24 August 2009
HKGFM.net whose tagline is "YOUR Musical Universe" and has 50,000 listeners a day is teaming up to provide world wide coverage on the China Battle! Mr. Blaze Hackman, Music Director of HKGFM.net said "We are delighted to be involved with the authentic live music scene in China which has been one of our biggest listening markets since 2008. For many people HKGFM.net is the top choice for music lovers in China and with listeners from over 150 countries around the globe we will bring China's Rock "n" Roll to the world." said Hackman, "All the bands who sign up for the competition will be able to send their music to HKGFM.net and as part of the competition we will have special shows to help feature their music."
"This is a live music event in front of a live crowd who get to pick their favorite band at each of the heats as the bands battle through the competition. The audience gets to choose their favorite band on the night and their selection helps decide the winners at each of the heats. We know the bands have fans from all over the country who may not be able to make it to the live shows so we want those fans to be able to join in the fun too. So we have teamed up with HKGFM.net to allow fans to choose who they think is the best." said Chris B, National Director of GBOB China. "We will announce details of how fans can join in online by the end of August."
Global Battle of the Bands China this year will take place in five cities: Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Each city will select one winning band based on judges and audience votes. Judges comprising of established musicians, respected music journalists, music editors and people involved in the music industry. Judges confirmed so far include: Jun Kung (drummer, producer), Soler (band), Silvester See Wai Yin (veteran musician, Acehero Films), Vincent Lee (Warner Music Hong Kong) and Christine Samson (Singer & Vocal Coach to top artists in HK such as Joey Yung, G.E.M., Fong Lik Sun).
Top notch live music venues from each city will be used: Yugongyishan (Beijing), Yuyingtang (Shanghai), The Cavern (Hong Kong), Jin Bar (Shenzhen) and Live Music Association (Macau).
Each of the five cities winners will battle out in Hong Kong in November 2009 to see who will represent China in the World Final of Global Battle of the Bands in London, England and the chance to win the grand prize of US$100,000 in band development.
Chris B, National Director of GBOB China, "More and more focus is on China to produce the next big band that is un-manufactured and playing real music, this competition will expose those potential bands to the world."
Over 36 countries are taking part in 2009. The World Final will be held in La Scala, London, England on 13 December 2009. The 2008 World Final GBOB judges; comprised Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols bassist/songwriter), Jim Lowe (producer: Stereophonics, Charlatans etc) and Ben Adams (ex-member of A1 and now producer) and they all agreed that China would be the country to watch at 2009 finals. "Clearly Killer Soap have put the world on notice that Chinese bands are ready to take the world stage in rock music." said Matt Walker, organiser of the Global Battle of the bands competition.
A Beijing band entering this year
Killer Soap (from Hong Kong) represented China at the GBOB 2008 World Final. Killer Soap's guitarist Kevin said "Killer Soap's participation in the GBOB World Final in 2008 opened up a whole new chapter for us, both musically and culturally. It was really really exciting to share music with bands from other parts of the world."
Further information:
Chris B (China National Director GBOB) - (852) 9486 4648 / china@gbob.com