They couldn’t be persuaded to come into studio, but Denis did manage to ascertain that they would provide one of their own recordings for the forthcoming Blast:Beat CD and arranged to hook up with them at their next gig.
When ace Dublin metal band Krimzin hit the studio, there were no representatives of Dark Synergy there to take care of them! The boys were too busy to attend, but it didn’t seem to put the fabulous foursome off, and they laid down a strong version of their song “Permission to Kill”, which was inspired by American activities in the Middle East.
Heartbeatz, Sacred Heart College, Omagh
Heartbeatz girls Laura and Victoria accompanied the brilliant Shauna Donaghy and her songwriting pal Nicola MacNamee to Robyn Robbin’s glamorous studio in Enniskillen. They were blown away by the fab decor, A1 facilities, and by the charming Mr Robbins himself. Robyn worked has with Queen and the Bee Gees in the past, but he treated Shauna like a real pro (and she acted like one too, asking to hear all versions of her takes) and even let her in on his own secret for success – his lucky laughing Buddha statue which he brought back from Bangkok. Rub his tummy and it’ll be good luck all the way. What does the future hold for the singing schoolgirl, with the finals in Derry in sight?
2002 Garage Scene Revival, the Smilers from Strabane, also jaunt along to Robyn’s place and have a ball bouncing around on the trampoline in the garden. But it’s not all fun and games, and they lay down a great track too.
Zodiac TY, Ursuline College, Sligo
The Ursuline College A&R ace Niamh Watters came to Dublin from Sligo on the train with The Neighbourhood and watched as they settled into Tristan’s studio at The Factory. The Factory holds none of the glamour of Robyn’s pad and looks more like a bachelor’s bedsit than a rock star hangout, but the Sligo gang learned a lot – about clicktracks and different ways of recording. Niamh asked lots of questions and was so wowed by her experiences that she decided to give up her lifelong plan of going to lawschool, and re-direct herself towards a life in the music industry.
Blast:Beat TV follows the trials and tribulations of transition year students as they endeavour to set up a mini music company, sign a band and compete against their peers from around the country to win the Blast:Beat Battle of the Bands and mini music company competition at the Cork Opera House in May.
The series is based on a Department of Education and Science approved transition year scheme that introduces students to the cutthroat world of the music business and provides them with serious challenges and an insight into how hard they must work as a team to make their company a success.
Additional Information
The Schools
Blackrock College
This is an all boys school in Dublin famous for it’s rugby and past pupils like Bob Geldof and Brian O’Driscoll. Denis Kilty spearheads their company known as ‘Dark Synergy’. The company is very good at talking the talk but can they walk the walk as well?
Castletroy Community College
Castletroy Community College is a mixed school situated in the Limerick suburb of Castletroy. Hells Hippies is the name of their company and in the words of their website they’re working to ‘ set the Irish music scene on fire’. Sinead Humphries is the chief fire starter and the company has a strong interest in metal and IT.
Sacred Heart Omagh
This is our Northern Ireland school and it’s a mixed secondary school in Omagh. It’s a relatively small company called Heartzbeatz. Laura Garrity manages them. This is their first year entering the competition and they’ve got the support of the whole school behind them.
Urusline College Sligo
The Ursulines are convent girls from Sligo who have formed a company called Zodiac TY. These are very individual ladies who have a great interest in both performing and managing music. CEO Jennifer Gorman oversees this contingent.
Blast:Beat TV Gurus
Bren Berry
Bren Berry was a key figure with the Coltranes, a group who won plenty of friends with their melodic jangle, before eventually mutating into Revelino – one of the finest locally based Irish bands of the 90s. Berry was also responsible for managing and promoting the group – skills which in 1998 led to him embarking on a parallel career as a publicist and booker for Vicar Street, one of Ireland’s premier venues. Revelino has since hung up their guitars, but Berry remains a key player at the Dublin venue. Over the years he has dealt with just about every notable musician and manager on the planet including Metallica, Quincy Jones, U2, the Rolling Stones and Guns N Roses. Last year Bren was instrumental in putting together the Electric Picnic Festival, an event, which was widely considered to be the most successful music festival of Summer 2005.
Siobhan O’Dowd
A tireless worker during her year with the Trinity Student Ents team, Siobhan O’Dowd quickly found a permanent home at the Red/Box. There she’s risen through the ranks to mastermind Press, PR and Marketing for the Pod Promotions Company, incorporating both in-house gigs and outside events. Although only 24 years old, she has been working in the music industry for eight years and has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Eddie Izzard and Metallica. Last summer she worked on the hugely successful Electric Picnic Festival and camped out in the wilds of Co.Offaly for six weeks, supervising its progress from a bunch of muddy fields to a heaving metropolis of excited bodies.