Of all the ways to make your band's wildest dreams come true, winning a radio station contest might not have the most street cred, but it certainly seems efficient.
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98.7 FM is currently running their “So You Wanna Be A Rockstar” concert, with bands competing for a prize of $10,000 cash, $5,000 worth of gear from the “Best Buy Musical Instruments store,” a gig at an upcoming 98.7 event, photo session with Sterling Andrews and a “full day” (10 hours, they say) of recording time at NightBird Studios in West Hollywood, which they've estimated to be worth $2,000. OK, that's probably not “all” of any band's wildest dreams, unless they have oddly specific goals. But there are worse things that could happen to a group.
The field has now been whittled down to 15 finalists, including four bands from 'round these parts. Irvine rockers Entice (pictured) and hip-poppers Non-P, Yorba Linda's 1 Away and Long Beach hip-hop crew Audible Mainframe. Nate Jackson reviewed Audible Mainframe's new record Transients recently in the Weekly, and Entice have popped up a few times in this here blog. Non-P and 1 Away are new to us, but Non-P filmed a video in the KUCI studio, and 1 Away's lead singer has the “sensitive tough guy” thing down pat, so they've got that going for them.
The field of 15 will be narrowed down to 5 through votes on 98.7's website. One of the finalists, Eyeshine, has former Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Johnny Young Bosch for a lead singer, so our four locals are clearly in esteemed company. You can vote once a day until 5 p.m. this Monday, September 21, then the top 5–each band making it this far will win a Gibson SG guitar, not too shabby–will battle it out Friday, September 25 at CityWalk in Universal City.
